Oystermouth, Glamorgan

Description
Oystermouth, a village and a parish in Glamorgan, in the Gower peninsula. The village is 4 miles SW of Swansea, and is generally called the Mumbles, and has a post, money order, and telegraph office, under Swansea, and a station on the Swansea and Mumbles railway. The parish contains also the villages of Newton, Norton, and Blackpill, and comprises 2996 acres with 971 of foreshore; population in 1891, 4132, which has since considerably increased. Oystermouth Castle stands on an eminence overlooking the bay, and is a compact and picturesque ivy-clad ruin, probably dating from the Early Decorated period. It has been partly restored by the Duke of Beaufort. It is entered through a gateway, formerly flanked by two towers; has an irregular outline approximating that of an isosceles triangle; and includes, at the NE angle, a heavily-buttressed square tower of three stages, the upper storey of which is an Early Decorated English chapel. Limestone is quarried and calcined; an oyster fishery is carried on. The parish has been divided, and is now governed by an urban district council of twelve members and a rural district council of five members. The Grange and Clyne Park are chief residences. A lighthouse with a fixed light, visible at 15 miles, is on Mumbles Head. There is a coastguard station. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of St David's; gross value, £82. The church is ancient, was partly rebuilt in 1860, and has a fine embattled tower and some Perpendicular windows. It contains an ancient font and a piscina. There are Baptist, Congregational, Presbyterian, and Wesleyan chapels. See MUMBLES.