The Gower Peninsula and shipwrecks have become synonymous with each
other over the centuries, mostly as a result of the two hundred and
fifty plus vessels that have come to grief along its treacherous
coastline. The aim of this website is to record and document any remains
and artefacts that still exist from those wrecks, as well as to tell
their associated tales of woe. I have already witnessed for myself how
quickly a shipwrecks fragile remains can be destroyed and am determined
that no more should be lost without at least having been recorded for
prosperity, if not saved altogether.
To achieve my goal I have been walking the Gower coastline since 2007 and will continue to do so for many years to come. Each new discovery has had me trawling through what limited sources of information exist in an effort to accurately identify each ship as best as I can. But this is not designed to be a static website. I would love to hear from you the readers. Let me know if you have any extra information to add or just want to talk about a particular ship. Equally I would be very grateful if anyone has any older photographs of any of the wrecks detailed here that I could include on the site.
Gower and its ships - An introduction
The Gower Peninsula is a beautiful area of South Wales located west of Swansea and an hours drive from Cardiff. Designated as the UK's first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1956, the region is packed with history, nature and some of the most spectacular scenery to be found in South Wales.
People have been living and working in this environment for over 25,000 years and as a result their stories can be found living on, if you know where to look. Through copper smelting, coal mining and two world wars the shipping channels around Gower have been traversed by a countless number of vessels, the vast majority without incident. Every now and then though a freak storm, equipment failure, act of God or even simple human error have led to another group of hardy seamen finding themselves a little closer to Gower than they had originally intended. For many the incidents resulted in nothing more than a financial hit and a good dunking. For those less fortunate it all too often ended up in a tragic loss of life.
Today the waters here are much quieter and thankfully incidents of shipwreck are almost entirely extinct. Each retreating tide soon gives up its dark secrets though as smashed hulls are left exposed for people such as myself to wander at. Even the local churchyards bare their scars with a surprisingly large number of headstones containing the words "lost at sea". In many cases these reminders of past lives have passed almost entirely from living memory, and that is wrong. Hopefully through this website and the work of others that is something that we can change.
I must make thanks at this point to Carl Smith, author of the fantastic "Gower Coast Shipwrecks" book that partly inspired the creation of this website and my quest. Though I am only going to be focusing on those wrecks that still exist today, his book and website contain brilliant information covering the full two hundred plus vessels that have come to harm on Gower. Without him I wouldn't have known anything of what is out there to be discovered. If you would like to read further around this subject I would suggest either picking up his book (if you can find a copy) or alternatively heading over to his website.
To achieve my goal I have been walking the Gower coastline since 2007 and will continue to do so for many years to come. Each new discovery has had me trawling through what limited sources of information exist in an effort to accurately identify each ship as best as I can. But this is not designed to be a static website. I would love to hear from you the readers. Let me know if you have any extra information to add or just want to talk about a particular ship. Equally I would be very grateful if anyone has any older photographs of any of the wrecks detailed here that I could include on the site.
Gower and its ships - An introduction
The Gower Peninsula is a beautiful area of South Wales located west of Swansea and an hours drive from Cardiff. Designated as the UK's first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1956, the region is packed with history, nature and some of the most spectacular scenery to be found in South Wales.
People have been living and working in this environment for over 25,000 years and as a result their stories can be found living on, if you know where to look. Through copper smelting, coal mining and two world wars the shipping channels around Gower have been traversed by a countless number of vessels, the vast majority without incident. Every now and then though a freak storm, equipment failure, act of God or even simple human error have led to another group of hardy seamen finding themselves a little closer to Gower than they had originally intended. For many the incidents resulted in nothing more than a financial hit and a good dunking. For those less fortunate it all too often ended up in a tragic loss of life.
Today the waters here are much quieter and thankfully incidents of shipwreck are almost entirely extinct. Each retreating tide soon gives up its dark secrets though as smashed hulls are left exposed for people such as myself to wander at. Even the local churchyards bare their scars with a surprisingly large number of headstones containing the words "lost at sea". In many cases these reminders of past lives have passed almost entirely from living memory, and that is wrong. Hopefully through this website and the work of others that is something that we can change.
I must make thanks at this point to Carl Smith, author of the fantastic "Gower Coast Shipwrecks" book that partly inspired the creation of this website and my quest. Though I am only going to be focusing on those wrecks that still exist today, his book and website contain brilliant information covering the full two hundred plus vessels that have come to harm on Gower. Without him I wouldn't have known anything of what is out there to be discovered. If you would like to read further around this subject I would suggest either picking up his book (if you can find a copy) or alternatively heading over to his website.
Gower Coast Shipwrecks by Carl Smith ISBN: 0 9515281 4 9