Loughor and the Berwick Levels
Roman soldiers from the Second Augustan Legion established Leucarum (Loughor) in about AD 75, to guard the major communications route that crisscrossed South Wales and included the River Loughor. Leucarum sat along a road that stretched from Viroconium (modern Wroxeter) to Moridunum (Carmarthen) and probably linked several forts and fortlets in southern Wales, including Nidum (Neath). At low tide the remains of the site of the Roman bridge can still be seen.
The Normans built a castle here in 1099. The Welsh destroyed the castle in 1153 but it was regained and rebuilt by the Normans In the early 13th century,and added a low stone curtain wall, of which only foundations remain. At the end of the century, when William de Braose had the lordship, the rectangular stone tower that now dominates the site was constructed.
Loughor later grew as a port, while in the early twentieth century huge tin and steel works were the main industries but closed in the middle of the twentieth century.
There is a Lifeboat station and sailing club at Loughor. Loughor is the southern gateway and boundary to Carmarthenshire with railway and road bridges across the Loughor River.
The Berwick Levels just on the other side of the River towards Llanelli are home to the Water Vole, a protected species as this mammal is so rare (this animal is who "Ratty" from Wind in thje Willows" was based).
The Wildfowl and Wedland Trust is also based here with its lagoons and access to the mudflats and is home to a wide variety of wading and migratory birds.
The Normans built a castle here in 1099. The Welsh destroyed the castle in 1153 but it was regained and rebuilt by the Normans In the early 13th century,and added a low stone curtain wall, of which only foundations remain. At the end of the century, when William de Braose had the lordship, the rectangular stone tower that now dominates the site was constructed.
Loughor later grew as a port, while in the early twentieth century huge tin and steel works were the main industries but closed in the middle of the twentieth century.
There is a Lifeboat station and sailing club at Loughor. Loughor is the southern gateway and boundary to Carmarthenshire with railway and road bridges across the Loughor River.
The Berwick Levels just on the other side of the River towards Llanelli are home to the Water Vole, a protected species as this mammal is so rare (this animal is who "Ratty" from Wind in thje Willows" was based).
The Wildfowl and Wedland Trust is also based here with its lagoons and access to the mudflats and is home to a wide variety of wading and migratory birds.
