A vision of Britain through time
A vision of Britain from 1801 to now.
Including maps, statistical trends and historical descriptions.
A vision of Britain through time
A vision of Britain from 1801 to now.
Including maps, statistical trends and historical descriptions.
GOWER, a peninsula and a sub-district in Glamorgan. The peninsula lies between Swansea bay and Bury river; extends about 15 miles west-south-westward, from a line a little inward of the South Wales railway to Wormshead; and has a mean breadth of about 6½ miles. Its coast is sinuous and much diversified; exhibits a broken limestone character, with many caves; and has, on the ESE side, Mumbles head, Longland bay, Caswell bay, Pwllddu head, Oxwich bay, Oxwich point, Port-Eynon bay, and Port-Eynon point; and on the WNW side, the promontorial headland of Whiteford point. There lie off it also, on the seaward end, Helwick shoals, Rhossili, and Bury Holmes. It contains interesting scenery and numerous antiquities; and had a seat of the Druids at Arthur's Stone cromlech, on Cefn-Bryn. It was overrun by the Normans in 1091-9; and was settled, after 1108, by Flemings and Somersetshire men, who were introduced in the hope that, by their industrious and hardy habits, they might put an end to the turbulence which existed between the Normans and the Welsh. The descendants of these settlers are the chief inhabitants to the present day; and they preserve their distinctiveness in at once language, dress, and customs. An hostelry, called Gower inn, 5 ½ miles from Swansea, on a charming spot at a junction of several glens, affords the only tolerable accommodation for tourists within the peninsula. The poet Gower and Bishop Gower were natives. -The sub-district is mainly identical with the peninsula; is in Swansea district; forms a poor law union; and is divided into two parts, -Eastern, containing four parishes and part of another, -and Western, containing twelve parishes and part of another. Acres of the E part, 21, 858; of the W part, 37, 745. Pop., 4, 962 and 3, 354. Houses, 1, 028 and 736.
(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))
| Linked entities: | |
|---|---|
| Feature Description: | "a peninsula and a sub-district" (ADL Feature Type: "capes") |
| Administrative units: | Gower RegD/PLU Glamorgan AncC |
| Place: | Gower |
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