PENRICE, or PEN-RHOS, a parish, in the union and hundred of SWANSEA, county of GLAMORGAN, SOUTH WALES, 13 miles (W. S. W.)
from Swansea; containing 881 inhabitants. This place is thought to have derived its name, signifyint, " the head of
RhS,s," from the circumstance of Rh s ab Caradoc ab lestyn having been defeated and slain here, in defending his
territories from the aggression of a party of Norman invaders. According to other authorities, the place is said to have
obtained its name from the family of Penrice, who accompanied William the Conqueror into England, and afterwards effected
a settlement in Gower, in the reign of Edward I. The ancient castle, of which there are still some remains, is supposed to
have been originally one of the fortresses raised by the Earl of Warwick, for the defence of the territory of Gower, which
he had subjected to his authority, and to have been conveyed, together with the lordship, by marriage with Isabel,
daughter and heiress of Sir John Penrice, to Sir Hugh Mengel, in the time of Henry V. The property remained in the
possession of this family till the year 1750, when, in default of heirs male, it passed to the second son of Mary,
youngest daughter of Sir Thomas, afterwards Lord Maned, who had been married to John Ivery Talbot, Esq., of Laycock Abbey,
in the county of Wilts. The parish is situated on the western shore of Oxwich bay, in the Bristol Channel, and comprises a
moderate portion of amble and pasture land, the latter of which has been for the greater part recovered from the sea. The
village is neatly built, and of prepossessing appearance; the surrounding scenery is pleasingly diversified, and enriched
With wood; and the views over the bay and the adjacent country are not destitute of interest. Near the remains of the
ancient castle stands the modem villa called Penrice Castle, a handsome edifice, erected by the late Mr. Talbot, with
stone brought from the quarries of Mangum; the grounds, which are laid out with great taste, and ornamented with a large
artificial sheet of water, well stocked with fish, comprehend a variety of pleasing scenery. At the distance of about half
a mile from the house is Oxwich marsh, an extensive tract, partly in the parish of Penrice, and partly in those of Oxwich
and Nicholaston adjoining: it was formerly overflowed by the sea at high water, but was reclaimed by means of an
embankment, constructed at the expense and under the superintendence of Mr. Talbot; it was also drained, by a broad ditch
cut on the north side, which empties itself by floodgates into a rivulet or pill communicating with the sea. This land,
which is more than two hundred acres in extent, affords excellent pasturage for cattle and horses, but the sheep that feed
in it are now invariably subject to the rot, from which they were always free previously to the exclusion of the seawater.
A market was formerly held, and there are remains of the old market-place in the present village; fairs still occur on May
17th, June 20th, July 17th, and September 17th. The living is a perpetual curacy, endowed with £800 royal bounty; net
income, £58; patron and impropriator, the Earl of Jersey. The church, dedicated to St. Andrew, and situated on the summit
of a hill, is an ancient structure with a lofty tower, which being partly mantled with ivy, is both a conspicuous and
picturesque object, as viewed from the sea, and from the grounds of Penrice Castle. There is a place of worship for
Wesleyan Methodists at Horton. Two Sunday schools, in which are about 55 males and females, who attend the Established
Church, are maintained by ladies; and a Sunday school appertaining to Wesleyan*, and containing 75 males and females, is
supported by an annual collection. Sarah Bennet, in 1735, bequeathed £15 to the poor; but though it is stated in 1786
that this sum was then vested in the representatives of ThomasHancome, no interest ha:re:a:received for many years. The
remains of Penrice Castle occupy the summit of a high rock commanding Oxwich bay, and from its ruins it appears to have
been of great strength and magnificence. Near the village are vestiges of an entrenchment; and at a short distance is an
old house, called the Sanctuary, which is said to have belonged to the manor of Millwood, or St. John's, the property of
the knights of St. John of Jerusalem. Several Saxon coins have recently been found.