1920 Auction	Amongst archives held at West Glamorgan Archive Service, there is a Catalogue for an Auction which was held at  "The Hotel Cameron, High Street, Swansea, on Wednesday January 21st [1920]" which proclaimed that prospective purchasers should be present "at 12 noon promptly" The Auction was held in order to sell 'High Pennard' on the Gower Coast, together with 'Outlying Portions of the Kilvrough Estate', which included
Index to Catalogue
Properties
People
Maps & Plans
Links
the Whole of the Property between "Pwlldu" and "Three Cliffs Bay", together with its Freehold Farms, Small Holdings and Market Garden Land, Building Sites and Freehold Ground Rents, as well as a 'Delightful Residence and Land at Park Place, Parkmill'. The Auctioneers were Messrs. James & James F.A.I. of 7 Goat Street, Swansea (under instruction from Lt.Commander A. E. P. Lyons, D.S.O.), whilst the Solicitors were Messrs. Nicholson, Patterson & Freeland, of 46 Queen Anne's Gate, Westminster (London), and the Estate Agent was Mr.T.E.Jenkins, Kilvrough Estate Office, Parkmill.

Whilst the history of the Kilvrough Estate can be read elsewhere, either through the eyes and words of its previous owners (Dawkins, Penrice, Lyons, etc) or within more recent publications, the demise of the estate came about through a series of 'unfortunate' events during the first twenty years of the twentieth century, the result of which necessitated the sale of the majority of its lands, properties and leases etc.

In all, thousands of acres of land were sold during two major Auctions, one in 1919 and the other in 1920, although for the purpose of this present study, it is the latter Auction which has the greatest interest, for within its Catalogue can be read details of all the Lots, together with what each contained in size, buildings, etc, and where they were located, to whom they were leased, and what the value (or return) was per year. As will be seen through the Auction Catalogue, Maps and other documents, until 1920, the Kilvrough Estate in Gower had encompassed a large part of the southern area of the peninsular, stretching along the coastline from Pwlldu in the east to Three Cliffs Bay in the west, whilst inland, the same Estate included land, property and much more within the Villages of Ilston, Parkmill, Pennard, Southgate, Kittle, and Fairwood Common.                                                                                © Strick & Bellingham (Solicitors) Swansea.

Over the following pages we will look at the details of the properties, the land, its people and much more, both from the time of the 1920 Auction, as well as in later years. From that auspicious year right through to the present day, we will see how the landscape has changed from what were mostly farm fields and a handful of farms and farm cottages, interspersed with the occasional 'new' properties, and watch the Villages expand, creak and groan through to the twenty-first century. The image to the left (© Strick & Bellingham (Solicitors) Swansea.) shows part of the Plan which accompanied the 1920 Auction Catalogue for the Kilvrough Estate. The detail shows the end of Southgate Road, Pennard, the fork in the road now being roughly where is the existing roundabout.  The property numbered '20' is the present 'Heatherslade Nursing Home'.

(5Apr2008) Unfortunately, due to personal and Family ill health since late 2007, I have been unable to add material to this site or to update or amend anything on it. I apologise for the situation and assure you that 'normal service' will resume as soon as possible.