Port Eynon is steeped in a history of smuggling. The known outlaw in John Lucas retreated back to southernmost tip of Gower, the ruined Salt House. It was believed that the church at Port Eynon was used as hiding place for contraband around the time of the battle of Trafalgar — kegs were hidden in the altar — and at other times, the goods were buried in the sand-dunes. It is understood that John was not all bad as he acted as a Robin Hood figure of the Gower as he shared the spoils of his smuggling trips with the poor within the Peninsula.