Clyne Valley woodland park is the northernmost, wilder, component of Clyne public park, a large and attractive park notable as the former private estate of the wealthy and locally prominent Vivian family of Clyne (nprn 18354) in a beautiful location overlooking Swansea Bay.
The ornamental grounds are located to the south-west of Swansea, on the neck of the Gower peninsula. The wooded valley retains most of its historic layout and some ornamental planting. It is of particular interest for its industrial and other archaeological remains (91899), mostly predating its parkland use, and also plantings of choice rhododendrons. The grounds were developed from the early nineteenth century, but mainly from the 1860s onwards by William Graham Vivian and Admiral Walker-Heneage Vivian.

The valley of the Clyne river, to the north of the house, is occupied by mixed oak woodland. The valley has a long woodland history but the named wood - Clyne Wood - only followed its enclosure in the early eighteenth century. Most of the present tree growth is of twentieth century date. The oldest surviving trees are two huge oak pollards, probably hedgerow stubs, which grow on the enclosing bank of an early assart (417607). Several earthwork platforms scattered across the wood may be related to early woodland management and/or charcoal burning. There is also possible evidence for late-medieval assarting (54516) and for post-medieval rabbit farming (54514). A number of hollow trails in the wood attest to its long land-use history.

The woodland was adapted for shooting purposes by the Admiral with the planting of coverts of rhododendron, and ornamental trees and shrubs, including conifers, were planted throughout the wood. Several trial beds for the then newly-introduced hybrid rhododendron were also established.

The wood is accessed, from the castle, through a simple entrance on Mill Lane opening onto two tracks leading northwards, upper and lower. The upper one passes the Ivy Tower (41109), a former chimney stack of the copper and arsenic works below (85177), and later adapted as a gazebo. The track also passes an underground reservoir and a disused quarry - one of several in the wood - and on to a small tributary valley running west-east, once planted with many ornamental species, some of which remain. The track continues on to Keeper's Cottage.
The lower track, more or less parallel to the upper, passes through an area of 'bell pits' dug from at least the fourteenth century onwards to exploit a near-surface coal seam. Below the track in the valley bottom, and also at the far north end of the wood, are the remains of nineteenth-century coal mining activity (275876; 275878). In the floor of the valley, by the winding Clyne river, a cycle track now follows the line of the old railway formation. Towards the south end of the wood is a leat which served Blackpill Mill (308221).

The entire parkland estate, with its woods and gardens, was broken up in the 1950s. The northern half of the wood was cleared felled during the Second World War.

The other two components of the public park lie to the south: Clyne Gardens (700147); and the grounds of Clyne Castle (265686). 

Sources:
Cadw 2000: Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales, Glamorgan, 224-7 (ref: PGW(Gm)47(SWA)).
Additional notes: D.K.Leighton

RCAHMW, 12 September 2022