Bacon Hole

Nearest town:
Swansea (12km ENE)
OS reference:
SS56048682
OS sheet:
159
Latitude:
51° 33' 40.8 N
Longitude:
4° 4' 37.43 W
Added to TMA by

Images

Image of Bacon Hole (Cave / Rock Shelter) by thesweetcheat

The cave from the seaward side. Note the huge chucks of shattered limestone strata that were once part of a seabed.

Image credit: A. Brookes (30.5.2016)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Jun 16, 2016
Image of Bacon Hole (Cave / Rock Shelter) by thesweetcheat

This is one of the biggest caves on the cliffs of South Gower.

Image credit: A. Brookes (30.5.2016)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Jun 16, 2016
Image of Bacon Hole (Cave / Rock Shelter) by thesweetcheat

The stalagmite at the back of the cave, apologies for shaky image – there wasn’t much light back here.

Image credit: A. Brookes (30.5.2016)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Jun 16, 2016
Image of Bacon Hole (Cave / Rock Shelter) by thesweetcheat

The back of the cave. The thing that looks like a tree stump is actually the base of a stalagmite.

Image credit: A. Brookes (30.5.2016)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Jun 16, 2016

Articles

Miscellaneous

Bacon Hole
Cave / Rock Shelter
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Jun 12, 2026

Rather exciting news, to be fair. According to the BBC:

“Painted rock art discovered in a Welsh cave has been confirmed to be the oldest in Britain. The series of 10 red horizontal stripes was first found on the wall of a side chamber of Bacon Hole cave in Gower, Swansea, in 1912, before being dismissed years later as a natural phenomenon. But archaeologists have now used scientific advances to date the rock art to at least 17,100 years ago – also making it the oldest in north-western Europe.”

More here: bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c232dmk0xxdo

Sites within 20km of Bacon Hole