Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for PENRICE

PENRICE, a village and a parish in Swansea district, Glamorgan. The village stands near the W side of Oxwich bay, in the Gower peninsula, 9 miles S W of Loughor r. station, and 10 W S W of Swansea; was once a market-town; and has fairs on 17 May, 17 July, 17 Sept., and 11 Dec. The parish contains also the hamlet of Pilton-Green; and its post town is Swansea. Acres, 2, 248; of which 45 are water. Real property, £1, 254. Pop., 307. Houses, 70. The name Penrice was originally written Pen-rhys; applies properly to a headland of the parish; and was taken from Rhys-ab-Caradoc, who was killed here. The property is much subdivided. P. Castle was built by the Earl of Warwick, to secure hisacquisitions in Gower; passed to the Penrices, the Mansells, and the Talbots; and is now a ruin, consistingchiefly of some large inwardly-rounded towers. Amodern mansion, the seat ofR. Talbot, Esq., stands adjacent to the ruins, embowered in wood; and was built in 1782, out of materials from Margam abbey. The living is a p. curacy in the diocese of St. David's. Value, £53. Patron, N. V. E. Vaughan, Esq. The church is Norman and cruciform; has been restored; and is remarkable for the beauty of its situation.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a village and a parish"   (ADL Feature Type: "populated places")
Administrative units: Pen Rhys CP/AP       Swansea RegD/PLU       Glamorgan AncC
Place: Pen Rhys

Go to the linked place page for a location map, and for access to other historical writing about the place. Pages for linked administrative units may contain historical statistics and information on boundaries.