Lost Churches of Wales - Minor Chapels of the Gower

Not all the churches on the Gower peninsula were major places of worship where many people gathered. There were a number of very tiny chapels that served a small group of people yet had a very big place in the history of the Gower, and it is those lost chapels that are highlighted here.

Backinston Chapel

This chapel stood alone in a meadow overlooking Bishopton valley. It was indeed a tiny chapel, less than 200 square feet in total. Most of the chapel walls have survived to the present day, although the natural foliage has taken over.

It is rumored that that among the small amount of Middle Age chapels that have survived through time, this one was regarded as a sanctuary by the parish of the area. Hunted criminals could make their way to this chapel and if he reached it ahead of those that chased him, he could escape his fate. This medieval game of cops and robbers has never been properly documented, but it does serve to give the chapel its place in Welsh folklore.

St Peter's Chapel, Caswell

The site of St. Peter's remains a mystery today. No one is quite sure of the site's true stature in the religious happenings of the Middle Ages. Excavation of the site revealed an established grouping of buildings, but no one can document their purpose in relation to the churches and chapels of the surrounding area.

The excavation uncovered a priest's house, small chapel and a holy well. When first found the site showed the foundations and two intact walls and a window in one of the buildings. Now those too have succumbed to time and have been laid to waste. A well dedicated to St. Peter was discovered during the 1800s and was a wonderful example of masonry well chamber, but the ravages of time have left only a small depression above a small brook is all that remains of this holy spot.

St Michael's Chapel, Cwrt-y-Carne

There is very little left to mark the site of this chapel, save a few bits of wall that has settled into the marshlands of the Loughor estuary. At the turn of the last century the chapel was still standing minus its roof.

This chapel was perhaps one of the smallest in South Wales, measuring approximately 13x6 meters and containing a porch and bell-cote. At some point during the 12th century the lord of Llandeilo Tal-y-Bont granted the land upon which the chapel sat to Neath Abbey, possibly to be used by peasants working the abbey lands.

Trinity Well Chapel, Ilston

This chapel was constructed near the Trinity well in medieval times. The well is still flowing, but is for the most part inaccessible.

This site also boasts the remains of a Baptist chapel built in 1649, supposedly the first of its kind in Wales. Trinity Well Chapel itself is no longer in existence in any form, but the site is still a pleasant place to visit while touring the area. The lost chapels of the Gower have all played an important part in the life and times of this hardy peninsula. The ruins of these spiritual places may have physically been lost to time, but what they represented will live on forever