The Mumbles Oyster Trade
by Carol Powell MA

The Horsepool is one of our vanished landmarks, which live on, only in the imagination and through stories passed down through the generations. This was a natural harbour encompassed on most of its seaward side by a sandbank, bordered by the roadside on the other and stretching from near the White Rose Public House, as far along as The George Hotel

On a normal high tide, the sea would rise up over the sand-bank, across the Horsepool and reach as far as the side of the road. From this haven the Oyster Men and their skiffs would set sail to dredge for oysters, way out in Swansea Bay and down the Bristol Channel.

The Mumbles oyster trade had been in existence for many hundreds of years and was indeed, one of the mainstays of the village. The Romans are believed to have made use of the local supply, during their stay. In the 17 C, Isaac Harmon, while in Oystermouth assisting Edward Lhuyd in his ‘View of Gower, 1690,’ found that with a population of approximately 500, ‘here are boates imployed in & about ye takeing of oysters every year . . .’

In the early days, they used open rowing boats, but around the mid nineteenth century, they began to use vessels rigged with a mast, a mainsail, a forestaysail and a jib, which were known as Skiffs.

Location of the Oyster Beds

Over the years, the Oyster Beds were given colourful names which include: The Hen and Chickens, Musselly Haul, Itchy Poll, Trashy Ground, Robin's Patch, Middle Drift and Duck Haul. California, Red Hole and East India, which were sited in Swansea Bay, with others further afield.  The Oystermen navigated by using conspicuous objects ashore and between Port Eynon and Mumbles there were some eleven of these markers. However, since they were often closely guarded secrets, their locations were sometimes lost when their users died.

Dredging

When a skiff arrived at one of the hauls the two dredges were thrown overboard, and the boat sailed slowly along, or usually, if there was a light wind, drifted sideways, until the dredges were full. The dredge itself was a bag-shaped net, of which the bottom or "belly" was constructed of iron rings, and the "back" of netted cord.         The "foot," a wooden bar, kept the end of the dredge open and straight while the mouth was of iron, with a scraper called the "sword" which drew the oysters into the net. Iron "ar­ms" connected the net with the ring to which the dredge rope was fastened. The dredge rope, about sixty fathoms long, was fastened to a winch on deck and the subsequent winding operation was operated by two of the dredgers.

Season

The season was from September until May and in Victorian times, would be commenced with an Oyster fair, when at the skiff‑owners' expense; the oyster dredgers would be given a meal of bread, cheese and beer followed by sports such as donkey‑racing, climbing the greasy pole and sack‑racing. 

Heyday

Undoubtedly, the hey-day of the industry was from 1850 until 1873. By 1863, there were 70‑80 local craft, with 250 men employed during the season. The oyster’s price was by now 9 shillings per 1000 to the wholesalers who then sold on for 6d‑8d per score.

          20,000 oysters was not an uncommon catch for a single boat and each boat could make two journeys a day. At its height, around 560 men were employed in 188 skiffs, three in each one, with a quarter of the proceeds going to the boat and a quarter to each man.  Each man could earn as much as £6 a week and consequently, oysters were an everyday food for the locals, often eaten in an omelette, or coated in bread-crumbs or in a ‘carpet-bag’— a grilled steak filled with oysters.

Perches and Plantations

Their return to Mumbles after a day's work with their haul of oysters was described so vividly by a visitor, the Rev Francis Kilvert in his diary of April 1872.

'a great fleet of oyster boats which had been dredging was coming in round the lighthouse point with every shade of white and amber sails gay in the afternoon sun, as they each ran into their moorings'

Each oysterman would then tip his day's catch into his 'perches' which were divisions, measuring some 16½ square feet,  formed by stones, marked with a floating log, and which were his and his alone. There he would leave them to feed until they were required for sale either locally or to be transported on the Mumbles railway for sale elsewhere.

          Some of these perches are still visible today along the beach near the inshore lifeboat station.

Decline    

Suddenly, a rapid decline in the numbers of Oysters dredged began for which there were three main causes—pollution of the sea from the River Tawe, the primitive sewerage system at Southend and over-fishing— this last, said by locals to be the fault of ‘outsiders.’ The Cambrian News reported on 25 February 1876 that back in 1871—18,200,000 oysters had been landed at Oystermouth, by 1873, only 9,050,000 and by 1875, the catch had fallen to 3,810,000.

          Now many Oystermen had to sell their skiffs, which might have cost them £200 to £250 for perhaps only £30 to £40. Those that were not sold were abandoned on the shore. The knock‑on effect would have hit boat‑builders such as R&T. Bennett of Church Park and E. Prickett of Marine House and dredge‑maker, John Libby, as well as the payment of a penny a week per child school fees.

          By 1874‑5, the villagers began to feel the pinch as hardship increased. ‘Families averaging 7‑10 people having been unable to earn more than 8‑10 shillings a week and some not even that amount. The Cambrian reported that a few benevolent gentlemen have inaugurated a soup kitchen,’ and the schoolchildren were given a bun and an apple at lunchtime.

The great storm of 19 January 1881 only served to compound the misery. The whole of the UK was battered by a snowstorm and gale, which lasted for a full day and night and in Mumbles, freezing temperatures and flying snow, falling slates and masonary kept people indoors. Skiffs moored in the bay became detached and despite the efforts of two boatloads of men, who tried unsuccessfully to effect rescues, six or seven were completely wrecked and many others severely damaged. The Cambrian reported that the following morning, 'The shore around the lighthouse was strewn with various kinds of wreckage.'   Forty foot of the seawall had been washed away and the waves had reached the Wesleyan Chapel.

            Stephen Powell, Thomas Gammon, John Lloyd, David Michael and Martha Davies suffered the complete loss of their skiffs and the boats, 'Dauntless,' 'Sarah Jane', 'Ann Polly', 'Martha and Ann', 'J.W.S'., 'Fear Not' 'Agness,' 'Robert and John' 'Wild Wave' and  'Twin Brothers' were severely damaged. Two large pleasure boats were also completely wrecked and the total cost was estimated to be £2,000, but thankfully there were no fatalities.

The following week, the Cambrian printed two letters, pleading for financial help for those affected. One from 'Beinfaisant' emphasised one family where the father had a family of ten children. The other from D. White Evans pointed out that 'Now the skiff was gone and with it the means of a livelihood, the oysterman was left destitute . . . . even those whose skiffs were damaged would need help with the cost of repairs.' Within a week, a hardship fund had been set up and donors' names published in the newspaper on 28 February and 4 March 1881, together with subscriptions amounting to £137..4s..6d.

          The decline continued and by 1908 there were less than 20 skiffs, by 1914, only 14 and in 1920, a deadly virus finished the industry in Mumbles completely. 

 The Men who worked the Skiffs

          The 1871 census registers a preponderance of ‘old’ Mumbles names   among the sea-going men, who would have used the Horsepool harbour then. Most of them are recognizable by us today—Ace, Bydder, Davies, Evans, Eynon, Gammon, Givelin, Hoskins, Howell, Hullin, Jenkins, Llewellyn, Michael, Rogers, Smith, Webborn and Williams and some wonderfully charismatic ones such as Silvanus Bevan, Noah Davies, Solomon Howell, Hezakia Watkins and Reuben Webborn.

The Skiff Owners in the 1880s included

Susanna Bennett of the Beaufort Arms; Martha Davies of Southend; David Evans and his neighbour D. E. Michael of Sheffield Place; James and Richard Gammon and Jenkin Jenkins of Clifton Terrace; W. Powell of Oddfellows' Inn in The Dunns and John Thomas who lived in a cottage at the Horsepool.

It was heavy and dangerous work, typified in April 1843 when David John, Noah Jones and John Evans were drowned when their dredger ‘The Sarah and Rachael’ foundered on the Mixen Sands.

The Demise of the Horsepool

          In the 1890s, with the growth of Mumbles as a tourist mecca, the Swansea Improvements and Tramways Company decided to extend the Mumbles Railway line from the Castle Hill Terminus at Oystermouth, out across the Horsepool to the gardens at the Parade and thence to the other part of their development—the new Pier.

          The soon-to-be-enclosed area became known as the Ballast Bank as the ballast from Cornish ships was used to fill the now-defunct Horsepool. The ships would then return to Cornwall loaded with Mumbles Limestone. A funfair was soon erected on the site, which today is occupied by the tennis courts, Bowling Green, Promenade Terrace and Cornwall and Devon Places and so the Horsepool was lost.

          As compensation to the fishermen for the loss of their harbour, the Railway Company constructed a wooden Breakwater, on the shore near the Antelope as shelter for the skiffs. Unfortunately, the Oystermouth U.D.C. refused to maintain it and when the weather did its worst, it soon fell into disrepair.

Further reading:

Norman Thomas, The Mumbles: Past and Present (Swansea, 1978);   

and  Carol Powell, Inklemakers, 1993