The Mumbles (Welsh: Y Mwmbwls) is a district of Swansea, Wales, located on the south-east corner of the unitary authority area. It is also a local government community using the same name. At the 2001 census the population was 16,774, reduced slightly to 16,600 at the 2011 Census. The district is named after the headland of Mumbles, located on its south-east corner.
Archaeological evidence indicates that an ancient submerged forest was located on what is now the foreshore of Mumbles Bay[citation needed] The bones of bears, wolves, hyenas, deer, rhinoceros and mammoth have been discovered there. A bone cave at the western tip of Caswell Bay was excavated in 1832[citation needed] but has since been destroyed by the sea. Another cave, at the Inner Sound, Mumbles Head, was blown up by quarrymen in 1838 but not before elephant bones had been found. Also scattered around the bays of Mumbles and Gower are the bones of sixteen Ice Age mammals, including a mammoth tooth measuring ten centimetres across, which is on display in Swansea Museum.
The first human crop growers arrived in the area over 5,000 years ago.[2] However, evidence of human habitation is much older and possibly dates as far back as 30,000 years ago—established by the dating of the famous Paviland skeleton located in a cave some 10–15 miles along the coast from Mumbles Head.[3] The skeleton is kept in the Oxford Museum of Natural History, having been excavated by Rev William Buckland, who was Professor of Geology at Oxford University at the time. However, Swansea Museum has two well-finished flint axe-heads, one from Newton and one from an allotment on Mumbles Hill. Much of what we know about the first metalworkers, in the Bronze Age, has been learned from their tombs: pieces of pottery, a cairn and remains of a hut were found. The cliffs above the Redcliffe flats at Caswell Bay contain the ridged remnants of a Redley Cliff Iron Age hill-fort.
There is evidence that the Romans were based in Mumbles in a villa on the site of the present All Saints Church in Oystermouth. When the site was being extended in 1860, workmen removing a bank of earth on the south side of the original building accidentally broke up a Roman tessellated pavement, or mosaic floor. This was previously a pagan site, as were many sites of worship in the UK which subsequently became places of worship at the onset of Christianity. In this area it has been reported that Romano British gentlemen of Roman Wales may have eaten oysters from the oysterbeds off the shore below the site at Oystermouth, or Ystumllwynarth. The Norman Castle at Oystermouth was built during the first half of the 12th century - one of many castles built in Gower as a defense against the native Welsh Princes who sought to re-claim the lands stolen by the Norman invaders. [the Royal Commission on Ancient & Historical Monuments in Wales, Glamorgan, The Early Castles, London, HMSO, 1991]. The architectural merits of the church, castle and other buildings in Oystermouth are discussed in J.Newman, The Buildings of Wales: Glamorgan, London, Penguin/University of Wales Press, 1995.
Mumbles seafront
Three of the bells in All Saints Church once belonged to the Jesuit church of La Compañía ("The Company") in Santiago, Chile. They seem to have been brought to Mumbles by Aubrey Vivian after the fire of 1863 burnt down the Jesuit church, killing 2,000 people. The family of industrialist Henry Vivian had business connections with the copper mines of Chile.
In 1793, the Mumbles Lighthouse was erected on the outer of the two tidal islands of Mumbles Head.[4] In 1806, the Oystermouth Railway was built between Oystermouth and Swansea with the intention of carrying coal to Swansea. The potential for carrying passengers was soon seen and a horse-drawn railway passenger service was started on 25 March 1807, making it the first such service in the world. It became enormously popular and was commonly called 'the Mumbles train'. Following the development of the rail service, Mumbles became a popular tourist destination. To capitalise on this, the Mumbles railway was extended and a pier was constructed and opened in 1898 to serve as the new terminus. An RNLIlifeboat slipway was added to the pier in the summer of 1916 and a boathouse was finally built on it in 1922; these remain in use. [Needs updating as there is a new boathouse].
On 23 April 1947, the Mumbles lifeboat lost a crew of eight men while attempting to rescue the crew of the Samtampa that had run aground on Sker Point. The Mumbles railway was closed in January 1960 and dismantled - a controversial decision that still resonates in the locality (calls to "bring back the Mumbles train" are still frequently heard and printed in local newspapers).
Soon after it was built in 1898, the end of the Mumbles Pier became home to Bandstand Concerts and on the landward side was a Winter Garden both of which attracted large crowds. It was advertised by the Swansea and Mumbles Railway as 'The Prettiest Pier in the Bristol Channel' and the 'Mumbles Press' on 13 April 1911, featured the Skating Rinks as well as Hanney's Select Military Band. In the 1950s, a large entertainment center on the end of the Pier included 'Dodgems' Coconut Shies and other fairground attractions. Near the bridge to the lifeboat, two Amusement Kiosks survived from Edwardian days. The landward side of the Pier had a Cafe, with a 'Penny Slot Arcade' alongside and a popular Dance Hall was part of the 'Pier Hotel.' The amusement complex was redeveloped at the land end of the Mumbles Pier in 1966 and this proved to be a profitable attraction to visitors, resulting in the addition of a new building containing an amusement arcade, restaurant and bowling alley.
Swansea Lifeboat Station from Mumbles Pier
The 'Mumbles Mile' is a stretch of road in Mumbles once notable for its concentration of pubs. It has long been a popular destination for pub crawls and binge drinking. Famous poet Dylan Thomas was said to have enjoyed many hours at The Mermaid. The 'Mumbles Mile' began to decline in popularity during the 1990s because of pressure from the local council and increased competition from Swansea's night attractions. Now, there are only five pubs on the 'mile', whereas there were once upwards of 20.
The Encyclopedia of Wales says that Mumbles has always been considered a place apart; as the verse puts it:
The origin of the name "Mumbles" is obscure. Wyn Owen and Morgan (2008) cite several possibilities: Middle Englishmomele ("to mumble"), describing the "mumbling" of the sea next to the rocks; Latinmamillae meaning "breasts", in reference to the breast shaped silhouette of the islands and headland, and Old Norsemúli (snout, promontory).[5]
Mumbles was part of Oystermouth Urban District established in 1894,[7] which was merged with the County Borough of Swansea in 1918.[8] The Mumbles is in the Oystermouth electoral ward, while the current Mumbles community also includes the surrounding electoral wards of Mayals, Newton and West Cross.
The Mixture: Mumbles and Harry Libby, Harry Libby, c.1957 (self published by the author, Trebellan, Southend, Mumbles)
The Mumbles - Past and Present, Norman L. Thomas, 1978, ISBN0906199026
A Childhood in Mumbles & Gower, Freda Marrison, 1995 (The Cottle Printing Company, Oystermouth, Gower)
Once Upon A Village, Aspects of Life in Mumbles 1901-1914, Carol Powell, 1996 (Inalong Publishing, Mayals, Swansea)
Images of Wales: Mumbles and Gower Pubs, Brian E. Davies, 2008, ISBN9780752437798
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Swansea is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea.
Until 1974, Glamorgan, or sometimes Glamorganshire, was an administrative county in the south of Wales, and later classed as one of the thirteen historic counties of Wales. Originally an early medieval petty kingdom of varying boundaries known in Welsh as Morgannwg, which was then invaded and taken over by the Normans as the Lordship of Glamorgan. The area that became known as Glamorgan was both a rural, pastoral area, and a conflict point between the Norman lords and the Welsh princes. It was defined by a large concentration of castles.
Gower or the Gower Peninsula is in South West Wales and is the most westerly part of the historic county of Glamorgan, Wales. It projects towards the Bristol Channel. In 1956, the majority of Gower became the first area in the United Kingdom to be designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Mumbles is a headland sited on the western edge of Swansea Bay on the southern coast of Wales.
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The Swansea and Mumbles Railway was the venue for the world's first passenger horsecar railway service, located in Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom.
Oystermouth is a village in the district of Mumbles, Swansea, Wales. It is part of the Mumbles community.
The history of Swansea covers a period of continuous occupation stretching back a thousand years, while there is archaeological evidence of prehistoric human occupation of the surrounding area for thousands of years before that.
Oystermouth Castle is a Norman stone castle in Wales, overlooking Swansea Bay on the east side of the Gower Peninsula near the village of Mumbles.
Caswell Bay, is a beach on the south east of the Gower Peninsula, Swansea, Wales. It is a sandy beach popular with families, holiday makers and surfers, and it regularly achieves Blue Flag status.
The Grade II listed structure of Mumbles Pier is an 835 feet (255 m) long Victorian pleasure pier built in 1898. It is located at the south-western corner of Swansea Bay near the village of Mumbles, within the city and county of Swansea, Wales. The pier is used for fishing and tourism, offering panoramic views of Swansea Bay with the Mumbles Lighthouse on one side and Port Talbot on the other.
The suburban district of Sketty is about 2 miles (3.2 km) west of the Swansea city centre on Gower Road. It falls within the Sketty council ward of Swansea. It is also a community.
The Mumbles Lifeboat Station opened in 1835 with a lifeboat that was funded and managed by Swansea Harbour Trustees and was known as Swansea Lifeboat Station. The station was taken over by the RNLI in 1863 and moved to Mumbles in 1866. The station only officially became The Mumbles Lifeboat Station in 1904.
The Mount, which was located in Swansea on the Oystermouth Railway and which first opened to passengers in 1807, was the world's first recorded railway station. It was the point on the railway at which Benjamin French commenced to pick up passengers for the journey to Oystermouth on or after 25 March 1807. The station's physical form is not known, and it is unlikely that any special facilities were provided, but its location was close to the later site of the Royal Institution of South Wales.
The Mumbles lifeboat disaster occurred in 1947 off south Wales when the Mumbles lifeboat was undertaking a rescue off Sker Point but was overwhelmed by the sea. All eight people in the lifeboat died as result.
Jessie Ace (1860–1936) and Margaret Wright are known for their rescue of crewmen from the Mumbles lifeboat, which had gone to assist a wrecked German barque during an 1883 storm at Mumbles Head, Wales.
All Saints' Church, Oystermouth is an Anglican church in the Diocese of Swansea and Brecon, South Wales. It is located in Mumbles and is a Grade II listed building The church stands on a hillside, not far from Oystermouth Castle.
The geology of the Gower Peninsula in South Wales is central to the area's character and to its appeal to visitors. The peninsula is formed almost entirely from a faulted and folded sequence of Carboniferous rocks though both the earlier Old Red Sandstone and later New Red Sandstone are also present. Gower lay on the southern margin of the last ice sheet and has been a focus of interest for researchers and students in that respect too. Cave development and the use of some for early human occupation is a further significant aspect of the peninsula's scientific and cultural interest.
Southend railway station served the area of Mumbles, in the historical county of Glamorgan, Wales, from 1807 to 1960 on the Swansea and Mumbles Railway.
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