Forester’s cave is located on the coastal cliffs of the Gower Peninsula, South Wales, in a gully that is frequently washed by high tides. Much of the deposits here have been disturbed by ocean movement but Pleistocene animal bones have been recovered during excavations.

The cave consists of a South-West facing wide entrance arch that measures 12m high, 10m wide and 8m deep. At the rear of this arched section is a south-facing, triangular, entrance measuring 0.9m high, 1.5m wide which leads to a passage that extends about 12m into the cliff. A wide gully in front of the cave connected to a rocky slope which ends at sea level means that waves easily reach the cave and wash out deposits. However, the base of the cave is filled with fallen stones and rubble, making it difficult to traverse. The sediment of the interior passage remains mostly undisturbed and fills to the roof.                                         

Excavations of the entrance produced remains of Pleistocene fauna, including a woolly rhino femur. Further details of these finds, including their current whereabouts, are unknown. Holocene deposits are thought to remain intact against the Western wall of the cave, but no research has yet been conducted.

The first excavation of this site was conducted in 1919 by Egerton Forester, who this cave was named after, and produced Pleistocene bones including the woolly rhino femur. A second excavation by Valdemar, sometime prior to 1970, also produced Pleistocene faunal remains though little is known.

Forester’s cave, having produced prehistoric finds during both conducted excavations, is a site of some significance. Considering the existence of both the undisturbed Holocene deposit and sediment fill of the interior passage, this site would benefit from further investigation and excavation which might create a larger assemblage of prehistoric faunal remains.      

Context: Welsh Palaeolithic

The Palaeolithic, also known as the ‘Old Stone Age’ is an era defined by the advent and use of lithic technology by hominids. This period sits within the Pleistocene or ‘Ice Age’ global epoch which lasted from around 2.5 million to 10,000 years before present and contained multiple dramatic climate shifts. Mainland Europe’s Palaeolithic occurred around 1.4 million to 10,000 years ago, but as an era defined by hominin behaviours and presence, the span of the Palaeolithic differs between locations.

The earliest evidence of Welsh hominins comes from Neanderthal remains dated to around 230,000 years ago. However, due to climactic changes in this period, Wales was only occupied intermittently. The first modern human remains found in Wales, known as ‘the Red Lady of Paviland’, date to between 33,000 – 34,000 years ago but the area would later be abandoned between 21,000 to 13,000 years ago. This includes artefacts from one of the last phases of the era, the Early Upper Palaeolithic (38,000-27,000 years before present). Humans in this period continued to rely on lithic technologies and operated in mobile hunter-gatherer social units which were capable of cultural complexities such as ritual burials and art.

Sources include:

Glamorgan Gwent Archaeological Trust HER PRN 01425w https://archwilio.org.uk/her/chi3/report/page.php?watprn=GGAT01425w

Forester's cave - pennard west cliff, Pennard & Bishopston, Gower. MNA132600 | National Trust Heritage Records. Available at: https://heritagerecords.nationaltrust.org.uk/HBSMR/MonRecord.aspx?uid=MNA132600  

Sites of archaeological importance (2021) Gower Bone Caves. Available at: https://www.gowerbonecaves.org.uk/gazetteer

Trilobyte, B.M. South Gower Coast Caves, Caves of South Wales. Available at: http://www.ogof.org.uk/areas/south-gower-coast-caves.html  

B. Irvine, April 2023

This record was enhanced by B. Irvine (University of Southampton) as part of an MA/MSc work placement with RCAHMW (January to May 2023).