Port Eynon

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Coordinates: 51°32′43″N 4°12′54″W / 51.545319°N 4.215000°W / 51.545319; -4.215000
Port Eynon

Port Eynon Bay
Port Eynon

 Port Eynon shown within Swansea
Population 574 (2001 census)
OS grid reference SS465852
Principal area Swansea
Ceremonial county West Glamorgan
Country Wales
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town SWANSEA
Postcode district SA3
Dialling code 01792
Police South Wales
Fire Mid and West Wales
Ambulance Welsh
EU Parliament Wales
UK Parliament Gower
Welsh Assembly Gower
List of places
UK
Wales
Swansea

Port Eynon (also spelt Port Einon, Porth Einon in Welsh) is a village and community in the city and county of Swansea, Wales. The community has its own elected community council. The village is located in the remote south western corner of the Gower Peninsula which is a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Port Eynon Bay

Port Eynon Bay is a very popular beach resort beside the village of Port Eynon. Port Eynon Point, to the south west of the bay, is the most southerly point of the Gower Peninsula. The bay is also in the area of outstanding natural beauty.

Both Port Eynon and Horton beaches have suffered from denudation of their sand cover, possibly caused by dredging activities in the Bristol Channel.

Port Eynon Village

The village itself is fairly small and extends from the beach to the top of the hill. Port Eynon village has two fish and chip shops and a gift shop at the sea front, a Youth Hostel, pub, coffee shop and a restaurant.

A neighbouring village, Overton, is to the north west of Port Eynon and footpaths from Overton lead to Overton Mere, a stony and rocky beach. Also, the village of Horton is at the east end of the main beach, approximately half a mile from Port Eynon.

History

Port Eynon is thought to be named after Prince Einion of Deheubarth[1] or an 11th-century Welsh Prince named Eynon.[citation needed] Eynon is a surname in Wales and the church graveyard in the village shows gravestones with this surname. It is believed that the Prince built Port Eynon castle which no longer exists. [citation needed]

Smuggling is thought to have been a common engagement of the local residents in the 17th century to 19th century. [citation needed]

A derelict "salt house" used for extracting salt from sea water is located a quarter of a mile from the village, just off Port Eynon Point.

In the second half of the 18th century, through to 1919, a lifeboat was operated from Port Eynon. On several occasions, the lives of lifeboatmen were lost at sea on rescues. On the 1st January 1916 the lives of three young men were lost in when the lifeboat went to the assistance of SS Dunvegan which was shipwrecked off Oxwich point. A memorial to these men exists in the village churchyard. Copies of news articles on the Disaster can be seen on the wall of the local fish and chip shop in Port Eynon.

External links

References

  1. Cowley, Marilyn. "The Eynon Name". 1997. Accessed 19 Feb 2013.
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