Gower / Glamorgan
St Michael's Church, Loughor
Hospitaller
The parish church on the eastern edge of the Gower estate — its advowson given to the Hospitallers of Slebech by Henry de Newburgh between 1156 and 1184.
St Michael's at Loughor stands on the eastern side of the Loughor estuary, on the frontier between Gower and Glamorgan. Between 1156 and 1184 Henry de Newburgh, Earl of Warwick and lord of Gower, granted the advowson of the church to the Knights Hospitaller of St John at Slebech.
The gift added Loughor to the chain of Hospitaller livings around the estuary — Llanrhidian on the Gower shore, Loughor on the Glamorgan shore — and extended the commandery's reach into the trading centres of the south Welsh coast.
The medieval church itself does not survive: the present St Michael's was rebuilt on the same site in 1885. But the site, the dedication and the Hospitaller connection are continuous with the 12th-century foundation.
Visiting
Loughor is on the A484 east of Gorseinon. The church stands beside the road on the west edge of the village, opposite the ruins of Loughor Castle.
Coordinates: 51.6644°N, 4.0703°W
