History
Shipwrecks and Smuggling By Frances Bevan
Frances Bevan was formerly a history correspondent on the Swindon Advertiser; she has written extensively on people, places and events in the history of Swindon.
During the late 18th and 19th centuries the remote Gower coastline was a lucrative haven for smugglers. Beneath the cliffs at Port Eynon, a cave called Culver Hole is set between two rock faces and has a masonry wall and a staircase leading up four floors. Culver Hole is believed to have links with the legendary 11th century castle at Port Eynon, but in more recent history in came in handy for stowing away contraband.
Frances has a number of blogs, of which ‘Dear George...’ is one. The ‘Dear George...’ blog tells the real-life story of 15-year-old George Bevan who left home to begin an apprenticeship in his uncle’s ironmonger’s shop in Llandudno; the blog focuses on subsequent correspondence between the boy and his family in Gower that was to run for over 50 years.
Va r i o u s s m u g g l i n g g a n g s operated under the very noses of the establishment making the job of the customs officials particularly difficult. Farms at Great and Little Highway occupied by William Hawkin Arthur, the self-styled smuggling k i n g, w e r e t h e c e n t r e o f operations. Seemingly invincible, it was customs officer Francis Bevan, an ancestor of both Silvanus and Anne, who in 1804 seized some 420 casks of spirits from a concealed cellar in both farmhouses, causing the collapse of this particular gang’s operations.
If you would like to read more about the Bevan family from Gower visit: georgebevan.blogspot.co.uk © 2012. Unless otherwise stated: text and images courtesy of Frances Bevan - ‘Dear George...’ 26
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