Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Whiteford Burrows. The site of the 'Rhossili' warren was probably at Hillend Burrows. There is also an
eighteenth-century Welsh field name closely related to
cwningar
, meaning warren, near Willoxton. This
may be circumstantial evidence for another early warren, although there is no trace of it on the ground.
Therewasnosubstantialincreaseinwildrabbitpopulationsuntilthemiddleoftheeighteenthcentury,
when changes in agricultural practice created favourable habitats and an increased interest in game led to
intensive predator control. The natural spread of rabbit populations can be quite slow. In the middle of
the nineteenth century, however, they began to increase dramatically until they became major agricultural
pests.Their increase waspartly duetothelarge-scale planting ofhedgerows,whichprovidedrabbits with
shelterandanopportunitytoburrowinloosenedsoil.Thisrapidexpansionwasboughttoanabrupthaltin
theearly 1950swhenmyxomatosis occurred inBritain andwithin twoyears99percent ofthepopulation
had died. The disease has since become less virulent and rabbits are developing resistance, but outbreaks
still occur. The population is still, however, well below that recorded before myxomatosis. Interestingly
premyxomatosis populations were highest in Wales and southwest England whereas Wales now has one
of the lowest rabbit populations in Britain.
What did Gower habitats look like before the arrival of the rabbit? It is an interesting question, but
not one that can easily be answered due to the lack of detailed records. Grazing by rabbits can be very
beneficial to maintain the diversity of habitats such as limestone grassland, heathland and sand dunes,
preventing, or at least slowing, natural succession. When the numbers crashed following the introduction
ofmyxomatosis, manygrasslandhabitats changedtoscrub,withalossofassociated wildlife. AtOxwich,
for example, brambles, shrubs and small trees started to colonise the fixed dunes and dune slacks. Before
the arrival of rabbits it is likely the land had been just as heavily grazed, but by sheep and other domestic
animals.
THE WHITE MONKS
The development and management of the monastic estates was also a great influence on the landscape
and wildlife of Gower. Founded in 1130 by monks from Savigny in France, the monks of Neath Abbey
later merged with the Cistercians, eventually creating what has been described as the 'fairest abbey in all
Wales'. Thelands granted totheCistercians inWales layoriginally inundeveloped andwell-wooded loc-
ations, but they then proceeded to colonise these areas by clearing woods, draining marshes, reclaiming
'waste' and developing sheep farming. They were noted 'changers of landscape' and there is no doubt
that they had a significant impact in the peninsula. The basis of the Cistercian economy and their skill as
agriculturalists lay in their possession of large tracts of both arable and pasture land. The order organised
much of its property into a series of farms called granges, which were supposed to be within a day's jour-
neyofthe'mother-house'.Inthecase oftheir landsinGowerthiswasthemonastery atNeath, whichhad
holdings at Paviland, Walterston, Berry and Cilibion.
The Taxation of Pope Nicholas IV of 1291 includes the grange of 'Pamlond' consisting of one 'caru-
cate' of arable and two mills, one of which appears to have been a water mill and the other a windmill.
The grange is represented today by the seventeenth-century farmhouse of Paviland. Although no monast-
ic buildings survive, four small square fields lying east and northeast of the house bounded by banks 2.5
to 3.0 metres wide and 0.3 to 1.3 metres high are perhaps a relic of the medieval economy. The presence
of the Cistercians is remembered in the farm known as Monksland, near Scurlage village, which lies at
the northeast extremity of the former grange. Towards the end of the twelfth century William de Barri
granted the monks of Neath '30 acres of land in Guer, between the hill of Kevenbrin and the way which
leads through the wood of Bruiz [Parc le Breos] to the vill of Penmain'. Around 1220 he completed the
transfer of land to the monks by exchanging the whole fee of Walterston for 100 acres (40.5 hectares) of
