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Rhossili (Welsh : Rhosili; ) is both a small village and a community on the southwestern tip of the Gower Peninsula [1] in Wales. It is within the first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in the United Kingdom. The village has a community council and is part of the Gower parliamentary constituency, and the Gower electoral ward. At the 2011 census, the population was 278. The community includes the hamlet of Middleton.
The name derives from the Welsh word rhos meaning a moor and the personal name Sulein, hence "Sulein's moorland promontory".[ clarification needed ] [2] Rhossili is a popular tourist destination: the views from the headland and the Down are panoramic; several pleasant walks begin, end, or pass through the village; Iron Age remains are found on Rhossili Down. The 2.8-mile (4.5 km) wide sandy beach is backed with sand dunes and attracts surfers at the Llangennith end as well as along the entire stretch of beach.
The present Norman church is dedicated to St Mary the Virgin. Inside there is a memorial to Edgar Evans, who was the first to perish on the Terra Nova Expedition with Captain Scott on the return from the South Pole.
Rhossili Bay curves along an arc running northwards from the village. The 2.8-mile (4.5 km) wide sandy beach is backed with sand dunes. Some locals refer to the beach as Llangennith Sands. Behind the beach just north of the village is Rhossili Down with the highest point on the Gower Peninsula, the Beacon (193 metres), and a number of prehistoric remains. It is between Rhossili Down and the beach that the Warren is found. In some of the fields on "The Vile" in Rhossili, the National Trust plant every year around 400,000 sunflowers. This is an extremely popular attraction for visitors to take selfies at during late July and early August, however there have been issues with some visitors picking the flowers. [3] [4]
At the southern end of the Bay is Worm's Head, consisting of two tidal islands: Outer Head184 feet (56 m) and Inner Head154 feet (47 m). At the north is Burry Holms. These islands are accessible only at low tide.
Rhossili Bay featured in the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games, a youth choir began a cappella performances of "Bread of Heaven" live on the beach which was broadcast at the Olympic Stadium. [5] The bay has been used as the setting of New Earth in the sci-fi show Doctor Who and the bay including the Old Rectory was used in Torchwood: Miracle Day . In 2014, it was voted the UK's number one beach, third best in Europe, and 9th best in the world, by TripAdvisor users. [6] [7]
Fall Bay is one of the most remote and hardest to reach beaches on Gower. The beach is never crowded due to its remoteness. There is no beach visible at high tide. The beach is very popular with surfers. At very low tide, it is possible to walk over from the beach to Mewslade Bay. The beach is reachable via a path which passes Rhossili village hall. It continues over fields and many stiles and has a steep final descent. The cliff path leads east to Mewslade Bay [8] or westwards towards the Worm's Head and Rhossili Bay.[ citation needed ]
The National Trust owns and protects much land on the Gower Peninsula. The Trust operates a visitor centre in Rhossili near the Warren, Rhossili Down, Worm's Head, Rhossili beach and coastal cliffs. Scenes from Torchwood: Miracle Day were filmed at the National Trust's Old Rectory cottage in Rhossili Bay. [11] [12]
On 19 June 2011, almost four hundred people attempted to break the world record for the largest number of people skinny dipping at one time in the sea at Rhossili. [13]
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.
Gower electoral ward is an electoral ward in Britain. It is a ward of the City and County of Swansea, and comprises the western part of the Gower Peninsula. It lies within the UK Parliamentary constituency of Gower.
The Bristol Channel is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales and South West England. It extends from the smaller Severn Estuary of the River Severn to the North Atlantic Ocean. It takes its name from the English city and port of Bristol.
Burry Holms, a tidal island with the height of is at the northern end of Rhossili Bay in the Gower Peninsula, Wales. During spring and summer, Burry Holms is covered by flowers such as thrift and sea campion.
Llangennith is a village in the City and County of Swansea, South Wales. It is located in the Gower. Moor Lane leads westwards to a caravan park near Rhossili Bay and Burrows Lane leads northwards to a caravan park overlooking Broughton Bay. The village has a scattering of houses, centred on St Cenydd's church, and the King's Head pub.
Bishopston is a large village and community situated on the Gower Peninsula, 6 miles (9.7 km) west south west of the centre of Swansea in South Wales.
Port Eynon is a village and community within the City and County of Swansea, Wales, on the far south tip of the Gower Peninsula within the designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The A4118 from Swansea city centre terminates here.
Saint Cenydd, sometimes anglicised as Saint Kenneth, was a Christian hermit on the Gower Peninsula in Wales, where he is credited with the foundation of the church at Llangennith.
The Gower Explorer is a bus service, previously operated by Veolia Transport Cymru and now First Cymru, which provides services to Gowerton, Horton, Llangennith, Llanmadoc, Llanrhidian, Oxwich, Penclawdd, Port Eynon, Reynoldston and Rhossili.
Mewslade Bay is a small sandy beach facing SSW in the west of the Gower Peninsula, Wales. It lies south of Middleton and southwest of Pitton, from which footpaths lead to the beach.
Blue Pool Bay is a small cove near the village of Llangennith in Gower, Wales. The cove is bordered by cliffs, and is accessible via a clifftop path and a steep, unstable path down to the beach. The beach is covered fully at high tide and takes its name from a large, natural rockpool. Rhossili Bay is nearby.
Worm's Head is a headland, at Rhossili, part of the City and County of Swansea, Wales. It is the furthest westerly point of the Gower Peninsula. The name Worm's Head is derived from an Old English word 'wyrm' for 'sea serpent'. The headland of carboniferous limestone comprises three islands: the Inner Head, the Middle Head which features a collapsed sea cave which is known as the Devil's Bridge, and the Outer Head. In total, it is approximately one mile long. The Inner Head is up to 200 yards wide. Worm's Head is only accessible on foot for 2+1⁄2 hours either side of low tide, fatal to attempt to wade or swim to when the causeway from the mainland is flooded.
The cuisine of Gower, a peninsula in south Wales, is based on ingredients grown, raised or collected on or around the peninsula. The cuisine is based on fresh ingredients with recipes based around a fish or meat dish. Until the twentieth century, the peninsula was virtually cut off from other markets due to poor roads, and no rail connection. The result was that Gower became self-sufficient in food.
The Gower and Swansea Bay Coast Path (Welsh: Llwybr arfordir Penrhyn Gŵyr a Bae Abertawe is part of the Wales Coast Path, an 1,400-kilometre long-distance walking route around the whole coast of Wales that opened in 2012. The Gower and Swansea Bay stretch is 156 kilometres in length, running along the coast of the Gower Peninsula from Loughor, Swansea to Kenfig Dunes near Port Talbot, South Wales. The number of people using the Wales Coast Path in the Swansea local authority area was 349,333.
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.
The coastline of Wales extends from the English border at Chepstow westwards to Pembrokeshire then north to Anglesey and back eastwards to the English border once again near Flint. Its character is determined by multiple factors, including the local geology and geological processes active during and subsequent to the last ice age, its relative exposure to or shelter from waves, tidal variation and the history of human settlement and development which varies considerably from one place to another. The majority of the coast east of Cardiff in the south, and of Llandudno in the north, is flat whilst that to the west is more typically backed by cliffs. The cliffs are a mix of sandstones, shales and limestones, the erosion of which provides material for beach deposits. Of the twenty-two principal areas which deliver local government in Wales, sixteen have a coastline, though that of Powys consists only of a short section of tidal river some distance from the open sea. Its length has been estimated at 1,680 miles (2,700 km).
Media related to Rhossili at Wikimedia Commons