Rhossili Bay
At the end of Gower, a three-mile beach holds a shipwreck that surfaces at low tide and a tidal island named after a dragon.
Published
Quick Facts
- Location
- Western tip of the Gower Peninsula, near Swansea, South Wales
- Length
- About 3 miles (4.8 km) of continuous sand
- Highest point behind the bay
- The Beacon on Rhossili Down, about 193 metres
- Famous wreck
- The Helvetia, wrecked in November 1887
- Tidal island
- Worms Head, about a mile long, reachable on foot only around low tide
- Nearby settlements
- Rhossili at the southern end, Llangennith at the north
- Protected status
- Part of Gower, which in 1956 became the UK's first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
- Known for
- Surfing, paragliding, sunsets and regular spots on lists of Britain's best beaches
The beach with a wooden skeleton
Come at the right moment on a low tide and the ribs of a ship stick up out of the sand at the southern end of the bay. They belong to the Helvetia, a wooden vessel driven ashore in November 1887. The sand shifts constantly, so the wreck is not always on show. Sometimes it is buried for long stretches, then a few storms later the timbers are back. It is one of the best-known shipwrecks on the Welsh coast, and it turns a long walk on an empty beach into a small treasure hunt. The Helvetia is not alone. The tides around Gower have caught out many ships over the centuries, which is part of why this coast has such a reputation among divers and wreck-spotters.
Why a headland is named after a dragon
At the southern tip, a rocky spine runs out to sea like the back of a sleeping creature. That is Worms Head. The name has nothing to do with earthworms. It comes from the Old Norse word for a serpent or dragon, and the shape explains why the Vikings chose it. The island is about a mile long and joined to the mainland by a rocky causeway that is passable only for a few hours around low tide. Walkers who cross have to watch the clock, because the sea cuts them off again. Every year people get stranded and need rescuing, so tide tables matter here. The headland is also a wildlife stronghold, with seabirds nesting on the cliffs and seals often seen around the rocks.
The hill that looks down on everything
Behind the sands rises Rhossili Down, a long heather and bracken ridge whose highest point, the Beacon, stands around 193 metres above the sea. From the top you can see the whole curve of the bay below, with Worms Head at one end. People have been up here for thousands of years. The ridge carries prehistoric remains, including the Neolithic burial chamber known as Sweyne's Howes and several Bronze Age cairns. The name Sweyne is later and Norse in flavour, another reminder of how many peoples have left their mark on the headland. Today the Down is better known for paragliders and hang-gliders, who launch from its slopes and drift over the sand.
A surfers' beach at the other end
The north end of the bay, near Llangennith, is where the surfers gather. The beach faces the Atlantic, so it catches swell that rolls in from the open ocean, and the long, open shore gives it room for dozens of surfers without crowding. This makes Rhossili a bay of two moods. The south end, by Worms Head, is for cliffs, wrecks and views. The north end, by Llangennith, is for boards, wetsuits and camper vans. Because the beach is so long, even a busy summer day feels spacious. A ten-minute walk from either access point usually leaves most of the crowd behind.
The village boy who went to the South Pole
Rhossili has one claim to polar fame. Edgar Evans, the Petty Officer who joined Captain Scott's expedition to the South Pole, was born in 1876 at Middleton on the Rhossili side of Gower. He was among the five men who reached the Pole in January 1912 only to find that Roald Amundsen's Norwegian party had beaten them to it. Evans died on the return journey in February 1912, the first of the party to be lost. A boy raised beside this windswept coast ended up in one of the most famous stories of polar exploration. It is a fitting link. Rhossili's great drama has always been about the sea and what it takes from, and gives back to, the people who live beside it.
What to look for when you go
Check the tide tables first. Low tide reveals the most sand, the best chance of seeing the Helvetia and the possibility of crossing to Worms Head. Walk the cliff path from the village for the classic view over the entire bay. Then descend to the beach and head north, away from the car park, for the quietest sand. Stay for sunset. The beach faces west, and on a clear evening the light turns the whole bay gold. It is the reason so many photographers make the trip, and a good reason for staying out later than planned.
Notable people
- Edgar Evans
- Captain Robert Falcon Scott