Pills, Pools and Marshes - Gower - page 231

FIG 130. Oxwich Marsh in winter from the lookout tower. (Harold Grenfell)
ItisnotknownexactlywhenthesystemcreatedbyManselTalbotbegantodeteriorate,butthedecline
probably started in the 1920s when Glamorgan County Council raised the level of the main road across
the marsh; though culverts were installed the road had the effect of damming most of the water on the
landwardside.Anotherfactorwasthebreakinmaintenanceduetotheshortageofmenandmaterialsdur-
ing and immediately after the First World War. Whatever the initial reasons, during the early years of the
twentieth century the maintenance of the area was reduced. The internal ditches were still being cleaned
by a small team of men in the summer of 1939, but examination of the course of the outfall channel on
aerial photographs taken in 1941 suggests that this had been neglected some time earlier. Other aerial
photographs reveal that the marsh vegetation was already well developed by 1945, with the marsh to the
west of the road being dominated by beds of yellow iris and bulrush Typha latifolia , although cattle were
still grazing the back of the marsh by Abrahams Wood and potatoes were grown on drier ground near
Oxwichvillage until1946.Theeastmarsh,whichwasinfluenced bysaltwater,consisted ofreedbedwith
open muddy flats and tussocks of rushes supporting a colony of black-headed gulls. It is likely that local
memories of large numbers of wildfowl and snipe date from this period, when the marsh was more open,
with larger areas of shallow water and low fen, than at present. Further changes occurred in 1948, when
therewereseveralmajorbreachesintheseawall.Thesewerenotproperlyrepaireduntil1963,andduring
theintervening periodseawater wasable towashfreely inandoutofthesystem duringspringhightides.
As a result of the drainage system becoming neglected the ditches became partly or completely
choked, the sluice fell into disrepair and water started to spread out over the surrounding land, turning the
pasture into freshwater marsh. The grazing animals finally had to be removed and this allowed aquatic
plants to spread from the drainage channels. Within twenty years the character of the area had totally
changed,andithadbecomeanimmenselyrichareaforwildlife.Thesluicewasrenovatedin1983and,to-
gether with the weirs above it, helps tokeep a suitable water level. Today the freshwater marsh comprises