Rotherslade is a small stretch of

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class of s ...

beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shel ...

at the eastern end of

Langland Bay Langland Bay is a popular coastal holiday resort in Gower Peninsula, Gower, Swansea in south Wales. It is a popular surfing beach which regularly meets the European Blue Flag beach, Blue Flag award for quality. History Langland Bay - together ...

in the south

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 ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. Previously known as 'Little Langland', it only exists as a separate beach at high tide. At low tide it is continuous with Langland Bay.

Concrete structures

At the head of Rotherslade once stood a large

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wi ...

structure. This was the site of a beach

café A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-ca ...

and

dance hall Dance hall in its general meaning is a hall for Dance, dancing. From the earliest years of the twentieth century until the early 1960s, the dance hall was the popular forerunner of the discothèque or nightclub. The majority of towns and citi ...

. However, it was left abandoned and derelict for many years and became a major eyesore to some people. After much discussion, including the idea of getting the Army to use explosives to demolish it, in the new millennium the structure was knocked down and replaced with concrete terracing. On the top level of the terrace is a small café which is open for business on most days of the year, as well as public

toilet A toilet is a piece of sanitary hardware that collects human urine and feces, and sometimes toilet paper, usually for disposal. Flush toilets use water, while dry or non-flush toilets do not. They can be designed for a sitting position popu ...

s. The

cliff In geography and geology, a cliff is an area of rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. Cliffs are common on co ...

path from the Mumbles to Langland Bay and Caswell runs directly outside the café, which also has an outside seating area overlooking the beach.

Beach huts

Above the concrete terrace are a number of rows of privately owned

beach hut A beach hut (also known as a beach cabin, beach box or bathing box) is a small, usually wooden and often brightly coloured, box above the high tide mark on popular bathing beaches. They are generally used as a shelter from the sun or wind, chan ...

s, which are located on another concrete terrace structure.

Road access

The beach is serviced by Rotherslade Road which runs from the busy, multi-junction, Langland Corner and has a number of large

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

s and

maisonette An apartment (American English), or flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that occupies part of a building, generally on a single story. There are man ...

s on its eastern side, but only a small

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

and a few houses at the top end on its western side. The road has never seen its own

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

service, mainly due to the fact there is no turning space at the beach end.

The Osborne Hotel

From 1892 until the final years of the 20th Century, Rotherslade hosted the Osborne Hotel. The famous

Impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, th ...

Alfred Sisley Alfred Sisley (; ; 30 October 1839 – 29 January 1899) was an Impressionist landscape painter who was born and spent most of his life in France, but retained British citizenship. He was the most consistent of the Impressionists in his dedicatio ...

, stayed in the Hotel during his

honeymoon A honeymoon is a vacation taken by newlyweds immediately after their wedding, to celebrate their marriage. Today, honeymoons are often celebrated in destinations considered exotic or romantic. In a similar context, it may also refer to the phase ...

in 1897. While there, he painted at least eleven views around the Bay. These included two views of Langland Bay, and six views of Rotherslade Bay from different angles, some in stormy or misty weather. He also made three views of the large rock (Storr Rock, then known as Donkey Rock) close to the entrance to the Tor Cave. His painting of 'Donkey Rock in the Evening' now belongs to the

National Museum of Wales National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

.Reed, N. Sisley on the Welsh Coast 2008 Lilburne Press During the 20th century the hotel was often frequented by visiting rugby and cricket teams playing at the St. Helens ground in nearby

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

. The hotel fell on hard times and after it lay derelict for a short period, it was demolished in 2003. It was replaced by a large complex of luxury

apartments An apartment (American English), or flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that occupies part of a building, generally on a single story. There are man ...

, known as 'The Osborne Apartments', that were completed in 2006. A public right-of-way has been maintained from Rotherslade Road, on new steel staging and steps to emerge on the sharp bend in Langland Bay Road.

Tor Cave

The construction of the Osborne Hotel gave rise to the discovery of Rother's Tor

Cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

. In 1892, numerous prehistoric finds, including a

mammoth A mammoth is any species of the extinct elephantid genus ''Mammuthus'', one of the many genera that make up the order of trunked mammals called proboscideans. The various species of mammoth were commonly equipped with long, curved tusks and, ...

's tooth, were found here and, like most of the other finds from Gower caves, are kept on public display in

Museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

. Rother's Tor Cave was filled in and sealed to secure the foundations of the hotel.

References

External links

The Gower Information Centre: RothersladeThe Swansea Museum
{{Gower Peninsula Gower Peninsula Beaches of Swansea