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The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland - 1868

In 1868, the parish of Oystermouth contained the following places:

"OYSTERMOUTH, a parish in the hundred of Swansea, county Glamorgan, 4 miles S.W. of Swansea, its post town, and 10 from Llanelly. The village is situated on the Bristol Channel. It is a bathing place, and has considerably increased of late years. The parish contains the villages of Mumbles, Newton, and Norton. Seated on an eminence, backed up by a huge cliff of limestone, are the ruins of Oystermouth Castle, which was founded by Henry Beaumont, or Richard de Granville, in the 11th century. A portion of the ruins have been restored at the expense of the Duke of Beaufort. The inhabitants are chiefly employed in the lime-works and oyster fisheries. The living is a perpetual curacy in the diocese of St. David, value £85. The church, dedicated to All Saints, has an embattled tower. The interior of the church contains a tomb to Bowdler, editor of the "Family Shakespeare." The parochial charities produce about £6 per annum. There is a place of worship for the Independents. A tram rail is constructed to Swansea. Oystermouth being situated under a lofty limestone rock, the direct rays of the sun are excluded for three months out of the year."

"LANGLANDS BAY, in the parish of Oystermouth, on the coast of county Glamorgan, 1 mile W. of Mumbles Head."

"MUMBLES, a village in the parish of Oystermouth, county Glamorgan, 4 miles S.W. of Swansea, with which it is connected by a short line of railway. It is situated on the bay in the Bristol Channel, and has a good roadstead with 2½ fathoms water. Near it is the Mixon shoal. It is a fishing village of ancient date, and has a coastguard station. During the season it is much frequented as a bathing-place in Gower. Mumbles is celebrated for its pickled oysters, and for its lime pits near Mumbles Head. At the entrance of the bay, on Mumbles Head, there is a fixed light, 143 feet above sea-level, erected in 1798."

"NEWTON, a village in the parish of Oystermouth, county Glamorgan, 5 miles S.W. of Swansea. It is a decayed bathing place, and a subport to Swansea. The Via Julia passed in the vicinity."

"NORTON, a hamlet in the parish of Oystermouth, county Glamorgan, 4 miles S.W. of Swansea."

"THE MIXON SANDS, a shoal in the parish of Oystermouth, on the coast of Glamorgan, off Mumbles Head, where the Arietta was lost in 1848.

[Transcribed from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland 1868]
by Colin Hinson ©2018