Llanmadoc

Llanmadoc is an attractive little village with direct access to the Wales Coast Path at Cwm Ivy. A short cliff coast walk and an area of sand dunes can be explored then after heading inland to climb onto Llanmadoc Hill, extensive coastal views are revealed. A walk along the crest of the hill passes straight through an Iron Age hill fort known as The Bulwark.

Route detail

Distance: 5.6 miles or 9 kilometres
Start location: Llanmadoc, bus stop or car park.
Start Grid Ref: SS 43960 93495
Start What 3 Words: cubed.amuse.desire

Transport to the start

Parking
Parking at Llanmadoc, off the Cwm Ivy road.

Bus
Daily bus services, except Sundays, link Llanmadoc with Swansea and other Gower destinations.

Train
None.

Map and GPX link

The circular route is marked in dark pink in the map image below. The purple flags show the start and finish point. View the route and download GPX link 'Llanmadoc'

Detailed Route Description

1. Start at Llanmadoc, which is a long and straggly village featuring the Britannia Inn, Village Shop and a little triangular green where the bus turns around. Start here if arriving by bus and walk further along the road, keeping right at a junction near St Madoc’s Church as signposted for Cwm Ivy. The church dates from the 13th century and was largely restored in 1865. If arriving by car, follow the same road for Cwm Ivy and use a small car park in a field on the right-hand side of the road. Continue walking down the road to find the Cwm Ivy tea room and garden on the right. The Wales Coast Path has been diverted this way ever since a nearby medieval sea wall collapsed, causing the low-lying Cwm Ivy Marsh to become saltmarsh, killing a number of trees whose pale trunks remain.

2. Follow the road uphill as signposted for Whiteford Burrows then turn right as signposted through a gate bearing a National Trust sign for Cwm Ivy. Walk down a road with trees alongside, continuing along a track with more open views. Reach a signposted junction where the Wales Coast Path turns right into a pine forest. However, keep straight ahead instead and follow a track uphill beside the prominent Cwm Ivy Tor. The track runs down to another signpost where the Wales Coast Path joins from the right. (If you were to follow the Wales Coast Path all the way through the forest, around Whiteford Point and back along a sandy beach to this point, it would be an additional 4 miles.)

3. Keep straight ahead and go through a kissing gate beside a large gate. A clay shooting range lies to the right. A grassy or sandy path follows a fence through bracken then climbs a steep wooded slope. Go through a small gate at the top and continue walking along a limestone edge overlooking saltmarsh and the broad estuary of the River Loughor. The first of a number of noticeboards explain about the wildlife of the area and the path continues alongside a fence. Walk over the gentle top of Hills Tor at 54m and turn left before reaching a gate to walk downhill. Watch for markers as the route heads inland through a maze of paths, and follow a sandy path down through bracken.

4. Go through a small gate and turn right along a sandy track, passing a noticeboard. Bushes grow beside the path as it passes mobile homes, then a gateway leads onto Delvid Burrows. A clear grassy path runs behind the dunes then a crushed cockle-shell path leads to a gateway. Another grassy path leads to a prominent ‘danger’ notice, which is a warning to anyone planning to go swimming in nearby Broughton Bay. Pass the notice to follow sandy and grassy paths through or behind dunes as marked for the Wales Coast Path. Later, walk straight past a signpost and aim towards another mobile home park ahead. The path runs through dunes and bushy areas, reaching a three-way signpost before the mobile home park.

5. Turn left to leave the Wales Coast Path as signposted for Llangennith and go through a small gate. Go through a kissing gate then walk gently uphill on the left-hand side of a field, following a fence, with Llanmadoc Hill rising inland. Use kissing gates to walk uphill alongside another field, then head left to join a track as signposted for Llangennith. Follow the track uphill and go through a gate, then continue up an enclosed track, later joining a road at the farm of Bryn-y-Mor. Keep walking straight ahead and the road generally rises gently. Watch out for a bridleway signpost on the left, where a grassy path rises past a bench. (The road could be followed to the village of Llangennith, where the King’s Head offers food, drink and accommodation.)

6. The grassy path is flanked by bracken as it climbs across a hillside, with views of Worm’s Head and Rhossili Down. Walk straight through a path intersection and keep straight ahead past a marker post. When another marker post is reached, turn left to follow a grassy path between gorse bushes. The path levels out on the hillside and is crossed by a grassy track at yet another marker post. Turn left to walk up the track, passing heather towards the top of Llanmadoc Hill. Reach a view indicator that helps to identify Worm’s Head, Lundy Island, Rhosilli Down, Exmoor, Bristol Channel, Port Talbot, Gower, Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, Caldey Island and Pembrokeshire. Some places thousands of miles distant are also noted!

7. Walk to a nearby trig point on the 186m summit of Llanmadoc Hill and follow a broad, grassy path along the gentle upland crest, which is mostly covered in heather. Walk straight across another grassy path on a broad saddle on the crest, then rise gradually onwards. Pass a sprawling Bronze Age burial cairn and walk through the rumpled earthworks of an extensive Iron Age hill fort called The Bulwark. Follow the path downhill, join a gravel track and keep left to continue downhill. The track bends left away from a house called Stormy Castle then it bends right down a slope of bracken.

8. Just before reaching a junction with another track, turn left as marked and walk down a grassy path through bracken. Watch out for the ruins of Llanmadoc School on the right, abandoned in 1935, and if a detour is made to inspect it, read about it on a noticeboard. Continue down the path, towards a house and a road, but turn left before reaching them to follow another grassy path through the bracken. The path rises and falls gently on the hillside overlooking the village of Llanmadoc, passing a couple of benches. A couple of other paths merge to pass through a small woodland. Join a track and turn right to walk down it then turn left along a road. Walk down to a road junction where there is a triangular green and a bus stop. If you are too early for a bus, maybe turn right to visit the nearby Village Shop or Britannia Inn. If returning to the car park, keep left until close to St Madoc’s Church, then turn right to walk down the road signposted for Cwm Ivy to find the car park on the right.