Gowerton
Encyclopedia
The village of Gowerton is situated about 4 miles north west of Swansea city centre
Swansea city centre
Swansea city centre in Swansea, Wales, contains the main shopping, leisure and nightlife district in Swansea. The city centre covers much of the Castle ward including the area around Oxford Street, Castle Square, and the Quadrant Shopping Centre; Alexandra Road, High Street, Wind Street and the...

, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

. Gowerton is often known as the gateway to Gower
Gower Peninsula
Gower or the Gower Peninsula is a peninsula in south Wales, jutting from the coast into the Bristol Channel, and administratively part of the City and County of Swansea. Locally it is known as "Gower"...

. Gowerton's original name was Ffosfelin. The village falls within the Gowerton electoral ward
Gowerton (electoral ward)
Gowerton is the name of an electoral ward, a community in the county of Swansea, Wales, UK. It is named after Gowerton village which falls within the ward....

 of Swansea
Swansea
Swansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands...

.

In 1980, the Welsh National Eisteddfod was hosted on the 'Elba' area of the village, the Eisteddfod stone (Gorsedd stones
Gorsedd stones
Gorsedd Stones are groups of standing stones constructed for the National Eisteddfod of Wales. They form an integral part of the druidic Gorsedd ceremonies of the Eisteddfod...

) is located on the round-about opposite the garage on the road to Penclawdd.

Geography

Gowerton is bordered by Penclawdd
Penclawdd
Penclawdd is a village which is situated in the north of the Gower Peninsula in Swansea, Wales. Penclawdd is most famous for its local cockle industry which goes back for many years to Roman times. It falls within the Penclawdd electoral ward. It is one of the larger villages on the Gower Peninsula...

, Dunvant
Dunvant
Dunvant is a suburban district in the City and County of Swansea, Wales, and falls within the Dunvant ward. It is situated in a valley some 4.5 miles west of Swansea city centre.-History:...

, Waunarlwydd
Waunarlwydd
Waunarlwydd is a village near Swansea, Wales, falling within the Cockett ward.A mostly residential area, the pronunciation of Waunarlwydd is approximately like "Wine are Lloyd" in English...

, Kingsbridge
Kingsbridge, Swansea
Kingsbridge , is a village in the City and County of Swansea, Wales falling within the Kingsbridge ward.-Location:Kingsbridge lies to the south of Gorseinon and Penllergaer, to the east of Penyrheol, to the north of Gowerton and Cockett, and to the west of Penderry.-Local Facilities:Kingsbridge...

, Three Crosses, Loughor
Loughor
Loughor is a town in the City and County of Swansea, Wales, within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales. It lies on the estuary of the River Loughor. The town has a community council called Llwchwr....

 and Garden Village

People from Gowerton are often referred to as 'starch' on account of when the local area processed Steel destined for the far reaches of the Empire. The Steel owners and white collar workers all resided in the Gowerton area hence the name 'starch'.

This contrasts with the manual workers who resided in neighbouring Penclawdd and are known by the affectionate term 'donks', though there is some debate as to whether this is a referral to the predominance of donkeys on the marshes gathering the world famous cockles.

Gowerton is twinned with La Gacilly
La Gacilly
La Gacilly is a commune in the Morbihan department of Brittany in north-western France.-Twin towns:La Gacilly is twinned with Gowerton in Swansea, Wales, UK.-References:* * -External links:* *...

 in the Bretagne
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...

 région
Régions of France
France is divided into 27 administrative regions , 22 of which are in Metropolitan France, and five of which are overseas. Corsica is a territorial collectivity , but is considered a region in mainstream usage, and is even shown as such on the INSEE website...

of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

.

Education

Gowerton has four schools: Tregŵyr Infants School, Tregŵyr Junior School, Gowerton Comprehensive School and Ysgol Gyfun Gŵyr (Welsh medium comprehensive school).

Religion

Gowerton once had five churches: St John's Church (built 1882), Tabernacl, Temple United Reformed Church, Bethel and Bethania. However, only two, St John's Church and Temple URC still remain. The Bethel and Tabernacl buildings lie ruined and Bethania has been demolished.
A modern Bible based church also exsits within Gowerton, Oasis Church meet at the Conservative Club on Saturdays.

Transport

Bus services are provided by First Cymru
First Cymru
First Cymru Buses Ltd. is a provider of public transport bus services in South Wales. First Cymru was formed from a number of privatised former bus companies, including South Wales Transport. Its headquarters are in Penlan, Swansea...

 and Veolia Cymru. These depart Gowerton, Hill Street or Sterry Road.

Gowerton railway station
Gowerton railway station
Gowerton railway station serves the village of Gowerton, Wales. It is located at street level on Station Road in Gowerton. Since it is unmanned, tickets need to be bought in advance or on the train...

 is served by the West Wales Line
West Wales Line
The West Wales Lines are a group of railway lines from Swansea through Carmarthenshire to Pembrokeshire, West Wales...

. Gowerton once had two railway stations, but today only one remains. This was made single-track in 1986.

Sport

The local rugby club is Gowerton RFC
Gowerton RFC
Gowerton Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union club based in Gowerton near Swansea, Wales; officially founded in 1884. Gowerton RFC is a member of the Welsh Rugby Union and is a feeder club for the Ospreys....

which is based just outside the village.

Gowerton's Elba Sports Complex is home to Swansea Senior League Second Division, Gowerton FC.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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