Port Eynon Church

A church has stood on the site of the present St. Cattwg's Church since the 6th Century AD but the present building originated from the 12th Century. Dedicated to the Celtic Saint of Llancarfan, the most distinctive feature noticed by present day visitors is perhaps not the church itself but the memorial statue of the lifeboatman sited in the most visible corner of the churchyard.

This large sculpture of a lifeboatman, dressed in typical early 20th Century garb, is made from the finest Italian marble and commemmorates members of the village lifeboat crew who lost their lives to the sea during a particularly daring rescue attempt in the Bristol Channel in 1916. A further memorial to this disaster can be found within the church itself in the form of a commemorative pulpit.

Several items of further interest within St. Cattwg's Church include its lack of an eastern window, a blocked up leper's window in the chancel's southern wall and the greenstone Norman font - believed to be over six hundred years old - a gift of the Abbot of Llantwit Major at the time.

Like most of Gower's churches, St. Cattwg has been renovated on several occassions, most notably in 1861 when the church's gallery was destroyed and the west end of the building was enlarged to cater for the growing congregation, in 1901 when the stone entrance to the building was replaced by a cement one and in the 1960's when the church was further enlarged.

A particular favourite of Port Eynon Church are its beautiful stained glass windows. Fortunately, these can be freely viewed during the summer months when the church is usually open to the public.