St. Mary’s church remained the parish church of Caerau until the 1960s, but it is now a ruin. A small cottage was set adjacent to it (the ruins are still visible today). This was Church Farm and represented a small farmstead and one of many small dairy farms in what was essentially a rural area until the beginning of the 20th century. The housing estates of Ely were built in the wake of the First World War and Caerau after the Second World War. A brickworks was located at the bottom of Caerau hill which supplied the bricks for much of the house building in the area.

The land at the top of the hill is private farmland today, used for the pasture of horses and cattle. Many local people however, remember the Whitsun Treat in the 1960s and 1970s when families would come up to the hill on Whit Monday for a celebration including picnic food, races and coconut shies!