OXWICH, a parish, in the union and hundred of SWANSEA, county of GLAMORGAN, SOUTH WALES, 14 miles by Penrice, and 13
across the sands (W. s. W.) from Swansea; containing 345 inhabitants. This parish is situated on the Bristol Channel, and
on the western shore of the small but fine bay to which it gives name, and which has a considerable depth of water at all
times of the tide, as well as good anchorage. It comprises a moderate tract of arable and pasture land, inclosed and in
a good state of cultivation. The surrounding scenery is finely varied, and enlivened with luxuriant woods, and the views
over the channel and the adjacent country possess much interest. The bay on the north has some firm and smooth sands, well
adapted for sea-bathing: on the east it is bounded by lofty and precipitous cliffs, affording shelter from the winds, and
on the west by gently sloping hills richly covered with wood from the margin of the water to their summits. A few of the
inhabitants are employed in blasting the contiguous limestone rocks, and in digging on the shore for stones of a similar
quality, with whichsmall vessels are occasionally freighted for the opposite coast of Devonshire. 14bsters and crabs,
together with two or three species of edible sea plants, are procured here. The living is a discharged rectory, united to
that of Nicholaston, and rated in the king's books at £9. 9. 2. The church, dedicated to St. Illtyd, is romantically
situated at the base of a hill on the western side of the bay, and, as seen from the sands, has a very picturesque
appearance; it contains an ancient altar-tomb, on which are the effigies of a knight and his lady, in a recumbent
position. There is a National school, supported by a lady in the neighbourhood, and attended by 30 children daily and by
40 on Sundays. Thomas Bevan, in 1708, bequeathed £10 to the poor of the parish; but after the interest had been paid for
some years, the principal was lost by the personal representative of the testator becoming insolvent. On the hill above
the village are the ruins of Oxwich Castle, supposed to have been built about the middle of the sixteenth century, by Sir
Rice Manse!, rather as a residence than as a place of strength; they consist chiefly of some dilapidated portions of the
walls, in one of which are the remains of a fine window.