List of villages in Gower
The Gower Peninsula (Welsh: Gŵyr) in the City and County of Swansea, Wales, contains over twenty villages and communities.
Bishopston (Welsh: Llandeilo Ferwallt, 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.
Cheriton, near the north coast, is a tourist destination where summer visitors stay whilst exploring the beaches in the local area.
[2]51°36′54″N 4°14′25″W / 51.61506°N 4.24035°W / 51.61506; -4.24035 Crofty, on the north coast, is a small cockling village, situated between Penclawdd and Llanmorlais.
51°38′18.00″N 4°07′33.00″W / 51.6383333°N 4.1258333°W / 51.6383333; -4.1258333 The inland village of Gowerton (Welsh: Tregŵyr), about 4 miles north west of Swansea city centre, is a gateway to Gower.
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.
See also: Ilston Book Llangennith (Welsh: Llangynydd), in north-west Gower, has a scattering of houses and one pub – the King's Head.
The village is named after the churchyard of St Madoc (or Maidoc), who founded his hermitage or monastery here in the 6th century.
[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.
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.
[9][10][11] 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.
It once lay within Parc le Breos, a deer park established in the 1221–32 CE by John de Braose, Marcher Lord of Gower.
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.
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.
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.
[15] The timber gateway was destroyed by fire and later replaced by a drystone walled gate tower.
[15] 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.
[17] 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.
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.
The nearby Slade Bay includes a small beach, and is a breeding ground for fish such as rays, dogfish, common dab and bass.
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.
The main road through the village passes over a cattle grid to the west, which marks the start of Fairwood Common.
[24] Notable residents include Andrew Jones (filmmaker) and David Stacey (Actor).
