Battle of Llwchwr - And the ground ran red with the blood of the Normans

Just up the road is a grotty modern bypass, which traverses Garngoch common. The interesting bit is that apparently it was the site of a battle between the native Welsh & the occupying Normans, still remembered to this day.

From Wikipedia:-

The Battle of Llwchwr (or Battle of Gower) was fought between Welsh and Norman forces between Loughor and Swansea on New Year's Day 1136.

It took from 1066 to 1071 for the Normans to conquer England - 5 years.

It took them from 1066 to 1283 subjugate the Welsh - 217 years.

From coflein.gov.uk *

According to the 'Chronicon ex Chronicis' (Chronicle of Chronicles) of John of Worcester, written 1135-40, a battle took place in Gower on 01 January 1136..

"Immediately after the death of King Henry, on 2nd December, a fierce battle took place on 1st January in Gower between the Normans and the Welsh in which five hundred and sixteen of both armies died. Their bodies were horribly scattered among the fields and eaten up by wolves."

A similar note concerning the battle is found in the 'Gesta Stephani' (Deeds of King Stephen) written before 1148. Gerald of Wales narrows down the probable location of the battle in his 'Itinerarium Cambriae' (Journey Through Wales), written in 1191, when he notes the following on his journey from Swansea to Kidwelly.

"Next we made our way through the open countryside towards the river Loughor. Not long after the death of Henry I, Hywel ap Maredudd from Brecknockshire fought a pitched battle here against the local English, killing quite a few of their regular troops."

This suggests that the most likely site for the battle is in an area centred upon Carn Goch Common, although a definite location is not possible. The battle occured very soon after the death of Henry I and was a notable defeat for the Normans in South Wales. The figure of 516 for the number of soldiers killed is very precise and attests to teh ferocity of the battle. Gerald of Wales names the leader of the Welsh contingent as Hywel ap Maredudd ap Rhydderch, who controlled Cantref Bychan and Ystrad Tywi at the time of the battle.

A memorial stone (NPRN 408150) was erected on Carn Goch Common and unveiled on 01 March 1986.

I tried to research the meaning of Garngoch. If you translate garn goch that, it means Red hoof which makes no sense. Could it be that perhaps like the English, gallop, donating a place for exercising horses? Maybe mutated from Garlamau = gallops? Could coch = red come from the blood spilt at the battle that took place there on new years day?

Nah, I think a much simpler explanation is the name mutated from Carn Coch by anglicisation. That would mean Red Cairn. Occam's razor suggests this is the answer.

* - "Coflein" means "a record of memory" in Welsh. It is the online database for the National Monuments Record of Wales (NMRW)