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Oxwich Castle occupies a position on a wooded headland overlooking Oxwich Bay
Oxwich Bay

Oxwich Bay is a bay on the south of the Gower peninsula, Wales.Its landscape features sand dunes, salt marshes and woodland. Oxwich Bay includes a 2.5 mile long sandy beach, accessible from the village of Oxwich....
 on the 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....
, Wales
Wales

native_name = Cymru|conventional_long_name = Wales|common_name = Wales|image_flag = Flag of Wales 2.svg|national_motto = ...
, UK
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
.

Although it may occupy the site of an earlier fortification, this is a castle
Castle

A castle is a defensive structure seen as one of the main symbols of the Middle Ages. The term has a history of scholarly debate surrounding its exact meaning, but it is usually regarded as being distinct from the general terms fort or fortress in that it describes a residence of a monarch or noble and commands a specific defensive territor...
 in name only as it is a grand Tudor
Tudor architecture

Tudor architecture may refer to:*Tudor style architecture, the first architecture from the Tudor period*A style typified by Tudor City, popular in apartment buildings and housing cooperatives in New York City in the 1920s...
 manor house
Manor house

A manor house or fortified manor-house is a country house, which has historically formed the administrative centre of a manor , the lowest unit of territorial organization in the feudal system....
 built in courtyard style. A product of the peaceful 16th century, Oxwich was built by Sir Rice Mansel
Rice Mansel

Sir Rhys Mansel , also Sir Rice Mansel, also Sir Rice Manxell, also Sir Rice Maunsell, Vice-Admiral, was Sheriff of Glamorgan, a Commissioner of Peace and served as Chamberlain of Chester to King Henry VIII of England....
 to provide sumptuous accommodation. He gave it a mock military gateway complete with family coat of arms
Coat of arms

A coat of arms, more properly called an armorial achievement, armorial bearings or often just arms for short, in European tradition, is a design belonging to a particular person and used by them in a wide variety of ways....
.






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Oxwich Castle occupies a position on a wooded headland overlooking Oxwich Bay
Oxwich Bay

Oxwich Bay is a bay on the south of the Gower peninsula, Wales.Its landscape features sand dunes, salt marshes and woodland. Oxwich Bay includes a 2.5 mile long sandy beach, accessible from the village of Oxwich....
 on the 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....
, Wales
Wales

native_name = Cymru|conventional_long_name = Wales|common_name = Wales|image_flag = Flag of Wales 2.svg|national_motto = ...
, UK
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
.

Although it may occupy the site of an earlier fortification, this is a castle
Castle

A castle is a defensive structure seen as one of the main symbols of the Middle Ages. The term has a history of scholarly debate surrounding its exact meaning, but it is usually regarded as being distinct from the general terms fort or fortress in that it describes a residence of a monarch or noble and commands a specific defensive territor...
 in name only as it is a grand Tudor
Tudor architecture

Tudor architecture may refer to:*Tudor style architecture, the first architecture from the Tudor period*A style typified by Tudor City, popular in apartment buildings and housing cooperatives in New York City in the 1920s...
 manor house
Manor house

A manor house or fortified manor-house is a country house, which has historically formed the administrative centre of a manor , the lowest unit of territorial organization in the feudal system....
 built in courtyard style. A product of the peaceful 16th century, Oxwich was built by Sir Rice Mansel
Rice Mansel

Sir Rhys Mansel , also Sir Rice Mansel, also Sir Rice Manxell, also Sir Rice Maunsell, Vice-Admiral, was Sheriff of Glamorgan, a Commissioner of Peace and served as Chamberlain of Chester to King Henry VIII of England....
 to provide sumptuous accommodation. He gave it a mock military gateway complete with family coat of arms
Coat of arms

A coat of arms, more properly called an armorial achievement, armorial bearings or often just arms for short, in European tradition, is a design belonging to a particular person and used by them in a wide variety of ways....
. Sir Rice's work was confined to the southern block and was completed between the 1520s and 30s. On Mansel's death his son, Sir Edward Mansel succeeded to the property and between 1560-80 created the much grander style multi-storied range which contained an impressive hall and elegant long gallery - a fashionable Elizabethan architecture
Elizabethan architecture

Elizabethan architecture is the term given to early Renaissance architecture in England, during the reign of Elizabeth I of England. Historically, the period corresponds to the Cinquecento in Italy, the French Renaissance architecture in France, and the Plateresque style in Spain....
 feature. The six-storey south-east tower which still survives probably accommodated the family and servants. After the Mansels moved out in the 1630s the castle fell into disrepair and the south range was used as a farmhouse.

The building is now in the care of Cadw
Cadw

Cadw is a Wales-government body with the mission to protect, conserve, and to promote the built heritage of Wales. It is the Welsh equivalent of English Heritage and Historic Scotland and is now part of the Welsh Assembly Government....
.

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