The Gower peninsula

The Gower peninsula is one of the UK's major tourist attractions and is the best-known district in Wales after Snowdonia. It was the first area in the British Isles to be designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

About seventy square miles in area, the Gower is known for its magnificent coastline, popular with walkers, the interior consisting mainly of farmland and common land. The nearest town of any size is Swansea, situated just to the east of the peninsula; on the Gower itself, the population resides mainly in small villages, of which the best known include Rhossili, Pennard, Oxwich, Bishopston, Ilston, Parkmill and Kittle. The southern coast of the peninsula consists of a series of small rocky or sandy bays: Langland, Caswell, Three Cliffs, etc. At Paviland Cave on south Gower, a human skeleton was discovered by Victorian archaeologists, and has since been dated to an age of about 25,000 years.

The peninsula is bounded by Swansea to the east and the Loughor estuary to the north. The north-western section of the coast includes the famous cockle-beds of Penclawdd. Nowadays, Gower tends increasingly to be a favoured retreat for the retired and the wealthy. It is also extremely popular with holidaymakers.