Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
were found to support acid-loving communities dominated by Evernia prunastri , Hypogymnia physodes
andcommon Pertusaria and Parmelia species,whileafewofthemossiertrunksheld Dimerella lutea and
Normandia pulchella . Ash trees Fraxinus excelsior in the lower parts of the estate carried Arthopyrenia
ranunculospora and Chromatochlamys muscorum , whereas beech Fagus sylvatica was poorer, but sup-
ported Opegrapha sorediifera , Pyrenula chlorospila and P. macrospora. Caliciales, sometimes called
'pinlichens',arescarceatPenriceandrepresentedonlyby Calicium viride and Stenocybe pullulata .They
can be found most easily by 'sighting' along twigs against a contrasting background.
The late Georgian house at Stouthall was built for John Lucas the younger by the Swansea architect
William Jernegan in 1787-90. Colonel Wood, the amateur archaeologist, who undertook excavations in
some of the Gower caves, lived there from 1843 until his death in 1876. It is set in pleasure grounds and
a very small park, which consists of a field to the north of the house, bounded on its outer sides by a thin
line of beech. The park itself is probably contemporary with the house. The only features within it are an
isolated oak and a stone circle, which were placed there by Colonel Wood. The circle was badly damaged
a few years ago. The grounds also include a natural cave that was ornamented as a garden feature and an
unusually well-preserved icehouse that is used by hibernating bats.
The early history of Fairyhill is unclear, but it is known that by the early eighteenth century it had be-
come the property of the Lucas family, who also owned Stouthall at this time. Then known as Peartree, it
was renamed Fairyhill when John Lucas took over the property in 1785. The miniature landscape park, in
effect an ornamented field, lying to the south of the house and garden, was the work of John Lucas or his
father Richard. Kilvrough Manor, now used by Oxfordshire County Council as a field studies centre, is
situated in a small, but well-preserved, late eighteenth-century park and garden. The grounds are inform-
ally planted with ornamental deciduous and coniferous trees set in lawns. The park consists mainly of a
large rectangular field with some fine deciduous and coniferous trees.
On the western edge of Swansea the park surrounding Clyne Castle, a two-storey castellated mansion
originating in 1798 (but much added to and remodelled), is now a public park containing an outstanding
collection of rare mature trees and shrubs, in particular rhododendrons, some of which are original intro-
ductions. The wilder Clyne Valley to the north retains most of its historic layout and some ornamental
planting. The lower end contains the ruined remains of an arsenic and copper works, which was in opera-
tion between 1837 and 1860. Also in the valley are a number of 'bell pits', holes dug from the fourteenth
century onwards to reach a coal seam close to the surface.
WHITEFORD LIGHTHOUSE
Dating back to 1865, the ornate Victorian lighthouse at Whiteford (Fig. 38) is the only surviving sea-
washed cast-iron lighthouse in Britain. Almost 14 metres high and surrounded by over 6 metres of water
at high tide, the lighthouse is a well-known feature on the north Gower coast. It is surrounded by com-
monbluemussel Mytilus edulis bedsandquicksandthatstillcontainsunexplodedbombsfromtheSecond
WorldWar,whentheareawasusedasapracticerange.Ithasnotbeeninregularusesince1926,although
itwasusedinbothWorldWarsandtoguidenavalcraftintoLlanelliDockinthe1960s.Thestructurewas
listed as an ancient monument by Cadw in 1979 and urgently needs restoration. Today it usually holds
a large roost of cormorants Phalacrocorax carbo and as many as 158 birds have been recorded on the
structure at a time.
Cormorants no longer breed in Gower, the last confirmed record being at Thurba in 1971. Colour-
ringinghasshownthatthebirdsseenaroundthepeninsulaareassociatedwiththecolonyonStMargaret's
Island in Carmarthen Bay. The UK currently supports around 16,000 wintering individuals, representing
over 20 per cent of the European winter population. Despite this the Government, in a move designed to
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