Pennard (previously Llanarthbodu) is a village and

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...

on the south of the

Gower Peninsula Gower ( cy, Gŵyr) or the Gower Peninsula () in southwest Wales, projects towards the Bristol Channel. It is the most westerly part of the historic county of Glamorgan. In 1956, the majority of Gower became the first area in the United Kingdom ...

, about 7 miles south-west of Swansea city centre. It falls within the Pennard electoral ward of Swansea. The Pennard community includes the larger settlements of

Southgate Southgate or South Gate may refer to: Places Australia *Southgate, Sylvania *Southgate Arts and Leisure Precinct, an area within Southbank, Victoria Canada *Southgate, Ontario, a township in Grey County * Southgate, Middlesex County, Ontario Ed ...

and Kittle. the population as of 2011 was 2,688.

Description and amenities

The village has a church, health centre, library and a primary school. There is also an 18-hole golf course, as well as the remains of a 12th-century castle.

Pennard Castle

To the west of Pennard village, overlooking the valley of Pennard Pill, is the 12th-century ruins of Pennard Castle. The castle was abandoned in the 14th-century due to encroachment from the sand dunes. It was described as "desolate and ruinous" by 1650 and today only the gatehouse and some of the curtain wall remain.

Pennard Golf Club

Pennard Golf Club is an 18-hole golf course known as the "links in the sky" due to its lofty views over the coast and Pennard Sand Dunes. Described variously as "intimidating" and only second in beauty to the Langland Bay Golf Club, the club invited golf architect

Tom Doak Tom Doak is a golf course architect. He has 6 courses ranked among the top 100 in the world according to the "Top 100 Courses in the World" March 2021 list compiled by ''Golf Magazine.'' These include Pacific Dunes in Oregon, Ballyneal in Colorad ...

to rebuild and redesign its bunkers in 2015.

St Mary's Church

The

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

of St Mary's, post dates an earlier medieval church of the same name which was located near Pennard Castle. The older church was abandoned in the 1500s and only the foundations remain. The newer church was restored in 1847 and a porch added. Inside the church there is a Jacobean

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...

and

font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a typeface. Each font is a matched set of type, with a piece (a "sort") for each glyph. A typeface consists of a range of such fonts that shared an overall design. In mod ...

cover, as well as some 18th-century wall tablets. The church became Grade II

listed Listed may refer to: * Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm * Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic * Endangered species in biology * Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...

in 1964. The poets

Vernon Watkins Vernon Phillips Watkins (27 June 1906 – 8 October 1967) was a Welsh poet and translator. His headmaster at Repton was Geoffrey Fisher, who became Archbishop of Canterbury. Despite his parents being Nonconformists, Watkins' school experiences ...

(1906–1967),

Harri Webb Harri Webb (7 September 1920 – 31 December 1994) was a Welsh poet, Welsh nationalist, journalist and librarian. Early life Harri Webb was born on 7 September 1920 in Swansea, at 45 Tŷ Coch Road in Sketty, but before he was two the family mo ...

(1920–1994) and

Nigel Jenkins Nigel Jenkins (20 July 1949 – 28 January 2014) was an Anglo-Welsh poet. He was an editor, journalist, psychogeographer, broadcaster and writer of creative non-fiction, as well as being a lecturer at Swansea University and director of the crea ...

(1949–2014) are buried in the churchyard. Watkins also has a memorial plaque inside the church. A fine example of a restored medieval Gower Church, St Mary's is open all year during daylight hours. At night an illuminated cross shines out across the community. Services are held every Sunday.

Local politics

Pennard lies in the Gower parliamentary constituency and Senedd Cymru constituency. The Pennard ward elects a councillor to the

City and County of Swansea Council , coa_pic = , coa_res = , coa_alt = , logo_pic = Swansea City Council Logo.svg , logo_res = , logo_alt = , house_type = Unitary authority , jurisdiction = , foundation = 1 April 1996 , preceded_by = West Glamorgan County Council S ...

. The Pennard

(civil parish) includes the nearby villages of

, Kittle, Sandylane, Cannisland and Langrove. It elects a

Community council A community council is a public representative body in Great Britain. In England they may be statutory parish councils by another name, under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, or they may be non-statutory bodies. In ...

of fourteen members. The council is divided into two ward areas, Southgate and Kittle, who return eleven and three councillors respectively. It made the Swansea news in 2013 when the chairman resigned after other councillors expressed concerns about the running of the council. The community of Pennard is twinned with

Passage West Passage West (locally known as "Passage"; ) is a port town in County Cork, Ireland, situated on the west bank of Cork Harbour, some 10 km south-east of Cork city. The town has many services, amenities and social outlets. Passage West was ...

in the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

."A renewal of links?"
''Pennard Life'', Autumn/Winter 2013, page 38.

References