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Wales Online
Wales Online
National
Christie Bannon

The stone circle hidden alongside popular Gower beach

Gower has beautiful beaches and stunning coastal walks. It also has a stone circle which you may never have noticed.

Hidden next to one of Gower's most popular beaches is a stone circle.

The spiral at Three Cliffs Bay is close to the infamous stepping stones but it seems to be a mystery to many of those who visit the beach.

Placed in a circle formation, the spiral is made up of 13 rings on a patch of grass alongside the sand.

It is thought the stones have been there since 1974 (Stephen Davies Photography)

Chinch Gryniewicz, who used to live in Sandy Lane near Three Cliffs Bay, said that the spiral is known among locals as the "Three Cliffs labyrinth".

The 66-year-old, who now lives in Holtsfield, said: "I have got records that say it was originally built in 1974.

"It was built by someone called Ali who was Moroccan and was living in Sandy Lane when there was a hippy settlement there at the time.

"There was a big storm in October 1996 which destroyed the labyrinth. The pebble wall at the beach shifted inland so the original labyrinth disappeared.

"Someone then re-built it overnight and built it exactly the same as the original but nobody knows who did it."

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Since then it is believed that more stones have been added over the years, making the labyrinth wider.

Mr Gryniewicz said: "When there's bad weather or the horses move the stones, people put them back in place.

"People have added to the stones so that's how it has managed to survive for so long."

Tom Beynon, the manager at Three Cliffs Bay Holiday Park, said: "From our viewpoint this is a spiral that is constantly added to by visitors to the beach.

"Several times during the last decade the high tides have moved the stones but locals and tourists have rebuilt it."

Mystery surrounds the stone structure as a number of nearby businesses, including the Gower Heritage Centre and Shepherd's in Parkmill, knew nothing about it.

There are a number of labyrinths across Wales, including in Aberystwyth, Cardigan and Llanrwst.

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