Roughly oval bank on level area at base of eastern side of Pwll-Du head. Approximately 2m wide and 9m long the feature lies beside the path connecting the shore path with the cliff-top path and is orientated NW-SE. A line of carefully placed stones marks the western edge and there is a small robber hollow with scatter bones (? animal) near the southern end. It was assumed that this is the grave marked on the O.S. 1947-8 six inch map of the area. The modern 1:10,000 map shows no grave but retains the name of the valley 'Grave's End'.
(from NT report Emma Plunkett Dillon, 1988).

A sub rectangular area, marked out by limestones placed all around the edges. It is c12.6m long east-west, 8.1m wide north south. The stones are of various sizes, mostly around 0.5m3, generally increasing in size to the west, up to 0.8m long. Aligned roughly east-west, the centre of the western end is marked by the largest stone, generally regarded as the headstone, 1.7m long, 0.95m wide, 0.8m deep. The area enclosed is fairly level, one or two large stones inside, but otherwise clear of objects. This is the grave of drowned men from a nearby wreck in 1760. The ship wrecked was an Admiralty tender called the Caesar, suggested by Jenkins (1975) to possibly be a cutter of c60 tons. The ship was carrying a large number of men impressed for service in the navy, battened down below decks. Having left Swansea earlier in the day it was forced to turn back due to the turning tide and worsening weather. The ship was heading for the safety of Mumbles but in bad fog mistook Pwll Du Head for Mumbles head, striking the rocks in the early evening and driven into a recess still known as Caesars Hole, where they became stuck with a holed ship and a rising tide. The survivors managed to scramble to safety over the rocks, including the captain, a Lieutenant James Gaborian. They made their way up to High Pennard farm, where they seized a lantern and headed for Swansea, making no mention of the men trapped below. Reports tend to vary but it is clear that most if not all of the pressed men were drowned, according to the Customs Papers, totalling 68 men. Local reports, however, say up to 97 bodies were washed ashore, including members of the crew and 3 women. Lieutenant Gaborian, was ordered to pay the locals for disposing of the bodies. The villagers took the bodies to the nearest gully where the soil was deep enough to allow a mass burial. It is said the grave was then marked with a near perfect circle of large stones (Holt 1996), the fact it is now enclosed by a rough rectangle of stones suggests the area may have re-marked or adjusted during the past 240 years. The area still retains the name of Graves End.
Derived from information held by the GGAT HER Charitable Trust copyright.

John Latham RCAHMW 5 May 2015