Cathedral Wall
| Cathedral Wall | |
 Cathedral Wall bounded by Jacky's Tor on its east side. | |
| Rock Type | Natural Carboniferous Limestone |
|---|---|
| Climbing Style | Trad |
| Approach Time | 25 minutes |
| Area | Gower |
| Sub Area | Rhossili |
| Local Area | Fall Bay to Mewslade |
| Geodata | |
| WGS-84 Location | 51.561308, -4.284839 |
| OS Grid Ref. | SS 417 871 |
| WGS-84 Parking Location | 51.565848, -4.270856 |
| GR Parking Location | SS 427 876 |
| Parking Postcode | SA3 1PH |
| Base Elevation | 0 metres (Other) |
| General Info | |
| Faces Direction | Various |
| Aspect | Sunny |
| Wind Sheltered | Seldomly |
| Climbing Type | Normal |
| Seepage | Quick drying |
| Tidal | |
| Before/After Low Tide | 1.5 hours (See Note) |
| Crags Within 400m | |
|
Block Buttress, Catacomb Gully, Cathedral Wall, Conglomerate Cliff, Devil's Truck Area, Eyeball Wall, Four Gullies, Giant's Cave, Grey Wall, Hairy Dog Wall, Jacky's Tor, King Wall, Lewes Castle, Little Block, Molar Wall and White Edge, Rolly Bottom Buttress, The Aisle, The Prows, The Pulpit, Thurba Head, Trident Gully and Ridge, Upper Jacky's Tor, Yellow Wall, Zero Gully | |
Contents
TIDAL STATUS
1½ hours either side of low water.
BOLTING POLICY
Natural crags = no bolting.
PREAMBLE
Located in the sand below Upper Jacky's Tor are some good routes that start from the beach and rock pools.
To the right (east) of Jacky's Tor are a number of prows and gullies. The most popular of these is Cathedral Wall, the incut to the immediate east of the Tor. To the right is the blunt ridge of the 'The Pulpit' with another gully just right. Right (east) again are the small promontory of 'The Prows' and the area terminates at the obvious long low promontory of The Aisle which runs out to sea.
ACCESS
From Pitton Farm Car Park.
From the main Rhossili road, turn left in Pitton (south) to Great Pitton Farm (SS 427 876 or 51.556076, -4.267799) where there is a car park. The honesty box no longer exists and a system of seasonal tariffs is now in operation. Payment is made via a machine or paybyphone Ⓡ. See Pitton Parking for information on charges. Currently a maximum of £5.00 is charged for parking from 06.00 to 22.00.
Turn left at the entrance to the car park. Walk a short distance down a farm track then bear right past farm buildings to gain the path leading through a narrow valley to the eastern end of Mewslade Bay (12 mins walk).
From the bottom of the path, continue onto the beach and head westward across the beach for about 340 metres. (25 mins from Pitton Farm)
DESCENTS
Scramble off to the right and down through the rocks to the beach.
THE ROUTES
The following routes are described from left to right:
- Prima 15m S
The corner at the left end of the steep left wall. - Hades 15m HS,4b
The crack 1m right of Prima. - Kalk 18m S
Start up the prominent crack in the wall 3m right of Prima, but move left as soon as possible and climb the centre of the wall. - Owch 15m HS,4a
The name says it all! As for Kalk, but continue directly up the crack. - Avoiding the sog 15m HS, 4b
A squeezed in eliminate between the two cracks of Owch and Dulfer, better than either when the sea has been up and the cracks are still soggy. - Dulfer 18m S,4a *
The bulging groove and crack 3m right of Owch. Climb a steep wall on jugs to the groove, surmount a bulge, step left to a recess and follow the crack to the top. - Dolce Vita 18m HVS,4c
As for Dulfer to the bulge, then follow a steep and shallow groove up right. Climb the wall passing some spikes and finish slightly left. - Cyntaff 18m HVS,5a **
A certain amount of determination is needed to climb this living corner right of Dolce Vita. - Faint White Hope 18m E3,6a *
The boldness of this route will depend on the level of the sand which changes often. Start at a short groove in the right wall of Cyntaff. Climb it to an overhang, make bold moves leftward and finish steeply up the wall above. - Giant Potamus 18m E3, 5c **
Just right of “Faint White Hope” is a sculpted cleft, from which a crack on the left leads to a hanging pod in the side-wall of the tower. Climb this crack strenuously, barnacled at first, with good protection to a desperate entry into the pod (a span to the wall behind you and use of a helmeted head as another point of contact may assist). After getting your breath back continue more easily up the crozzly wall above the pod. A great route - physical, technical and then bold.
At the back of the gully are two obvious grooves at a higher level, reached by easy scrambling.' - Adam 12m S,4a
The left-hand groove. - Kaos 12m VS,4c
From the foot of Eve, move out left and climb the3 central rib direct. - Eve 12m S,4a
The right-hand groove. - Eva 12m VS,4c
The crack in the wall right of Eve.
Notre Dame (J.Talbot 1963), The End (J.Talbot 1963), Mitre (J.Talbot 1963), Five Cracks (R.Corbett, P.Dyer 1961), Left Crack (J.Talbot 1963), Left Corner (J.Talbot 1963), and Steps (J.Talbot 1963) cover much of the same ground as routes already described.
First Ascents
- J.Talbot, R.Corbett 00.00.1961
- J.Talbot, R.Corbett 00.00.1962
- J.Talbot 00.00.1962
- J.Talbot, R.Corbett 00.00.1961
- C Wyatt, Steve Hill, Melinda Morrell 20.2.2011
- J.Talbot, R.Corbett 00.00.1962
- R.Corbett, J.Talbot 00.00.1962
- P.Dyer, R.Corbett 00.00.1962
- A.Sharp, J.Harwood 21.12.1980
- Nick Taylor 25.5.09
- J.Talbot, R.Corbett 00.00.1962
- R.Corbett, J.Talbot 00.00.1962
- R.Corbett, J.Talbot 00.00.1962
- J.Talbot, R.Corbett 00.00.1962
