Oystermouth (a corruption of the Welsh name ''Ystum Llwynarth'' or ''Ystumllwynarth'') is a village (and former electoral ward) in the district of

Mumbles Mumbles ( cy, Mwmbwls) is a headland sited on the western edge of Swansea Bay on the southern coast of Wales. Toponym Mumbles has been noted for its unusual place name. The headland is thought by some to have been named by French sailors, ...

, Swansea,

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. It is part of the Mumbles community (civil parish).

Description

Grade II listed Parish Church of All Saints, Oystermouth, Swansea - geograph

War Memorial outside All Saints Church, Oystermouth, Swansea - geograph

The ward consists of suburban housing stretching from the northwest to the southeast. It is surrounded by the sea to the east and south. Two hills at Rams Tor and Mumbles Hill have little development. Mumbles Hill is now a protected nature reserve managed by the local council. The boundaries of Mumbles community and the Oystermouth ward are clearly defined. However, in the public mind, the separation between villages of Oystermouth and Mumbles is not clear. Local buses to the area are signed as Oystermouth, although most people from the area would say they are living in Mumbles. Local beaches include the southern tip of

Swansea Bay Swansea Bay ( cy, Bae Abertawe) is a bay on the southern coast of Wales. The River Neath, River Tawe, River Afan, River Kenfig and Clyne River flow into the bay. Swansea Bay and the upper reaches of the Bristol Channel experience a large tid ...

, Bracelet Bay and Limeslade Bay. From the Mumbles Head area, there are views towards Swansea,

Port Talbot Port Talbot (, ) is a town and community in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, situated on the east side of Swansea Bay, approximately from Swansea. The Port Talbot Steelworks covers a large area of land which dominates the south ...

, and the hills of the

South Wales Coalfield The South Wales Coalfield ( cy, Maes glo De Cymru) extends across Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, Bridgend, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Merthyr Tydfil, Caerphilly, Blaenau Gwent and Torfaen. It is rich in coal deposits, espe ...

. Oystermouth is the site of Oystermouth Cemetery. Oystermouth was served by the

Swansea and Mumbles Railway The Swansea and Mumbles Railway was the venue for the world's first passenger horsecar railway service, located in Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom. Originally built under an Act of Parliament of 1804 to move limestone from the quarries of Mum ...

, one of the very earliest passenger rail services, along a shoreline railway used in the 19th century to transport limestone and coal. The long-disused (since the 1960s) route remains as a cycle/footpath. Oystermouth parish is part of the

Church in Wales The Church in Wales ( cy, Yr Eglwys yng Nghymru) is an Anglican church in Wales, composed of six dioceses. The Archbishop of Wales does not have a fixed archiepiscopal see, but serves concurrently as one of the six diocesan bishops. The p ...

. It has two churches:

All Saints' Church, Oystermouth All Saints' Church, Oystermouth (officially "All Saints, Oystermouth") is an Anglican church in the diocese of Swansea and Brecon, south Wales. It is located in Mumbles and is a Grade II listed building (listed 23 April 1952 as "a large church wi ...

, and Norton Mission Church. All Saints' Church dates back as far as the 12th-century, with 19th-century additions and has a Grade II heritage listing.

Rowan Williams Rowan Douglas Williams, Baron Williams of Oystermouth, (born 14 June 1950) is a Welsh Anglican bishop, theologian and poet. He was the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury, a position he held from December 2002 to December 2012. Previously the Bish ...

took the title Baron Williams of Oystermouth upon his retirement as Archbishop of Canterbury in December 2012.

Oystermouth Castle

The 12th-century Oystermouth Castle is well preserved, in grounds with views over Swansea Bay. It was rebuilt in stone by the de Braoses, who were Lords of the Gower, and visited briefly by

King Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vassal ...

of England in 1284. By the 16th century the castle was abandoned and in ruins.

Electoral ward

Until 2022 the electoral ward consisted of some or all of the following areas: Oystermouth, the

, Thistleboon, Limeslade, in the parliamentary constituency of

Gower 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 ward was bounded by Newton to the west, West Cross to the north and

to the south and east. it had a population of around 4,100. Following a ward boundary review, the Oystermouth and Newton wards were combined to create a new ward of

, represented by three county councillors.

2012 local council election

For the 2012 local council elections, electorate turnout for Oystermouth was 37.23%. The election results were: Tony Colburn was re-elected in May 2012 with a vote of 500, on a 37.2% turnout. The ward had been represented continuously by the Conservative Party since 1995.Swansea Welsh Unitary Council Election Results 1995-2012
The Elections Centre. Retrieved 21 July 2018.

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in Swansea Former electoral wards of Swansea Mumbles