Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
OntheexposedsouthsideoftheInnerHeadthereisalargeexpanseofbrokenanderodedrock,which
tends to form flat platforms near the low water mark. The upper shore in this area is steeper and there are
some rock pools, while the lower shore has ridges and gullies, often running parallel to the shoreline.
The island is known to have been used by people since the Upper Palaeolithic. The Inner Head has an
incomplete promontory fort and together with Lewes Castle was used as a strategic position. The fort on
Inner Head has not been excavated, but by analogy with the excavated Knave Fort, they are presumed to
be Iron Age structures. From the contents of two middens found on the Outer Head, where a fragment of
Romano-British pot and an ironworker's mould have been recovered, it seems that the occupants collec-
tedshellfishfromtheseashoreandkeptpigs,cattle,goatsandprimitivesheep,comparabletopresent-day
Soay sheep. Shells in the middens include limpets, periwinkles and mussels. Both middens are unfortu-
nately subject to severe erosion from the sea.
On Inner Head is a small rectangular structure shown on maps as a sheepfold, which seems too elab-
orateforthispurpose,particularlyasitisassociatedwithfieldbanksthatsurroundatleasttwofields.Fur-
ther west are two rectangular hollows cut into the slope below the footpath. They appear to be hut bases
and could be anything from medieval to Iron Age in origin. The rectangular structure may be a crude cot-
tage, a bwthyn (Welsh for bothy). The existence of this cottage, the discovery of an iron ploughshare in
1984 on the northern side of the island and the field boundaries all point to the cultivation of this area
during the nineteenth century.
Agricultural activities are still taking place on the island today. In contrast to the Middle and Outer
Heads, the Inner Head (Fig. 92) is grazed by sheep under a National Trust licence. Stocking levels are
agreed with the grazier by the Trust and the Countryside Council for Wales and around 35 sheep are
present from 1 October until 12 April, this being equivalent to about 5 sheep per hectare. The grass has a
reputation for producing extremely tender mutton, and the Talbot family of Penrice used to graze a flock
on the Worm between September and March. They considered that there was nothing to equal 'Worms
Head mutton' as the animals had been fed on grass salted by the sea winds. One animal was killed every
week for the Talbot table and a local farmer went across between the tides every Tuesday to bring it onto
the mainland. If they were at Margam or London it was sent to them live, in a specially made travelling
box.SheeparesofondoftheisolationandthegrassgrowingontheWormthattheyareunwillingtoreturn
to the mainland. One Rhossili farmer, Wilfred Beynon, reported that a whole flock of his sheep escaped
from their mainland field in the summer of1932and attempted to cross the treacherous causeway leading
to the Worm. They were caught by the rising tide and all seventy animals were drowned. In Yesterday's
Gower (Thomas, 1982) he noted that:
I don't know what it is, but once you put a sheep out on Worm's Head, it can't be kept away from
there … Once they've had a taste of the grass out there, they'll never be safe again - that's a bit
of family wisdom, now.
As might be expected the Inner Head is botanically very similar to the mainland cliffs, with squin-
ancywort,bloodycrane's-bill,hoaryrock-rose,commonrock-roseandsmallscabiousgrowingonthethin
soil of the upper south-facing slopes above mixed red fescue grassland and thickets of gorse. If the sheep
were removed, or the grazing pressure was reduced, it is possible that a more natural scrub and perhaps
evenwoodlandvegetationwouldeventuallydevelopoverpartoftheHead.Itisquitelikelythatthelarger
islands, Worms Head and Burry Holms, were covered in some woodland when they became separated
from the rest of the peninsula. (The onset of grazing probably coincided with the removal of the remain-
ing woodland.) Even now oak woodland and scrub still persists on some quite small and isolated stacks
off the Pembrokeshire coast. So although today the vegetation of the Gower islands consists mainly of
maritime grassland, it is probably not the climax vegetation in all areas. In the 1950s, when most of the
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