Two farmhouses near Llantwit-Major are known by the names of Great and Little Frampton, corrupted from Francton. Where a man called Adam de Francton once lived. Tradition says he was connected by marriage with some of the families of South Glamorgan. Adam de Francton, an English knight slew the last Prince of Wales, Prince Llewelyn, while at Aberedwy, near Builth, on December 10, 1282 (see story below). Filled with bitter remorse for having slain Prince Llewelyn the knight retired to the remote and secluded neighbourhood of Llantwit-Major, where he became the victim of ceaseless restlessness. He could not sit still at home, but rode recklessly to and fro through the country side, as though he were pursued by a demon. One evening, while riding homeward with some companions, he met an untimely death by a broken neck, caused by a fall from his horse, in the roadway leading to his house, now known as Great Frampton.
It is said that in the twilight and early night, strange sounds, resembling the clattering of horses' hoofs, may be distinctly heard, followed by a loud thud, as of something falling.
Prince Llewelyn, while at Aberedwy, near Builth, discovered that English troops were quickly approaching, and in order to baffle his pursuers he engaged a blacksmith to reverse the shoes of the horses. Snow was on the ground, and, by reversing the horses' shoes, the prince hoped to escape. He, with a few of his soldiers, rode swiftly to Builth Castle, but was refused entrance.
The blacksmith who had reversed the shoes of the horses gave information to the English, who immediately chased the prince. Llewelyn and a single esquire, both unarmed, hurried into a deep and narrow dingle on the banks of the River Irvon, near Builth. The English soon surrounded the dingle, and Adam de Francton seeing a Welshman leaving it rushed forward and plunged a spear into his body.
The Welsh, eagerly expecting their chieftain to join them, entered into an engagement with the English, and the slaughter on both sides was terrible.
Meanwhile, Llewelyn was laid dying near a small well, on the summit of the dingle. On December 11, after the battle, Adam de Francton returned to the dingle. To the surprise of the knight, the wounded man, who still breathed, was Llewelyn, the last of the native Princes of Wales. The prince's head was cut off his body, and sent to Edward I at Conway Castle. It was afterwards placed on the loftiest pinnacle of the Tower of London.
Llewelyn's head was carried by soldiers in branches of broom, and, according to local tradition, the broom has never grown in that parish since, though it is found in abundance in the surrounding parishes.