| Country: | Wales |
| Official Name: | Gower Peninsula |
| Lieutenancy Wales: | West Glamorgan |
| Unitary Wales: | Swansea |
| Dial Code: | 01792 |
The Gower Peninsula (Welsh: Gŵyr) in the City and County of Swansea, Wales, contains over twenty villages and communities. Most of the peninsula is a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
See main article: Bishopston, Swansea. Bishopston (or historically Llanmerwallt or Llancyngur Trosgardi)[1] is an inland village, 6 miles (9.5 km) west-southwest of Swansea and near the beaches of Caswell Bay, Brandy Cove and Pwll Du. One of the larger villages in Gower, it has its own rugby club, South Gower Rugby Football Club, and its own primary and comprehensive schools. (Bishopston is part of Swansea's Bishopston ward.)
Bishopston church, at the head of Bishopston Valley, is dedicated to Saint Teilo, who gives the village its Welsh name. The church contains a plain, massive font of Romanesque type, and its tower holds two 18th-century bells. In the churchyard are the remains of an old stone cross.
Cheriton, near the north coast, is a tourist destination where summer visitors stay whilst exploring the beaches in the local area. The 13th-century church of St Catwg (or Cadoc) is Grade 1 listed. The psychoanalyst Ernest Jones is buried in its churchyard. The author and cricketer William Collins was born at Cheriton.
Footpaths lead south-east to Stembridge and south-west to Llangenydd.[2]
Crofty, on the north coast, is a small cockling village, situated between Penclawdd and Llanmorlais.
See main article: Gowerton. The inland village of Gowerton, about 4 miles north west of Swansea city centre, is a gateway to Gower. Its original name was Ffosfelin; it has also been known as Gwter Felen. (The village falls within the Gowerton electoral ward of Swansea.)
In 1980, the Welsh National Eisteddfod was hosted on the 'Elba' area of the village. The Eisteddfod stone (Gorsedd stones) is located on the round-about opposite the garage on the road to Penclawdd.[3]
Ilston (Gŵyr) is an inland village. It has its own community council. The population of the community in the United Kingdom Census 2001 was 538. The name of the village is thought to have originated from Saint Illtud. The village is home to a brook, a 13th-century parish church (which has a 15th-century bell inscribed with a prayer to St Thomas) and a Wildlife Trust of South & West Wales limestone quarry.[4] The community is surrounded by common land used as grazing land, woodlands and fields.
See also: Ilston Book
See main article: Llangennith. Llangennith (Welsh: Llangynydd), in north-west Gower, has a scattering of houses and one pub – the King's Head. It sits at a crossroads: Moor Lane leads west to a caravan park near Rhossili Bay; and Burrows Lane leads north to a caravan park overlooking Broughton Bay.
The 12th-century village church, St. Cenydd's Church, is the largest in Gower, and was founded by St. Cenydd, who in the 6th century made a hermitage here, which was destroyed by Vikings in 986. The folk singer, Phil Tanner, is buried in its churchyard.
A painting of Worm's Head from Llangennydd was made by Cedric Morris. A painting of Llangennith Burrows by John Nash is held in the Government Art Collection.
Llanmadoc (Welsh: Llanmadog) is in the north west of Gower. The village is named after the churchyard of St Madoc (or Maidoc), who founded his hermitage or monastery here in the 6th century. The 13th-century building was restored in 1865, but retains a Romanesque font and a Romano-British tombstone.[5] Llanmadoc Hill, formed of Old Red Sandstone, is a landmark of west Gower and affords wide views from the top. An evocative painting of the Hill, by Cedric Morris, may be seen at the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea. A painting of Llanmadoc was also made by John Nash. The Medulli were the likely Celtic tribal ancestors of Madoc. Haplogroup R1b (Y-DNA) is consistent with the regions of Llanmadoc, Wales and Médoc, Bordeaux, France and the Celtic migrations from the South East to the North West, and likely predates St. Madoc. The population was 365 in 2011.
Close by communities include Cheriton and Landimore. Nearby beaches include Broughton Bay and Whiteford Sands. It is in the community of Llangennith, Llanmadoc and Cheriton.
Llanmorlais, on the north coast, was a cockling village. The name Llanmorlais is not a true Llan place name, but a corruption of the village's old name, Glan Morlais, which refers to the banks of Morlais Stream.[6] (The village is in Penclawdd electoral ward of Swansea.) In 2014, it was rated one of the most attractive postcode areas to live in Wales.[7]
Llanrhidian is a north Gower estuarine village, sloping down to salt marshes. (It is in the Gower electoral ward of Swansea and the community of Llanrhidian Lower.)
The village gets its name from Saint Rhidian. Its church is dedicated to St Illtyd and St Rhidian. The present building was constructed in the 13th century, with a chancel and tower added in the 14th century. In the porch may be seen a 9th-century stone, bearing simple carvings of human figures and animals. A standing stone on the village green may be the remains of a village cross.[8] [9] [10]
The village is served by an Esso filling station (including a shop, the post office is currently closed), two public houses (The Welcome to Town and The Dolphin Inn), a primary school and a community hall.
Murton is in the community of Bishopston and is also a ward for elections to Bishopston Community Council.[11] Murton lies between Bishopston and the village of Newton.
Murton is home to Murton Methodist Church[12] a Wesleyan Methodist Church dating back to 1828, which celebrated the centenary of its current building in 1997. Murton also hosts Murton Rovers AFC Football team.
See main article: Oxwich.
Oxwich is in the far south of Gower. Attractions include the Oxwich Burrows, the Tudor Oxwich Castle, Penrice Castle and Oxwich Bay.[13] The ancient church is dedicated to Saint Illtyd. Legend has it that the stone baptismal font was placed there by the saint himself.
See main article: Parkmill. Parkmill is an inland village between Penmaen and Ilston, on the northern side of the A4118 road, the main road between Swansea and Port Eynon, in a wooded valley. It once lay within Parc le Breos, a deer park established in the 1221–32 CE by John de Braose, Marcher Lord of Gower.
See main article: Penclawdd. Penclawdd (Welsh: Pen-clawdd) is in the north of the peninsula. It is one of the larger villages in Gower. Part of the village is perched on a high location, enjoying panoramic views over the Loughor estuary and Gower country, while the main part of the village stretches along the edge of the estuary. It is plentiful in birdlife, and wild horses roam the estuary. Penclawdd is known for its local cockle industry, which goes back for many years to Roman times.
It is in Swansea's Penclawdd electoral ward.
See main article: Pennard. Pennard is on the south of the peninsula, about 7 miles south west of Swansea city centre. It falls within the Pennard ward of Swansea. It has a church, health centre, library, a primary school and a golf course. It contains the ruins of Pennard Castle. The poets Vernon Watkins (1906–1967), Harri Webb (1920–1994) and Nigel Jenkins (1949–2014) are buried at St Mary's church.
Penmaen (Welsh: Pen-maen) is an inland village – a scatter of houses around the A4118 road at the foot of the slopes of Cefn Bryn. There are a number of archaeological sites in the area. It contains Parc-Le-Breos, a 19th-century hunting lodge, that was once the deer park of William de Breos, Lord of Gower, but today serves as a hotel and pony-trekking centre.
Penmaen Castle began as a small timber castle. Later it was replaced by a stone structure. Excavations in 1960 and 1961 led by Leslie Alcock found evidence that the castle was in use in the 12th and 13th centuries; the first phase was likely built by the Normans.[14] The timber gateway was destroyed by fire and later replaced by a drystone walled gate tower. Alcock suggested that stylistically this phase of the castle may have been built by the Welsh.
Penmaen Burrows, a sandy headland west of Three Cliffs Bay, is part of the National Trust's Penrice Estate, bought with Enterprise Neptune funds in 1967.[15] The headland had been inundated by sand, probably in the 14th century, burying the now-ruined stone church. It was excavated in 1861 and remains sunk into the sand and overgrowth.
Close to the ruined Church is a neolithic chambered tomb, with a substantial capstone, now partly collapsed but still supported on at least 6 upright stones. Sand inundations hampered the attempts at excavation in 1861, 1882 and 1893, and still make it hard to appreciate what the original landform would have been like. It was probably on a false summit of the headland.
It is thought that the now lost village of Stedwarlango also lies buried somewhere under the Penmaen Burrows.
A pencil and watercolour painting of Penmaen Burrows was made in 1951 by John Nash.[16]
See main article: Port Eynon. This small, south coast village, extending from Port Eynon beach to the top of a hill, has two fish and chip shops at the sea front, a youth hostel, a pub, a coffee shop and a restaurant.
To the north-west lies Overton village, with footpaths to Overton Mere, a rocky beach. Half a mile to the east of the main beach stands the village of Horton.
See main article: Reynoldston. Reynoldston is an inland village. It has its own elected community council.
It had one of the longest functioning community broadband schemes in Britain; which started in 2003 and finished at the end of 2008 following the availability of ADSL.
See main article: Rhossili. Rhossili (Welsh: Rhosili) is on the southwestern tip of the peninsula. Since the 1970s it has fallen within the boundaries of Swansea.[17] The village has a community council and is part of the Gower parliamentary constituency, and the Gower electoral ward.
Slade is situated near the south coast, north west of Oxwich Bay. Points of interest include Eastern Slade Farm, a dairy farm and campsite.
The nearby Slade Bay includes a small beach, and is a breeding ground for fish such as rays, dogfish, common dab and bass.
Three Crosses (Welsh: Y Crwys) is an inland village at the north east of the peninsula. Situated at a crossroad on the road from Swansea city centre (10 km) to Penclawdd (5 km), it grew up in the early 19th century to serve small shallow collieries in the area. These collieries had disappeared by the early years of the 20th century, and since then Three Crosses has developed as a 'dormitory village' for Swansea. Three Crosses is home to Capel Y Crwys, a large independent chapel. The village is currently home to one village shop (Country Stores) and two public houses, The Joiners Arms and The Poundffald.
It has its own Community Council. Three Crosses community, in the City and County of Swansea, was formed in 2012 from the Three Crosses ward formerly in Llanrhidian Higher community.
Upper Killay (Welsh: Cilâ Uchaf) is an inland village and community. It has its own elected community council.[18] The Clyne Valley cycle track passes through the village. Upper Killay is a gateway to Gower from the east. It lies to the south of Dunvant. The main road through the village passes over a cattle grid to the west, which marks the start of Fairwood Common. The village has its own rugby team, Swansea Uplands RFC. Their clubhouse and playing fields are to the south of the village, on Fairwood Common. There is a primary school in Upper Killay, named Cila Primary School. The school has a nursery. There is a park next to the community centre and a village shop. Fairwood Hospital, an elderly care facility, closed in 2010.[19] The community population was 1,331 as of the 2011 census.
Notable residents include Andrew Jones (filmmaker) and David Stacey (Actor).