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Gower (Lordship)
 
 
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Gower was an ancient marcher lordship of Deheubarth
Deheubarth

  Deheubarth was a south-western kingdom or principality of medieval Wales....
 in south-west Wales
South West Wales

South West Wales is a loosely-defined region of Wales. A clear definition consisting of all of the unitary authorities of Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire is used by a number of government agencies and private organisations....
. The district, prior to the Norman invasion
Norman invasion of Wales

The Norman invasion of Wales began shortly after the Norman invasion of England. It was not undertaken with the fervor and intentionality of the invasion of England, and, as such, a specific date is difficult to pin down; nonetheless, it can be said that the invasion gradually played itself out through the 1060s into the 1070s, though the si...
, was the commote of Gwyr, a part of Cantref Eginawc.

It consisted of the country bounded by the rivers Loughor
River Loughor

The River Loughor in Carmarthenshire, Wales has its source at an underground lake at the Black Mountain . It flows past settlements like Ammanford and Hendy in Carmarthenshire and Pontarddulais in Swansea....
, Amman
River Amman

The River Amman is a river of south Wales, which joins the River Loughor at Pantyffynnon. The river gives its name to the town of Ammanford and the villages of Pontamman, Glanaman, Brynamman and Rhosaman....
, Twrch
Afon Twrch

The Afon Twrch is a river which rises in the Black Mountain in south Wales. It forms the boundary between the counties of Powys and Carmarthenshire and, downstream of Ystradowen, between Powys and Neath Port Talbot county borough....
 and Tawe
River Tawe

The River Tawe is a river in South Wales. It flows in a principally south-westerly direction for some 48 km from its source below Moel Feity in the Old Red Sandstone hills of the western Brecon Beacons to the Bristol Channel at Swansea....
. Its capital and chief castle was Swansea
Swansea

Swansea is a City status in the United Kingdom and subdivisions of Wales in Wales. Swansea is in the Historic counties of Wales of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower peninsula and the Lliw uplands....
, and it extended westward to the end of the Gower peninsula and northward to Ystalyfera
Ystalyfera

Ystalyfera is a former industrial village situated on the River Tawe in the unitary authority of Neath Port Talbot, Wales. The estimated population for Ystalyfera and neighbouring Ystradgynlais is 10,247, with an estimate of 4,000 for Ystalyfera itself....
 and Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen
Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen

Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen is a village in Neath Port Talbot, South West Wales Wales. Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen is also a Community made up of the electoral wards of Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen and Lower Brynamman....
. Soon after the Norman invasion the southern part was colonised by English speakers, and the lordship was formally divided into Welsh Gower and English Gower.






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Gower was an ancient marcher lordship of Deheubarth
Deheubarth

  Deheubarth was a south-western kingdom or principality of medieval Wales....
 in south-west Wales
South West Wales

South West Wales is a loosely-defined region of Wales. A clear definition consisting of all of the unitary authorities of Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire is used by a number of government agencies and private organisations....
. The district, prior to the Norman invasion
Norman invasion of Wales

The Norman invasion of Wales began shortly after the Norman invasion of England. It was not undertaken with the fervor and intentionality of the invasion of England, and, as such, a specific date is difficult to pin down; nonetheless, it can be said that the invasion gradually played itself out through the 1060s into the 1070s, though the si...
, was the commote of Gwyr, a part of Cantref Eginawc.

It consisted of the country bounded by the rivers Loughor
River Loughor

The River Loughor in Carmarthenshire, Wales has its source at an underground lake at the Black Mountain . It flows past settlements like Ammanford and Hendy in Carmarthenshire and Pontarddulais in Swansea....
, Amman
River Amman

The River Amman is a river of south Wales, which joins the River Loughor at Pantyffynnon. The river gives its name to the town of Ammanford and the villages of Pontamman, Glanaman, Brynamman and Rhosaman....
, Twrch
Afon Twrch

The Afon Twrch is a river which rises in the Black Mountain in south Wales. It forms the boundary between the counties of Powys and Carmarthenshire and, downstream of Ystradowen, between Powys and Neath Port Talbot county borough....
 and Tawe
River Tawe

The River Tawe is a river in South Wales. It flows in a principally south-westerly direction for some 48 km from its source below Moel Feity in the Old Red Sandstone hills of the western Brecon Beacons to the Bristol Channel at Swansea....
. Its capital and chief castle was Swansea
Swansea

Swansea is a City status in the United Kingdom and subdivisions of Wales in Wales. Swansea is in the Historic counties of Wales of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower peninsula and the Lliw uplands....
, and it extended westward to the end of the Gower peninsula and northward to Ystalyfera
Ystalyfera

Ystalyfera is a former industrial village situated on the River Tawe in the unitary authority of Neath Port Talbot, Wales. The estimated population for Ystalyfera and neighbouring Ystradgynlais is 10,247, with an estimate of 4,000 for Ystalyfera itself....
 and Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen
Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen

Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen is a village in Neath Port Talbot, South West Wales Wales. Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen is also a Community made up of the electoral wards of Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen and Lower Brynamman....
. Soon after the Norman invasion the southern part was colonised by English speakers, and the lordship was formally divided into Welsh Gower and English Gower. The parish of Betws
Betws

This article is about the place in Carmarthenshire. For other places called Betws or Bettws see Bettws.Betws is a small village on the River Amman, some 15 miles north of Swansea, Wales; it is part of the ecclesiastical parish of Betws and Ammanford....
 was detached from the lordship in the 13th century.

In the first Act of Union
Laws in Wales Acts 1535-1542

The Laws in Wales Acts 1535?1542 were a series of parliamentary measures by which the legal system of Wales was annexed to Kingdom of England and the norms of English administration introduced in order to create a single state and a single legal jurisdiction, which is frequently referred to as England and Wales....
 (1535), it was transferred, along with the Lordship of Kilvey (roughly, the parish of Llansamlet
Llansamlet

Llansamlet is the name of an Ward and a coterminous Community council City and County of Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom. Llansamlet does not have a community council....
 on the east bank of the Tawe), to the historic county of Glamorgan
Glamorgan

Glamorgan or Glamorganshire is one of the thirteen Historic counties of Wales and a former Administrative divisions of Wales of Wales. It was originally an early medieval monarchy of varying names and boundaries until taken over by the Anglo-Norman as a lordship....
, when the north-eastern part became the Hundred of Llangyfelach and the south-western part became the Hundred of Swansea. However, the district (except for the parish of Bishopston- historically dependent on Llandaff) remained part of the Diocese of St David's
St David's

St David's is the smallest City status in the United Kingdom in the United Kingdom, with a population of under 2,000 people. It lies on the River Alun, on Saint David's peninsula in Pembrokeshire, Wales....
, until the Diocese of Swansea and Brecon
Diocese of Swansea and Brecon

The Diocese of Swansea and Brecon was established as a Diocese of the Church in Wales in 1923 with Brecon Cathedral as the Cathedral. The Diocese has a border with five other Welsh Dioceses, as well as with the English Diocese of Hereford....
 was formed in 1923.

The rights of Marcher lords were formally abolished by the Act of Union, but considerable powers were still exercised de facto in Gower, and the claimed rights and privileges of the Lord (then a Duke of Beaufort
Henry Somerset, 5th Duke of Beaufort

Henry Somerset, 5th Duke of Beaufort Knight of the Garter was the only son of Charles Noel Somerset, 4th Duke of Beaufort and his wife, Elizabeth Somerset, Duchess of Beaufort....
) were described in detail in Gabriel Powell's Survey of Gower in 1746.

The name of the area has continued in use since 1885 in the name of the parliamentary constituency
Gower (UK Parliament constituency)

Gower is a constituency represented in the British House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The constituency has elected only Labour MPs since 1906, the longest run of any UK constituency....
 which consists of all the lordship other than Swansea city, but today the name Gower is commonly incorrectly applied only to the south-western, peninsular part of the district (see Gower peninsula
Gower Peninsula

The Gower Peninsula is a peninsula on the south coast of Wales, on the north side of the Bristol Channel in the southwest of the Historic counties of Wales of Glamorgan....
).

The medieval division between English and Welsh
Welsh language

Welsh ]], is a member of the Brythonic branch of Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, in England by some along the Welsh Marches and in the Welsh settlement in Argentina in the Chubut Valley in Argentina Patagonia....
-speaking areas continues today, the peninsula and the coastal part of Swansea city being English-speaking, while Welsh is spoken further north, and places such as Ystalyfera and Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen remain bastions of the Welsh language. The boundary shown on the map is that of D T Williams (1931). It had changed little in several centuries.