Forgotten Lands Beneath the Waves: The Tragic Tale of Green Grounds

According to the article, the Bristol Channel was once an expansive, forested land, with semi-fossilised ancient tree stumps occasionally exposed at the lowest tides. The earliest settlers inhabited these lands, which were drowned by the melting of ice-age glaciers millennia ago.

However, evidence suggests that land existed beyond Mumbles Head as recently as four centuries ago. Medieval accounts tell of a bridle path from Penrice Castle to Margam Abbey that led travellers far past the headland of Mumbles. It's believed that Grove Island, or Green Grounds as it was also known, may have been obliterated by the colossal flood which claimed two thousand lives one January morning in 1607.

The memory of the Green Grounds persists in other parts of Swansea Bay. At the entrance of Swansea docks harbour, a buoy known as the Swigg buoy stands tall, its name referring to the South West Inner Green Grounds. This buoy serves as a poignant reminder of the farm, forests, and village of "Green Grounds" that were tragically washed away.