Parkmill () is a village in the
Gower Peninsula
The Gower Peninsula (), or simply Gower (), is a peninsula in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is the most westerly part of the historic county of Glamorgan, and is now within the City and County of Swansea. It projects towards th ...
,
South Wales
South Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the Historic counties of Wales, historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire ( ...
, midway between the villages of
Penmaen and
Ilston, about west of
Swansea
Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...
, and about from the north coast of the
Bristol Channel
The Bristol Channel (, literal translation: "Severn Sea") is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales (from Pembrokeshire to the Vale of Glamorgan) and South West England (from Devon to North Somerset). It extends ...
. The village lies to the north of the
A4118, the main South Gower road between Swansea and
Port Eynon, in a wooded area, at the bottom of a valley.
The building at the centre of the village is a former school that is now home to the
West Glamorgan Girl Guides Activity Centre.
Pennard golf course lies immediately to the south of the village. Parkmill is in the
Gower ward of the
City and County of Swansea
Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...
.
Parkmill's only religious building is the
Mount Pisgah United Reformed Church, a
Congregational chapel, erected in 1822 and rebuilt in 1890.
The area is little changed from the mid 19th century, when
Samuel Lewis said in his 'A Topographical Dictionary of Wales' (1849):
The hamlet of Park-Mill, forming the most populous part of the parish, lstonis yet extremely rural; and the surrounding scenery, which is characterized by features of tranquillity and seclusion, is enlivened by the small rivulet called Pennarth Pill, winding along a beautiful dell, in which are the ruins of an ancient chapel. On this stream a cloth manufactory was established early in the present century, but it has been discontinued.
The 'cloth manufactory', a 12th-century
water-powered corn
Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout Poaceae, grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago ...
and
saw mill
A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...
, at Parkmill has since been renovated and a rural crafts centre sited in it, called the Gower Heritage Centre.
Parc le Breos
Parkmill once lay within a
Medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...
deer park, Parc le Breos, which was established in the 1221–32
CE by
John de Braose
John de Braose (1197 or 1198 – 18 July 1232), known as ''Tadody'' to the Welsh, was the Lord of Bramber and Gower.
Re-establishment of the de Braose dynasty
John re-established the senior branch of the de Braose dynasty.
His father was ...
,
Marcher Lord
A marcher lord () was a noble appointed by the king of England to guard the border (known as the Welsh Marches) between England and Wales.
A marcher lord was the English equivalent of a margrave (in the Holy Roman Empire) or a marquis (in Fra ...
of
Gower as an enclosed area of about . As well as the deer, during the 14th century the park received an income from
agistment
Agistment originally referred specifically to the proceeds of pasturage in the king's forests. To agist is, in English law, to take cattle to graze, in exchange for payment (derived, via Anglo-Norman ''agister'', from the Old French ''gîte">g ...
,
pannage
Pannage is the practice of releasing livestock- pigs in a forest, so that they can feed on fallen acorns, beechmast, chestnuts or other nuts. Historically, it was a right or privilege granted to local people on common land or in royal forests ...
, sales of wild honey, ferns and dead wood and from
rabbits
Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also includes the hares), which is in the order Lagomorpha (which also includes pikas). They are familiar throughout the world as a small herbivore, a prey animal, a domesticated form ...
, though whether these were
domestic warrens or
free warrens is not known.
The
park
A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...
is now mainly farmland and has a 19th-century Hunting Lodge, which is now an hotel and pony trekking (horse riding) centre called Parc le Breos, built about east north east of Parkmill
Parc Cwm long cairn
The
Parc Cwm long cairn
Parc Cwm long cairn (), also known as Parc le Breos burial chamber (), is a partly restored Neolithic chambered tomb, identified in 1937 as a Severn-Cotswold type of chambered long barrow. The cromlech, a megalithic burial chamber, was built ...
, or Parc le Breos burial chamber, is a partly restored,
prehistoric
Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use o ...
,
megalith
A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. More than 35,000 megalithic structures have been identified across Europe, ranging geographically f ...
ic
chambered long barrow
Long barrows are a style of monument constructed across Western Europe in the fifth and fourth millennia BCE, during the Early Neolithic period. Typically constructed from earth and either timber or stone, those using the latter material repres ...
, built between 5,800
BP and
6,000 BP (
before present
Before Present (BP) or "years before present (YBP)" is a time scale used mainly in archaeology, geology, and other scientific disciplines to specify when events occurred relative to the origin of practical radiocarbon dating in the 1950s. Because ...
), during the early
Neolithic
The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...
period, about three quarters of a mile (1.1 km) north west of Parkmill.
The cromlech is located in ''Coed-y-Parc'', on the floor of a dry narrow valley in about of woodland, owned and managed by
Forest Enterprise (Wales), in a limestone
gorge
A canyon (; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), gorge or chasm, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tend ...
, at an
elevation
The elevation of a geographic location (geography), ''location'' is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational equipotenti ...
of about
above sea level
Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...
. Pedestrian access is allowed and is free, with free parking available for 12–15 cars about from the site. On the opposite side of the lane to the car park a
kissing gate
A kissing gate is a gate that allows people, but not livestock, to pass through.
The normal construction is a half-round, rectangular, trapezoidal or V-shaped part-enclosure with the free end of a hinged gate trapped between its arms. When th ...
, wide enough for a wheelchair to pass through, leads to an asphalt track that runs past the cromlech and the length of the gorge, allowing flat, disabled access to within about of the site. Parc le Breos burial chamber is maintained by
Cadw
(, a Welsh verbal noun meaning "keeping/preserving") is the historic environment service of the Welsh Government and part of the Tourism and Culture group. works to protect the historic buildings and structures, the landscapes and heritage ...
(), the Welsh Historic Environment Agency.
There are caves further along ''Parc Cwm'' valley,
Cathole Cave and Llethryd tooth cave, which have been used from
Mesolithic
The Mesolithic (Ancient Greek language, Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic i ...
to Medieval times. In the Neolithic period, corpses may have been placed in the caves until they had decomposed, before the bones were moved to the cromlech.
''La Charrette''
''
La Charrette'' is recognised by the
British Film Institute
The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...
as the smallest cinema in Wales.
The 23-seat venue, built from a disused railway carriage, was sited in a back garden in
Gorseinon
Gorseinon is a town within the City and County of Swansea, Wales, near the Loughor estuary. It was a small village until the late 19th century, when it grew around the coal mining and tinplate industries. It is around north west of Swansea Ci ...
, near Swansea, and began showing films in 1953.
The cinema was originally constructed and run by the late Gwyn Phillips (who died in 1996), who fell in love with the movies while working as a
projectionist
A projectionist is a person who operates a movie projector, particularly as an employee of a movie theater. Projectionists are also known as "operators".
Historical background
N.B. The dates given in the subject headings are approximate.
Early ...
as a teenager. Safety concerns, following wear and tear to its wood-and-steel structure, caused ''La Charrette'' to close. A visit by film critic
Mark Kermode
Mark Kermode (, ; ; born 2 July 1963) is an English film critic, musician, radio presenter, television presenter, author and podcaster. He is the co-presenter (with Ellen E. Jones) of the BBC Radio 4 programme ''Screenshot'', and co-presenter ...
for
BBC2's The Culture Show
''The Culture Show'' is a British magazine programme about books, art, film, architecture, music, visual fashion and the performing arts. The show was broadcast weekly on BBC Two between 2004 and 2015.
Early history
Launched in November 2004, th ...
, in October 2007, resulted in the tiny venue being given a special send-off in February 2008. The
black tie event consisted of the world ''
premiere
A premiere, also spelled première, (from , ) is the debut (first public presentation) of a work, i.e. play, film, dance, musical composition, or even a performer in that work.
History
Raymond F. Betts attributes the introduction of the ...
'' of the
Danny Boyle
Daniel Francis Boyle (born 20 October 1956) is an English director and producer. He is known for his work on the films ''Shallow Grave (1994 film), Shallow Grave'' (1994), ''Trainspotting (film), Trainspotting'' (1996) and its sequel ''T2 Tra ...
film
Alien Love Triangle
''Alien Love Triangle'' is a 2008 comedy-science fiction short film directed by Danny Boyle and written by John Hodge. It was filmed in 1999.
The film was originally intended to be one of a trilogy of 30-minute short films shown together. How ...
(2002), starring
Kenneth Branagh
Sir Kenneth Charles Branagh ( ; born 10 December 1960) is a British actor and filmmaker. Born in Belfast and raised primarily in Reading, Berkshire, Branagh trained at RADA in London and served as its president from 2015 to 2024. List of award ...
,
Alice Connor,
Courteney Cox and
Heather Graham
Heather Joan Graham (born January 29, 1970) is an American actress. The accolades she has received include nominations for two Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Critics' Choice Movie Award, and an Independent Spirit Award.
After appearing in tel ...
. Branagh made a personal appearance at the screening, walking up the
red carpet
A red carpet is traditionally used to mark the route taken by heads of state on ceremonial and formal occasions, and has in recent decades been extended to use by Very Important Person, VIPs and celebrity, celebrities at formal events.
History
...
laid between two
end of terrace houses in Gorseinon, before watching the film—and special messages recorded by Cox and Graham—with Kermode and Rita Phillips, Gwyn Phillips' widow.
After the screening, the cinema was dismantled. It was rebuilt at the Gower Heritage Centre, Parkmill, where it has reopened.
References
External links
The Francis Firth collection: Parkmill, West GlamorganGower Heritage Centre, Parkmill
{{Gower Peninsula
Hamlets in Swansea
Populated places on the Gower Peninsula
Pennard (community)