In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Gower like this:
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.
Gower through time
Gower is now part of Swansea district. Click here for graphs and data of how Swansea has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Gower itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Gower, in Swansea and Glamorgan | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/20088
Date accessed: 19th March 2024
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