History hunters unearth Oystermouth Castle's past at big dig
A BIG dig to discover the hidden secrets of Oystermouth Castle may have unearthed the foundations of long-lost towers.
Archeologists, students and enthusiastic volunteers started a three-week excavation project on Monday, with the aim of finding the castle's mysterious drum towers.
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Jenny Wells, aged 21, an Egyptology graduate from Swansea University, sifts through debris
They wanted to find out when the towers were destroyed — or if they were ever there at all. Project supervisor Andy Sherman, of the Glamorgan and Gwent Archeological Trust, said: "So far, we think we've found part of the foundations of the south west drum tower. It's very exciting.
"Now we are looking to establish when the walls were taken down. They could have been removed by Oliver Cromwell, or they could have been taken down as part of a 19th Century rebuild."
If the foundations are part of the old drum towers — part of the 12th Century castle's defences which would have flanked the gatehouse — there will be a complex analysis process to find out when they were removed.
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by Stephen G, Swansea
Monday, July 06 2009, 9:27PM
“This excavation is good news - I agree with others here who say more should be done to exploit Swansea's history. It is shocking that nothing is done to exploit / make accessible the castle, the remains of Swansea's industrial past, the town walls - some towers of which were found off the Strand but who would know about it. This ties in with the neglect of the whole High Street - that is pretty much where Swansea began and there mst be a lot more still buried there”
by Heather, Mwmbwls
Saturday, July 04 2009, 8:31PM
“I take coffee at Sainsbury's and I will be WINKING at Galavanto????”
by geoff, mumbles
Saturday, July 04 2009, 7:08PM
“HA HA Its probably that you both take coffee in sainsburys”
by Heather, Mwmbwls
Saturday, July 04 2009, 5:45PM
“@ Galavanto, Swansea, oh my gosh, how did you know my nail clippings are bright blue???”
by Galavanto, Swansea
Saturday, July 04 2009, 5:12PM
“@ geoff,mumbles.....forget the half-crown Geoff...I'll buy you a pint anyway...More importantly, if you do manage to unearth Heathers toe-nail clippings on your foraging trips around the bin bags of Mumbles (they¿ll be the ones with traces of bright blue glitter varnish), could you pleeeeze bag em up and post em on to me c/o E.P.....Ta!¿.I have developed a fetish for all things Heather,Mwmbwls!!”
by Nubbo, West Glam
Saturday, July 04 2009, 4:57PM
“geof @ Mumbles? I, and many other people in Swansea fully agree with your cmment .”
by geoff, mumbles
Saturday, July 04 2009, 4:43PM
“NUBBO-I agree with what you say about doing something with the structures of Swansea Castle and What now looks like A ruin of the old copperworks.If this council used its head instead of its power for a change there is the posibility of money making projects out of these buildings with the HOLLIDAY MAKERS-VISITORS Market And on the other hand keep the Historical Organisations Happy”
by Heather, Mwmbwls
Saturday, July 04 2009, 4:15PM
“@ geoff, mumbles; pity you couldn't stay in the village, I get the vibes of you being a thoroughly nice bloke.”
by Nubbo, West Glam
Saturday, July 04 2009, 4:01PM
“Nice to see Oystermouth Castle being spruced up with a £1.7m project, exellent .
Incidentally,? Where did Swansea Council get their hand's on £569,k ? Was it from (Heritage Tourism European Funding Project) ?.
Perhaps Swansea Council can lobby Heritage Minister Alun Ffred Jones and apply for further fund's from ( H T E F P ) while there is still a limited periode to do so ? Then perhaps run down Swansea Castle, and what remain of the copperwork's structure's at Hafod can have some fair play .”
by Paul, West Cross
Saturday, July 04 2009, 2:06PM
“Another thread was, inappropriately, hijacked by place-namers. This thread is better suited so, here goes: -
Oystermouth is an anglicisation of Ystumllwynarth.
Ystum - bend (usually a river).
Llwyn - grove.
Garth - a promontory (in this case, Mumbles Head).
The name "The Mumbles" is possibly derived from the French word for breasts (Les mamelles). See the two islets.
Y Mwmbwls is simply a phonetic translation, just like tacsi and bws.”