Llanmadoc
The historic landscape area of Llanmadoc encompasses the village settlement and its surrounding associated field system, bordered by the mass of Llanmadoc Hill to the south, and Cwm Ivy Marsh, Burry Holms and the Tors to the northwest, with Cheriton and Burry Pill to the east.
Llanmadoc sits at the foot of Llanmadoc Hill, near the Burry River. Although there is a great deal of archaeological evidence of Bronze Age activity on Llanmadoc Hill (including the Bulwark fort), there is little to suggest contemporary settlement in this area, though this is quite probable given its prime location in fertile land close to the sea.
As it currently stands, St Madoc’s Church, Llanmadoc, dates from the twelfth century; however, it is regarded as having been founded much earlier in the sixth century by Saint Madoc. Following the Anglo-Norman annexation of the area, the church was granted first to the Knights Templar in 1156 by Margaret, Countess of Warwick, and after the suppression of the order imposed by Pope Clement V in 1309, to the Knights Hospitallers of St John of Jerusalem. In turn, the church passed to the Crown with the dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII.
Little of the church’s history is documented until the late nineteenth century, when renovations began. The present condition of the church is largely due to the Reverend J. D. Davies, a local historian, who contributed £500 towards its restoration. Completed in 1866, the works included partial rebuilding of the nave, tower and chancel. All windows were restored, except the eastern window to the south of the chancel, which may be the original medieval east window relocated.
The lighthouse was constructed in 1854, first lit in 1865 and automated with gas in 1919. It stands 13.5 metres high and its light had a range of seven nautical miles. Built in elegant Victorian style, it featured a gallery encircling the tower near the top and an external ladder.
Three Argand lamps and reflectors were originally fitted, with the Harbour Master adding a fourth lamp in 1876 to shine west along the north channel. The Admiralty chart of 1887 shows the “arc of visibility” of the lights extending from slightly west of south, through north, to slightly south of east.
The lighthouse equipment is listed in an inventory of 1888, which indicates that provision was made for two lighthouse keepers, although census returns name only one. The working pattern involved two weeks at Whiteford Lighthouse alternating with two weeks at Llanelli Harbour Lighthouse.
The light was extinguished in 1921 by Trinity House and replaced by the Burry Holms light. In 1982, the Burry Port Yacht Club, supported by the Llanelli Harbour Trust, fitted a new solar-powered light to Whiteford Lighthouse. This new light was fully automatic, switching on as daylight faded to a pre-determined level. Nautical almanacs record the light as flashing every five seconds.
Cheriton
There is an old tale that the church at Landimore was lost to the sea, and modern research has revealed some truth in this story. Cheriton was once part of the extensive community of Landimore, with a church standing on the same site as today’s building. On Saint Michael’s Day, 28 September 1014, the church was almost destroyed by a tsunami caused by a meteor landing in the Atlantic.
A wave approximately 20 metres high spread along the European coastline, up the Irish Sea to Scotland, and along the English coast and Channel as far as Germany. The devastation would have filled Cheriton Valley to the level of what is now The Britannia public house. The church was left in a ruinous state, with only part of the west wall of the nave remaining.
Sometime before 1165, the de Turberville family granted the church and parish to the Knights Hospitaller, who built the church seen today in the late thirteenth or early fourteenth century. This marked the establishment of Churchtown, later known as Cheriton.
In the late nineteenth century, a new porch and vestry were added, along with extensive fine carving carried out by the Rector and historian, the Reverend J. D. Davies. St Cadoc’s is the only parish church among the seven Grade I listed buildings in the County of Swansea.
Glebe House, also built by the Order, is contemporary with the church and is the oldest occupied building in Gower. It possesses several significant architectural features, resulting in a Grade II listing.
Nearby stood Great House, dating to the early seventeenth century. Sir Matthew Craddock built a fine country house which he could visit from his large mansion within the grounds of Swansea Castle. Located on the left side of the road when travelling uphill from the bridge towards Llanmadoc, the house was demolished in the early nineteenth century. Only fragments of possible boundary walls remain.
The church houses two early medieval monuments, both scheduled: a pillar stone located in the churchyard dating between the seventh and ninth centuries, and a stone bearing two incised crosses dating from before the ninth century, originally found in the churchyard wall and since relocated.
As is characteristic of much of Gower, due to its limestone geology and historic exploitation of this resource, limekilns and quarries are found throughout the area surrounding Llanmadoc village. Their condition varies according to date and construction, with later kilns built after the late eighteenth century being more substantial. Samuel Lewis recorded in 1833 that the limestone trade remained considerable, with exports to Cornwall and Devon.
Early maps depict the village of Llanmadoc, the cluster of farms forming the hamlet of Cwm Ivy, and ribbon development along Frog Lane, alongside various isolated farms and cottages along the southern and western fringes of the area. Llanmadoc likely developed initially around its early medieval church, St Madoc’s, and its churchyard.
The early settlement lay at the junction of the main east–west route and a north–south route running from the coast beyond Cwm Ivy, via Catchpool Farm, to the common of Llanmadoc Hill. Land to the northeast of the church appears to have been associated with the medieval grange of the Knights Templar, with scattered finds of medieval coins and artefacts indicating activity.
Ribbon development of farmhouses and cottages is associated with irregular enclosures surrounded by remnants of former common land. Rhiwlas Green appears on early maps as a small hamlet with cottages, irregular enclosures and a common green extending to the boundary of Llanmadoc Hill common.
Further east lies Frog Lane, extending from the former Farmer’s Arms to the Britannia Inn at the edge of the open common. Trinity Chapel (Calvinistic Methodist), a smithy behind the Village Hall, and several springs were built on former rough grazing. Trinity Chapel was built in 1817 as a school and meeting house at the expense of Lady Barham of Fairy Hill, Reynoldston, and rebuilt in 1868.
The wider fieldscape comprises a varied pattern of irregular enclosures with fossilised strip fields, particularly north of Llanmadoc between Frog Lane and Cwm Ivy. These likely represent remnants of medieval open-field sharelands. Dispersed farmsteads along the margins of Llanmadoc Hill common reflect piecemeal encroachment.
Small quarries with associated limekilns are found at Hills Farm, east of Cwm Ivy, and south of Pill House. These features formed part of an extensive coastal lime trade during the nineteenth century. By 1913 production was in decline, and the last commercial kiln in the area, at Hills Farm, closed during the 1930s.
Whiteford Lighthouse
The first Whiteford Lighthouse was built on piles between 1854 and 1855 but proved unable to withstand constant wave action. The current lighthouse was designed by John Bowen (1825–1873) of Llanelli for the Llanelli Harbour and Burry Navigation Commissioners.
It stands on the “Scar”, a jagged outcrop of rock formed during the last Ice Age. The structure is a cast-iron cylindrical tower with a pitched stone apron at its base. Originally bitumen-coated, it was black in appearance and stands just above low-water level in an exposed, wave-swept position.