Villiers

1861 – The Villiers was a 142 ton brig carrying coal from Cardiff to Alicante.   She was caught in a gale going down channel and turned for shelter, only to ground on the Mixons before she had sight of the light on Mumbles Head.   Two men were pulled out of the water but two more in a boat were lost.   Four crew members left on the wreck were only rescued the following morning when a tug, the Beaufort, backed in between the sunken masts and took the men off from the rigging.   A couple of years later the Scarweather lightship was positioned eight miles south of Mumbles Head.    It remained there until 1989.  (Ref: 095)