Thomas Bowdler

A rather inconsequential looking grave in the grounds of Oystermouth Church marks the remains of Thomas Bowdler – a man important enough in his time to have had his name become an English Verb. The term “bowdlerised” was coined in 1836, long after Thomas Bowdler’s death, and refers to the act of editing writing to snip it of its offensive material and references – something for which Thomas Bowdler received both public and academic acclaim.

“My object is to offer these plays to the public in such a state that they may be read with pleasure in all companies, and placed without danger in the hands of every person who is capable of understanding them” Bowdler wrote in referenceto his work on “The Family Shakespeare” – a 10 volume edition of expurgated Shakespeare plays published in 1807. In this work, it has been estimated that 10% of Shakespeare’s words were removed from his plays.

Censorship in the arts in the twenty first century is seen in rather negative light but in the early nineteenth Century, Bowdler’s censoring works like Shakespeare and the Old Testament was viewed in quite a different light.

“More nauseous and more foolish cant was never chattered them that which would deride the memory or depreciate the merits of Bowdler. No man ever did more service to Shakespeare thanthe man who made it possible to put him into the hands of intelligent and imaginative children.” Wrote Swinburne in “Studies in Prose and Poetry (1894).

Even a hundred years after Bowdler’s death, the Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press only published Bowdler’s editions of Shakespeare.

Although recent academics have suggested that it was, in fact, Bowdler’s sister, Harriet, who carried out all the editing under her brother’s name so as not to reveal the fact that she understood the lewdness of the original text and expose herself as an indecent woman, Thomas Bowdler’s standing in the world of Publishing was immense and his work continues to raise debate about the nature of censorship to this day.Bowdler’s grave is now remounted on a table style tomb and reads:

Sacred
To the memory of
Thomas Bowdler, Esqr.
Youngest son of Thomas Bowdler, Esqr.
of Ashley Near Bath
Born at Ashley July 11, 1754
and died at Rhyddings Near Swansea
Febry 24, 1825
He was a sincere member of
the established Church of England
Putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour for
we are members one of anotherEphes. Chap IV, Verse 25

Oystermouth Church

A Roman villa once stood on the site now occupied by Oystermouth Church. The remaining traces of this earlier building are now on view within the church, embedded in a slate display on its western wall.


Known officially as the Church of All Saints, Oystermouth Church is the largest medieval church on the whole of the Gower Peninsula and has some fascinating internal and external features, including some amazing grotesques and church bells originating from the Cathedral of Santiago de Cuba, which were brought from the gutted original building in 1865.

In the church's burial ground lays the body of Thomas Bowdler, infamous for his expurgated versions of Shakespeare and the Bible.

Oystermouth Castle

The impressive ruins of Oystermouth Castle is the best preserved castle on the Gower Peninsula . Open to the public during the tourist season, for a nominal entrance fee, the site can provide a good couple of hours exploration for the visitor as well as affording them with superb views over Swansea , Swansea Bay and Mumbles.

Oystermouth Castle

The history of the castle is intricately linked with that of Swansea Castle . In 1106, Henry de Beaumont, Earl of Warwick, became the first Norman Lord of Gower and to reward his followers he parcelled out the rich farming land of his new property amongst them (building a castle for himself at Swansea in the meanwhile). William de Londres and his family were given Oystermouth, and it was they who founded the first castle at this site, probably of a simple ringwork and bailey structure. The male line of the de Londres family ended by 1184 however, and the Lord of Gower took possession of Oystermouth Castle , adding it to the castles he already owned at Swansea , Loughor and Pontarddulais. Impressed by both its position and structure, it was not long thereafter that Oystermouth Castle became the chief residence for the Earl of Warwick and for the future lords of Gower that were to follow him.

The early fortification founded here by William de Londres, was continually modified and improved upon throughout history, as successive Welsh uprisings kept destroying their earlier counterparts. Most of the castle structure seen today dates from the late 13th century and the early 14th century.

Oystermouth Castle is the Gower Peninsula 's most haunted castle and there have been countless reports of a ghostly woman in white appearing outside the castle's ancient walls. A gentleman, letting his dog off its lead to have a run around the castle's spacious grounds, was surprised to see his pet suddenly race towards him from behind a tree in obvious terror. Curious as to what had caused the animal's fright, the man walked over to the tree where he saw what he at first figured to be a large white sheet resting on the grass near the trunk of the tree. As he approached the sheet, however, it suddenly started from the ground and took the form of a woman wearing a white robe. She then faded from sight like dissolving mist.

Not a happy figure, this apparition is nearly always seen sobbing or with her head drooped into her palms as she plainly weeps. Some people who have encountered Oystermouth Castle 's “Woman in White” have also been unlucky enough to view the cause of this poor woman's suffering.

A family picnicking on the grounds were dismayed when their young children appeared from behind a tree screaming. When asked what had frightened them so, they explained that they had seen a lady dressed in a long white robe with a cord fastened around her waist. She appeared to the children as if she had been sobbing, although she had made no actual sound whatsoever. Perturbed by their story, the children's father then went to the tree to see the woman in white for himself. She was still there as he approached the tree, but seeing his approach, the figure turned its back to the man. It was then that the father witnessed that the back of the woman's dress had been torn apart and that her naked back had been shredded and bled with lacerations.

It is believed that the ghost of the “Woman in White” dates from Medieval times and had been a prisoner of Oystermouth Castle who had been literally whipped to death on the Whipping Post which still stands in the castle's large dungeon.