Gower Peninsula
| |
|---|---|
 Rhossili beach | |
  Gower Peninsula Location withinSwansea | |
| Population | 76,400 |
| OS grid reference | SS465904 |
| Principal area | |
| Preserved county | |
| Country | Wales |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Postcode district | Swansea |
| Police | South Wales |
| Fire | Mid and West Wales |
| Ambulance | Welsh |
| UK Parliament | |
| Senedd Cymru – Welsh Parliament | |
| 51°36′N4°06′W / 51.6°N 4.1°W /51.6; -4.1 | |
Gower (Welsh:Gŵyr) or theGower Peninsula (Penrhyn Gŵyr) is inSouth West Wales and is the most westerly part of the historic county ofGlamorgan,Wales. It projects towards theBristol Channel. In 1956, the majority of Gower became the first area in theUnited Kingdom to be designated anArea of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Until 1974, Gower was administered as arural district. It was then merged with thecounty borough ofSwansea. From 1974 to 1996, it formed theSwansea district.[1] Since 1996, Gower has been administered as part of the unitary authority of theCity and County of Swansea.
Since its establishment in 1999, theGower Senedd constituency has only elected Labour members. TheGower constituency in Westminster had previously also elected only LabourMembers of Parliament (MPs) since 1908; the longest run (withNormanton andMakerfield) of any UK constituency. This ended in 2015 when theConservatives took the seat. In 2017, it returned to Labour. The area of both constituencies covers the peninsula and the outer Gower areas ofClydach,Gowerton,Gorseinon,Felindre,Garnswllt and encompasses the area of the historicLordship of Gower apart from the city of Swansea.
.jpg)
About 70 square miles (180 km2) in area, Gower is known for itscoastline, popular withwalkers and outdoor enthusiasts, especially surfers. Gower has many caves, includingPaviland Cave and Minchin Hole Cave. Thepeninsula is bounded by theLoughor Estuary to the north andSwansea Bay to the east. GowerArea of Outstanding Natural Beauty covers 188 km2, including most of the peninsula west ofCrofty,Three Crosses,Upper Killay,Blackpill andBishopston.[2] The highest point of Gower is The Beacon at Rhossili Down at 193 metres (633 feet) overlooking Rhossili Bay.[3] Pwll Du and the Bishopton Valley form a statutoryLocal Nature Reserve.[4]
The southern coast consists of a series of small, rocky or sandy bays, such asLangland andThree Cliffs, and larger beaches such asPort Eynon,Rhossili andOxwich Bay. The north of the peninsula has fewer beaches, and is home to thecockle-beds ofPenclawdd.
The northern coast is mainlysalt marsh, and is used for raising Gower salt marsh lamb which was registered as a Protected Designation of Origin in 2021 under UK law[5][6] and in 2023 under EU law.[7]
The interior is mainly farmland andcommon land. The population mainly resides in smallvillages and communities with somesuburban development in eastern Gower; part of theSwansea Urban Area.[8]
Wales is known to have been inhabited since at least theUpper Paleolithic period, and the Gower Peninsula has been the scene of several important archaeological discoveries. In 1823, archaeologists discovered a fairly complete Upper Paleolithic human male skeleton in Paviland Cave. They named their find theRed Lady of Paviland because the skeleton is dyed inred ochre, though later investigators determined it was actually a male. This was the first humanfossil to have been found anywhere in the world, and is still the oldest ceremonial burial anywhere inWestern Europe. The most recent re-calibratedradiocarbon dating in 2009 indicates that the skeleton can be dated to around 33,000Before Present (BP). In 1937 theParc Cwm long cairn was identified as aSevern-Cotswold type ofchambered long barrow. Also known as Parc le Breos burial chamber, it is a partly restoredNeolithicchambered tomb. Themegalithic burial chamber, or "cromlech", was built around 6,000 BP. In the 1950s, members ofCambridge University excavating in a cave on the peninsula found 300–400 pieces offlint related to toolmaking, and dated it to between 14,000 and 12,000 BC. In 2010, an instructor fromBristol University exploringCathole Cave discovered a rock drawing of a red deer from the same period. This may be the oldestcave art found inGreat Britain.[9]
.jpg)
Gower is also home tomenhirs or standing stones from theBronze Age. Of the nine stones[when?], eight remain today. One of the most notable of the stones is Arthur's stone nearCefn Bryn. Its 25-ton capstone was most likely a glacial erratic (a piece of rock/conglomerate carried by glacial ice some distance from the rock outcrop from which it came): the builders dug under it and supported it with upright stones to create a burial chamber. The remains of Sweyne Howes on Rhossili Down, Penmaen Burrows Tomb (Pen-y-Crug) and Nicholaston Long Cairn are three other well-known Neolithic chambered tombs. During the Bronze Age, people continued to use local caves for shelter and for burying their dead. Bronze Age evidence, such as funeral urns, pottery and human remains, has been found inTooth Cave at Llethryd,Culver Hole (Port Eynon) andCathole Cave. With the transition into the Iron Age, hill forts (timber fortifications on hill tops and coastal promontories) and earthworks began to appear. The largest example of this type of Iron Age settlement in the Gower Peninsula isCilifor Top near Llanrhidian.[citation needed]
Roman occupation brought new settlement. The Romans builtLeucarum, a rectangular or trapezoidal fort at the mouth of theRiver Loughor, in the late 1st century AD to house a regiment of Roman auxiliary troops. Its remains are located beneath the town ofLoughor. Stone defences were added to the earthen ditch and rampart by AD 110 and the fort was occupied until the middle or end of that century. However, it was later abandoned for a time and in the early 3rd century the ditch naturally silted up. It appears to have been brought back into use during the reign ofCarausius who was worried about Irish raids, but was abandoned again before the 4th century. A Norman castle was later built on the site.[citation needed]
Following theNorman invasion of Wales thecommote of Gŵyr passed into the hands of English-speaking barons, and its southern part soon becameAnglicised.[citation needed] In 1203King John (1199–1216) granted theLordship of Gower toWilliam III de Braose (died 1211) for theservice of oneknight's fee.[10] It remained with theBraose family until the death ofWilliam de Braose, 2nd Baron Braose in 1326, when it passed from the family to the husband of one of his two daughters and co-heiresses, Aline and Joan.[citation needed] In 1215 a local lord,Rhys Gryg ofDeheubarth, claimed control of the peninsula, but in 1220 he ceded control to the Anglo-Norman lords, perhaps on the orders of his overlord,Llywelyn ap Iorwerth.[citation needed]
As an Anglo-Norman peninsula isolated from its Welsh hinterland but with coastal links to other parts of south Wales and southwest England, it developed its ownGower dialect of English.[citation needed]
In 1535, theAct of Union resulted in theLordship of Gower becoming part of thehistoric county ofGlamorgan with the southwest part becoming thehundred ofSwansea.
Agriculture remains important to the area with tourism playing an ever-increasing role in the local economy. The peninsula has a Championship statusgolf course at Fairwood Park just off Fairwood Common, which twice hosted the Welsh PGA Championships in the 1990s. Meanwhile, the Gower Golf Club at Three Crosses hosts the West Wales Open, a two-day tournament on Wales'professional golf tour, the Dragon Tour. Gower is part of the Swanseatravel to work area.[11]
There are six castles on the Gower Peninsula:Landimore Castle—also known as Bovehill Castle—Oystermouth Castle,Oxwich Castle,Pennard Castle,Penrice Castle,Weobley Castle and numerous cairns and standing stones.
Four beaches haveBlue Flag beach and Seaside (2006) awards for their high standards:Bracelet Bay,Caswell Bay,Langland Bay andPort Eynon Bay.[12][13] Five other beaches have been given theGreen Coast Award 2005 for "natural, unspoiled environment":Rhossili Bay,Mewslade Bay,Tor Bay,Pwll Du Bay, andLimeslade Bay.[14]
Other beaches:
The Llethryd Tooth Cave, or Tooth Hole cave, is aBronze Ageossuary site in a limestone cave, about 1,500 yards (1.4 km) north north west of theParc Cwm long cairn cromlech, on private land along the Parc Cwm valley, near the village of Llethryd. In 1961 the cave was rediscovered bycavers, who found human bones. An excavation was carried out by D.P. Webley & J. Harvey in 1962 revealing the disarticulated remains (i.e. not complete skeletons) of six adults and two children, dated to the Early Bronze Age orBeaker culture. Other finds are now held at theNational Museum of Wales,Cardiff: Early Bronze Age, or Beaker, collared urn pottery; flaked knives; a scraper; flint flakes; a bone spatula; a needle & bead; and animal bones – the remains of domesticated animals, cat and dog. ArchaeologistsAlasdair Whittle and Michael Wysocki note that this period of occupation may be "significant", with respect to Parc Cwm long cairn, as it is "broadly contemporary with the secondary use of the tomb". In their article published in The Proceedings of thePrehistoric Society (vol.64 (1998), pp. 139–82) Whittle and Wysocki suggest corpses may have been placed in caves near the cromlech until they decomposed, when the bones were moved to the tomb – a process known asexcarnation.[15][16][17][18][19]
At 1,525 m long (nearly 1 mile), the Tooth Cave is the longest cave in Gower. It has tight and flooded sections, and so is kept locked for safety.[20][21]
The meat gains its unique characteristics from specific vegetation and environment of the salt marshes on the north Gower coastline, where the lambs graze over long distances for more than half of their lifetime.
 | ||
| National parks |
| .svg) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty |
| |||
| Heritage coasts | ||||
| Nature reserves | ||||
| Site of Special Scientific Interest | ||||
| European designations (–2020) | ||||
| Other designations | ||||
