Limestone Quarrying in Oystermouth Parish

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 W. Davies in his reports to the Board of Agriculture in 1814 and 1815, noted that 'the limestone of Gower was the best for manure and whitewashing but inferior to the 'lias' kind for strong cement in building. Though called 'white' because ot its 'efflorescent state after calcification',  it came in white, black, black and white, reddish brown. red and white and dove colour and is exclusive to Gower and  South Pembrokeshire'. At this time, much of the quarrying was concentrated at small quars  and larger ones on Mumbles Hill and Head, as well as  along the shore, up at Coltshill and  the new venture at Clement's Quarry (the site of today's quarry car park) . Messrs T & J, Thomas paid a yearly rent of £60 for 'the liberty of raising limestone on part of Mumbles Cliff' and Joseph Evans paid 1/- annually for a 'limekiln at a place called Giddycliff.'

           The 1815 Report went on to state that 'Several perpetual kilns have been erected (two of which are still visible today in the Knab Rock car park) by Messrs. Yalden and Pemberton who ship off  great quantities to Devon.' It went on to describe the loading process and how 'The labourers dug the stones throughout the year getting good piles ready for the vessels, usually of 30 to 80 tons burden, which only  traded in the summer months.  

Each  man could quarry five to six tons a day.  They blasted the stone and then broke it into  manageable sizes and the women, having a horse and a little staked car, known as a butt made for the purpose, conveyed it to the shipping places within low water mark or, when the tide was in, to the vessels moored alongside the heaps. Once the tide began to ebb, men and women loaded the stones on board and would 'receive good hire' from the Captains and 'an allowance of beer.'   Women good at their job could shift twelve butts per tide. At this time,  the price paid by the Captains of the vessels, was one shilling a ton, plus an additional duty of one or two pennies in each shilling to be paid to the Lord of the Manor (Duke of Beaufort) for permission to quarry the stone'. If the stone was burned, there was no duty to be paid for its transportation, which meant that the Devon people could buy it at less cost than burning the stone themselves.  Lime was sold in Swansea to the customer by volume as  a hobaid (six gallons) or a crynog (twelve Winchester bushels).

Quarrying remained one of Mumbles' main industries until the 1880s, but gradually diminished due to recessions in agriculture and nearby competition, so that since the 1970s,  there has been no surviving quarrying industry.

          In 1819, Abraham Rees in his 'Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences and Literature, volume XXV,  noted that 'in digging the stone for these quarries, many human bones of large dimensions have been discovered . .  . a large wood called Crows Wood, frequently mentioned in ancient records has been submerged and traces of it are still evident at low tide.'  

The Cambrian Marble Works,  for which  a rental was paid of  six Guineas per year,  had been set up by  William Gubbins and Charles Wallis in 1808 at Norton Burrows, adjacent to today's West Cross Hotel, on the banks of the Washing Lake (lake  being the old dialect word for stream). The works consisted of four narrow buildings sitting astride the stream, above which was a pond to ensure a plentiful supply of water for the polishing process. It was where for more than fourteen years, Superintendant, Philip Rogers  oversaw the cutting and polishing of the choicest pieces of quarried limestone,  for use as a marble substitute for mantlepieces  or memorials, such as  the following two examples ---that of Daniel and Jane Shewen in All Saints' Church. On 11 January 1819 Lewis Weston Dillwyn recorded in his diary that, 'Mr. Llewelyn's monument (at Llangyfelach Church) was this day finished and does great credit to the marble manufactory at Mumbles.'

As the trade increased and extra markets became available, so additional ways of exporting the limestone were needed and so The Mumbles Railway had begun as a mineral line in 1804 to transport limestone from the quarries at Mumbles to Swansea and to facilitate the transfer of cargoes, which big ships unable to dock at Swansea harbour at low tide, would offload at Mumbles.  In April 1819, an advertisement appeared in The Cambrian requesting that 'About 3,000 tons of Mumbles Limestones to be delivered at Tybach. For particulars, apply to Mr. William Llewelyn, Ynisygerwr Works near Neath 'if personally on Tuesdays or Thursdays between the hours of 9am and 1pm.'

This article is an extract from

Regency Mumbles by Carol Powell MA

Quarried limestone revealed, March 2014

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