Saturday, September 26, 2026
Smugglers and pirates in Gower
During smuggling’s 18th- and 19th-century heyday, seemingly sleepy Gower was a smugglers’ hotbed. Local kingpins operated with near-impunity, employing hundreds of people and running rings around overstretched customs authorities. Those days may be long gone, but some things haven’t changed a bit. Stand on the shore at remote, rocky Brandy Cove (no prizes for guessing how it got its name) and you wouldn’t be surprised to see smugglers going about their work. It’s just one of the many places on Gower rich in ghostly legends of hidden hideouts, secret passages and daring deeds.
Brandy Cove of course could have been named for the smuggling trade and was used extensively by local kingpin William Hawkin Arthur and his gang. It is surrounded by rocky cliffs that hide it away from prying eyes, an ideal place to unload an illicit cargo of tobacco or alcohol. Only accessible on foot, the tiny beach still feels remote and secretive even today, a world away from its neighbour Caswell Bay just half a mile along the coast.
The secluded pebble beach could have been tailor-made for landing contraband, the 300ft-high headland was the perfect lookout point and wooded Bishopston Valley provided plenty of cover to move goods inland and was once a busy conveyor belt for contraband. Its tree-lined depths provided plenty of cover for dodgy deeds, allowing Gower’s smuggling supremo and his gang to move illicit cargo from the beach at Pwll Du to their headquarters at Highway out of sight of the authorities. It all added up. It’s thought that more illegal goods were landed here than anywhere else in the Bristol Channel. Arthur and his men left their mark. You can follow in their ghostly footsteps by walking the route now known as Smugglers’ Lane.
And then there is Oxwich Bay:
Gower’s smugglers didn’t always come out on top. While attempting to land cargo at Oxwich in 1804, bootleggers asked two men walking on the beach for directions to Highway Farm, a major staging post for one of Gower’s biggest smuggling gangs. Unfortunately for the hapless brigands, the two men happened to be customs officials. A raid on Highway shortly after found 420 casks of spirits stashed in concealed cellars and led to the breakup of the gang.
After years spent overseas (reportedly as a pirate), Lucas returned to his native Gower and set about modifying the now ruined nearby Salthouse to serve as the HQ of his smuggling operation. Legends tell of hidden cellars and a maze of secret passageways, tall tales perhaps since modern archaeological investigations have found little evidence to support them.
My favourite story though relates to the 1985 county council elections when a customs officer won the Bishopston ward for the SDP/Liberal Alliance. One of my colleagues was on Swansea Sound commenting on the results and expressed his pleasure at us winning the ward with the observation that a few hundred years ago they wouldn't have elected him, they would have strung him up.
Labels: lochist
