Mumbles

[muhm-buhl]

Mumbles (otherwise, The Mumbles – Welsh Y Mwmbwls) is a large village with adjacent headland stretching into Swansea Bay. It is part of the administrative area of the City and County of Swansea in Wales. Historically the area was part of the county of Glamorgan. Mumbles is also the name of a community made up of the Mayals, Newton, Oystermouth and West Cross electoral wards and has an elected community council.

The name Mumbles is possibly derived from the French word mamelles, meaning "breasts", which the two islets at the end of the Mumbles headland resemble. On the furthest islet stands Mumbles Lighthouse. Situated in the village is the ruin of Oystermouth Castle.

History

Archaeological evidence indicates that an ancient forest was located on what is now the foreshore of Mumbles Bay. The bones of bears, wolves, hyenas, deer, rhinoceros and mammoth have been discovered there. A bone cave at the Western tip of Caswell Bay was excavated in 1832, but has since been destroyed by the sea. Another, at the Inner Sound, Mumbles Head was blown up by quarrymen in 1838 but not before elephant bones had been found. Also scattered around the bays of Mumbles and Gower are the bones of 16 Ice Age mammals, including a mammoth's tooth measuring 10 centimetres across, which is on display in Swansea Museum. The first human crop growers arrived in Mumbles over 3,000 years ago. Swansea Museum has two well finished flint axe heads, one from Newton and one from an allotment on Mumbles Hill. Much of what we know about the first metalworkers, in the Bronze Age, has been learned from their tombs: Pieces of pottery, a cairn and remains of a hut were found. The Bronze and Iron Ages seem to have been comparatively warlike and, on the cliffs above the Redcliffe flats at Caswell Bay, are the ridged remnants of a Redley Cliff iron-age fort.

There is evidence that the Romans were based in Mumbles in a villa on the site of the All Saints Church in Oystermouth. When the site was being extended in 1860, workmen removing a bank of earth on the south side of the original building, accidentally broke up a Roman tesselated pavement, or mosaic floor. This was previously a pagan site, as were many sites of worship in the UK which subsequently became places of worship at the onset of the new religion, Christianity. Indeed, in this area it has been reported that Romano British gentlemen of Roman Wales may have eaten oysters from the oysterbeds off the sea shore below the site at Oystermouth, Ystumllwynarth.

Three of the bells in All Saints Church once belonged to the Jesuit Church of La Campania in Santiago, Chile. They seem to have been brought to Mumbles by Aubrey Vivian after a fire burnt down the church in 1863, killing 2000 people (there was a strong link between the copper ore mines of Chile and the Vivians were the leading works owners). In 1806, the Oystermouth Railway was built between Oystermouth and Swansea with the intention of carrying coal to Swansea. The potential for carrying passengers was soon seen and a horse-drawn passenger service was started on March 25, 1807, making it the first passenger railway service in the world. It became enormously popular and was commonly called 'the Mumbles train'.

Following the development of the rail service, Mumbles became a very popular tourist destination. To capitalize on this, the Mumbles train was extended and a pier was constructed and opened in 1898 to serve as the new terminus.

An RNLI lifeboat slipway was added to the pier in the summer of 1916 and a boathouse was finally built on it in 1922; these remain in use. On April 23, 1947 the crew of eight men was lost while attempting to rescue the crew of the Samtampa that had run aground on Sker Point.

An amusement complex was developed at the land end of the Mumbles Pier in 1966. This proved to be an invaluable attraction to visitors, and in recent years, funding has seen a new building added, housing an amusement arcade, restaurant and bowling alley.

The Mumbles Mile is a stretch of road in Mumbles that is notable for its concentration of pubs. It is a popular destination for pub crawls and binge drinking. Famous poet Dylan Thomas was said to have enjoyed many hours at The Mermaid (now demolished). The Mumbles mile has declined in popularity in the last fifteen years, due to pressure from the local council and increased competition from Swansea's night attractions. Now there are fewer than ten pubs on the 'mile',whereas there were once upwards of twenty. The tradition of enjoying a drink in each pub has gradually been replaced by gentler, more family-oriented forms of entertainment.

Notable connections

Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas have a house off Plunch Lane in Mumbles.
Ian Hislop was born in Mumbles.
Joanna Page was born in Mumbles.
Bonnie Tyler lives in Mumbles.
The 2004 mini-series Mine All Mine starring Griff Rhys Jones takes place and was filmed in Mumbles.
The Right Reverend Graham Charles Chadwick served in curacy in Oystermouth and is now buried in Oystermouth Cemetery.
Thomas Bowdler is buried in Oystermouth.