Worm's Head (Rhossili)
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Worm's Head ( cy, Ynys Weryn) is a headland, at
Rhossili Rhossili ( cy, Rhosili; ) is both a small village and a community (Wales), community on the southwestern tip of the Gower Peninsula in Wales. It is within the first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in the United Kingdom. The village has a Loca ...
, part of the
City and County of 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 ...
, Wales. It is the furthest westerly point 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 ...
. The name Worm's Head is derived from an Old English word 'wyrm' for 'sea serpent'. The headland of
carboniferous limestone Carboniferous Limestone is a collective term for the succession of limestones occurring widely throughout Great Britain and Ireland that were deposited during the Dinantian Epoch of the Carboniferous Period. These rocks formed between 363 and ...
comprises three islands: the Inner Head, the Middle Head which features a collapsed sea cave and is known as the Devil's Bridge, and the Outer Head. In total, it is approximately one mile long. The Inner Head is up to 200 yards wide. Worm's Head is only accessible on foot for hours either side of low tide, fatal to attempt to wade or swim to when the causeway from the mainland is flooded. The poet
Dylan Thomas Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer whose works include the poems "Do not go gentle into that good night" and "And death shall have no dominion", as well as the "play for voices" ''Under ...
initially described the Worm's Head as "the very promontory of depression" and was forced once to spend the night on the Head after being trapped by the tide. Visitors are still caught out by the incoming tide and, in September 2020, seven Swansea University students were rescued by the local RNLI lifeboat after getting stranded on Worm's Head by the incoming tide.


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{{coord, 51.5641, N, 4.3198, W, display=title Headlands of Swansea Islands of Swansea Tidal islands of Wales Gower Peninsula