Port Eynon

Port Eynon
250px 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. The Youth Hostel is a converted lifeboat house, situated on the south end of the bay, near the salt house. 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. Public transport is good throughout the season, and buses link the beaches so you walk to a beach and catch the bus back. Port Eynon is situated on the Wales Coastal path and is well signposted from Rhossili and Oxwich.

History

Port Eynon is thought to be named after Prince Einion of Deheubarth or an 11th-century Welsh Prince named Eynon. 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.

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

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

• Information on Port Eynon village
• www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Port Eynon and surrounding area