Rhossili and South Gower Coast

Breathtaking Rhossili bay, with its three mile long sandy beach, is overlooked by the Old Rectory, the most popular National Trust holiday cottage. Visible on the beach at low tide are the remains of the Helvetia, a ship wrecked in 1887.

From the top of Rhossili Down, the highest point on Gower, views of the peninsula can be seen as well as across the sea to West Wales, Lundy Island and the north Devon coast. Rhossili Down is lowland heath and home to a variety of birds and insects including the rare black bog ant. The south Gower coast hosts many rare plants and birds including yellow whitlow grass and choughs.

From the National Trust shop and Visitor Centre in Rhossili there is a level walk along the grassy cliff top to the Old Coastguard Lookout. If the tide is out, the adventurous can cross the rocky causeway to the tidal island of Worms Head, where grey seals can be seen lazing on the rocks below.

Gowers landscape has been shaped by farming since the Stone Age. The Vile, at Rhossili, is an example of a Medieval open field strip system. With many archaeological features at Rhossili and along the south Gower coast, including Neolithic burial chambers, bronze age cairns and Iron Age forts, it is an ideal place to discover these remnants of our ancestors.