The History of Swansea generally refers to the history of the town, not the considerably larger local government area.

Swansea (Welsh: Abertawe) is a city in south Wales, UK. The city has a continuous history of human occupation stretching back one thousand years, and there is evidence for consistent occupation of the surrounding area for thousands of years before that. View of Oxford Street in Swansea city centre Marina, formerly South Dock in the Maritime Quarter Aerial view of Swansea Bay Swansea (Welsh: Abertawe, mouth of the Tawe) is a city and county in South Wales, situated on the coast immediately to the east of the Gower Peninsula. ... South Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the East and South, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the North and West. ...

The history of the surrounding areas that fall within the Swansea local government area is not always the same as the history of Swansea proper, but large parts can be described together.

Pre-industrial Swansea

The oldest remains on the Gower Peninsula are the Red Lady of Paviland: human bones dating from 25,000BC. Later inhabitants also left their mark on the land. Examples include the bronze age burial mound at Cillibion and the iron age hill fort, Cil Ifor. Isolated prehistoric artifacts have been found in the area the city proper occupies, but there are far more on Gower. The remains of a Roman villa were also excavated on Gower. Rhossili Beach on the Gower Peninsula of South Wales The Gower Peninsula (Welsh: Gŵyr) is one of the UKs major tourist attractions and is the best-known district in Wales after Snowdonia. ... The Red Lady of Paviland was a fairly complete human skeleton dyed in red ochre that was discovered in 1826 by Rev. ... The Bronze Age is a period in a civilizations development when the most advanced metalworking has developed the techniques of smelting copper from natural outcroppings and alloys it to cast bronze. ... Iron Age Axe found on Gotland This article is about the archaeological period known as the Iron Age, for the mythological Iron Age see Iron Age (mythology). ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Roman villa. ...

By the late tenth century, the region as a whole (including the land around the bay as well as the Gower Peninsula) was part of the Welsh kingdom of Deheubarth under Maredudd ap Owain. The Vikings also visited the Swansea Bay area around the ninth to eleventh century, leaving behind their name for a settlement in the area. The precise nature and location of this settlement are still disputed. Spellings such as Swensi, Sweni and Svenshi are found on coins minted around 1140, whilst in Welsh the name Aper Tywi was in use by 1150 (Pierce). ( 9th century - 10th century - 11th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 10th century was that century which lasted from 901 to 1000. ... Deheubarth was a south-western kingdom or principality of medieval Wales. ... Swansea Bay (Welsh: Bae Abertawe) is an inlet of the Bristol Channel lying south of Swansea, Wales. ...

Mediaeval Swansea

In the wake of the Norman Conquest, Gower became a marcher lordship which included not only the peninsula itself but also the land to the east as far north as the Aman river and east to the river Tawe. This included the site of Swansea town, which was designated the capital of the area. Although Kilvey Hill is to the east of the Tawe, the manor of Kilvey was associated with Gower too. The new Norman lords encouraged English immigration into the area. This immigration was largely from the West Country. Bayeux Tapestry depicting events leading to the Battle of Hastings The Norman Conquest of England was the conquest of the Kingdom of England by William the Conqueror (Duke of Normandy), in 1066 at the Battle of Hastings and the subsequent Norman control of England. ... In European history, marches are border regions between centres of power. ... the River Tawe is a river in south Wales which meets the sea at Swansea (Abertawe in Welsh). ... South West England is one of the regions of England. ...

A turf and timber castle was erected in Swansea in 1106 and was assailed by the local Welsh ten years later (and several more times in the following century). The original castle was subsequently rebuilt in stone. See also: Swansea Castle. The de Braose family—memorialised in local placenames and road names today as de Breos—possessed Gower in the thirteenth century but preferred to live at Oystermouth Castle. The Gower lordship seems not to have been the main priority of most of the family, who took a full share in the robust politics of the day: see Reginald de Braose, John de Braose, and William de Braose for further details. Swansea Castle Founded by Henry de Beaumont in 1106 as the caput of the lordship of Gower. ... Oystermouth Castle is located overlooking Swansea Bay on the east side of the Gower Peninsula near the Welsh village of Mumbles. ... Reginald de Braose supported his brother Giles in his rebellions against King John. ... John de Braose, called Tadody (1198-July 18, 1232) was the Marcher lord of Bramber and Gower. ... William de Braose was the name of several Norman barons in southern Wales following the Norman Conquest. ...

The port and industrialisation

The South Wales coalfields run right down to the coast in this region, and coal was being exported by the year 1550, along with great quantities of limestone, quarried in the Mumbles area and on Gower and in high demand as fertiliser. Swansea was already a very significant port, and although it was small (perhaps 1000 people in 1560), it had one of the earliest town charters granted in Wales and a constant influx of migrants from the Welsh countryside: this influx occasioned a protest from the borough of Swansea in 1603 (Davies, p267). Events February 7 - Julius III becomes Pope. ... Limey shale overlaid by limestone. ... Mumbles village, Wales Mumbles (otherwise The Mumbles – Welsh Y Mwmbwls) is an extremely large village and adjacent headland stretching into Swansea Bay. ... Events February 27 - The Treaty of Berhick, which would expel the French from Scotland, is signed by England and the Congregation of Scotland The first tulip bulb was brought from Turkey to the Netherlands. ...

The population at this time was concentrated around the castle and river. Despite small-scale mining, the bulk of the area beyond the town was still largely farm land. Swansea Bay was considered an attractive region and in the eighteenth century some local notables wanted to direct future development into promoting it as a resort. Their plans were frustrated by the rapid development of industry in the area. (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ...

By weight, more coal than copper ore is needed for the process of smelting copper from the ore, so it is more economical to build the smelter near the coal source. Swansea had very local mines, a navigable river, a nearby supply of limestone (necessary as flux), and trading links across the Bristol Channel to Cornwall and Devon, sources of copper ore. Chemical reduction, or smelting, is a form of extractive metallurgy. ... Limey shale overlaid by limestone. ... In metallurgy, flux is an aid to melting, a material which by its chemical action facilitates soldering or brazing of metals. ...

As the Industrial Revolution took off, a series of works were built along the Tawe river from 1720 onwards and a series of mines were opened. Initially, the smelting works concentrated on copper. Coal was brought down to them by waggonways and tramways; copper ore was brought on ships which could sail right up to the works; and the resulting copper was exported out again. Swansea had become "Copperopolis", and the lower Tawe valley became a mass of industry. The Industrial Revolution was the major technological, socioeconomic and cultural change in the late 18th and early 19th century resulting from the replacement of an economy based on manual labour to one dominated by industry and machine manufacture. ... Wagonways are the horses, equipment, and tracks used for hauling wagons which preceded steam powered railways. ... A modern tram in the Töölö district of Helsinki, Finland A tram (or tramway, trolley, streetcar, tramcar, Straßenbahn) is a railborne vehicle (lighter than a train) for transport of passengers (or, occasionally, freight). ...

More and more riverside wharfs were built. Tramways, waggonways and railways proliferated and connected the different works and the collieries supplying them. Today's Hafod was originally the village of Vivianstown (Vivian owned the Hafod Copper Works); and Morriston was founded circa 1790 (the exact date is unclear) by the Morris family who owned the Cambrian Works among other properties. "By 1750, the Swansea district was providing half the copper needs of Britain" (Davies, p 316). 1790 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Events March 2 - Small earthquake in London, England April 4 - Small earthquake in Warrington, England August 23 - Small earthquake in Spalding, England September 30 - Small earthquake in Northampton, England November 16 – Westminster Bridge officially opened Jonas Hanway is the first Englishman to use an umbrella James Gray reveals her sex...

The Cambrian Works closed down as a smelter but reopened as a pottery in 1764: pottery-making is another industry which requires vast quantities of coal (available locally) and clay and flint (available from the West Country, readily accessible by water). The Glamorgan Pottery was founded in 1813 by the ex-manager of the Cambrian Pottery, right next door to it and in direct competition with it. Not only the managers of the potteries but many of the workers came originally from Staffordshire. Examples of Swansea pottery can be seen today at the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery and at Swansea Museum. 1764 was a leap year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Unfired green ware pottery on a traditional drying rack at Conner Prairie living history museum. ... 1813 is a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ...

One of the most well-known pieces of Swansea's history began life at this stage: the Mumbles Railway. This started in the first decade of the 1800s as an industrial tramway: a horse pulling a cart along tramplates. It had a specific branch line into Clyne valley where Sir John Morris, one of the railway's owners, owned coal mines. Not until the 1860s did the railway carry passengers regularly, by which time it had acquired rails instead of tramplates. In 1804 the British Parliament approved the laying of a railway line between Swansea and Oystermouth in South Wales, and in the autumn of that year the first tracks were laid. ... Events and Trends Beginning of the Napoleonic Wars (1803 - 1815). ... // Events and trends Technology The First Transcontinental Railroad in the United States is built in the six year period between 1863 and 1869. ...

As the town expanded, gates put up by the local turnpike trust were no longer on the outskirts of town but in the town itself. Originally travel between Swansea and other towns or villages had involved paying tolls. Now, travel around the town itself required toll money. This was naturally an unpopular development, and in 1843, Swansea inhabitants made their own contribution to the Rebecca Riots, burning the Ty Coch gate in St Thomas. In the same year, workers from all the copper works in Swansea went on strike after their wages were cut. They returned to work five weeks later, having failed to restore their wages. The strike must have been born of desperation. It was known that John Henry Vivian, one of the owners of the copperworks, was no supporter of workers' rights: he had blacklisted men involved in earlier disturbances. 1843 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... The Rebecca Riots happened between 1839 and 1842 in South Wales. ...

Civil disturbances were a regular feature of the 1840s in Swansea. This was the period of the Rebecca Riots, of Chartism in the valleys to the east, and general discontent. Huge crowds would gather when those suspected of involvement in Rebecca activities were brought to the station house, and riot was provoked when one suspect was arrested on the Sabbath (Molloy). At this time, Colonel James Frederick Love commanded militia who were billeted in Swansea, and (in 1843): Chartism is also an alternative term for technical analysis A movement for social and political reform in the United Kingdom during the mid-19th century, Chartism gains its name from the Peoples Charter of 1838, which set out the main aims of the movement. ...

Colonel Love had serious problems in deciding how best to stretch his resources. And stretched they were, because it was equally clear that Swansea needed to be strongly garrisoned to cope with violent incursions by unemployed coal and iron workers and discontented country-people, as would Llanelli when the Gwendraeth Valley troubles reached their climax in the following two months. And all the time the Chartist threat hung over the industrial areas to the east. (Molloy)

In this early part of the 19th century, the area which is now Brynmill, Sketty, the Uplands and the university campus was where several of the owners of the "manufactories" lived, in large park-like estates well to the west of the Tawe. The workers were crammed along the banks of the Tawe and lived in poor conditions. The prevailing wind carried the smoke from the copper works to the east, towards St Thomas and Kilvey. A contemporary report describing Swansea Valley speaks of a nightmare landscape, "literally burnt" where few plants would grow, dotted with lifeless pools, slag heaps, mound of scoriae and smoke from the works everywhere (Dr Thomas Williams’ report of 1854). George Borrow visited the town in the same year, describing it slightly less emphatically as "a large, bustling, dirty, gloomy place". He was not convinced that Swansea people were in fact Welsh. "The women had much the appearance of Dutch fisherwomen; some of them were carrying huge loads on their heads." Scoria Scoria is a term used by geologists to describe an igneous rock containing many gas bubbles, or vesicules. ... 1854 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... George Borrow George Henry Borrow (1803-1881) was an English author who wrote novels and travelogues based on his own experiences around Europe. ...

The contrast between the living conditions of the workers and their employers was stark, although entertainment interests sometimes overlapped: both workers and employers flocked to the Swansea races, for example, held at Crymlyn Burrows and the scene of boxing, gambling, cock-fighting, shows and drinking—apparently the temperance movement had not yet taken hold—as well as the racing (Campbell). A Temperance Movement (see definition of temperance) attempts to greatly reduce the amount of alcohol consumed or even prohibit its production and consumption entirely. ...

Transport

Railway lines and their predecessors for the purposes of transporting coal and heavy goods proliferated in the 19th century. The world's oldest passenger railway, the Mumbles Railway, began as a tramway line in the 1800s for transporting heavy goods, with a branch line up into Clyne valley to connect with the colliery owned by Sir John Morris, one of the founders of the railway. A few tourists had been carried by the railway in the early days, but a scheduled passenger service only began around 1860. The Mumbles Railway was closed in 1960. Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... In 1804 the British Parliament approved the laying of a railway line between Swansea and Oystermouth in South Wales, and in the autumn of that year the first tracks were laid. ... Events and Trends Beginning of the Napoleonic Wars (1803 - 1815). ... 1860 is the leap year starting on Sunday. ... 1960 was a leap year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Also used to transport goods rather than people were waterways such as the Swansea Canal.

Swansea was also served by a network of trams, one of which connected the (still-used) High Street railway station with Victoria Station near the Slip on the bay. Some of Swansea was impossible to provide tram services to: the attempt to run a tram up and down the locally infamous slope of Constitution Hill, for example, quickly foundered.

Swansea was the terminus for Travelling Post Office trains to London until January 2004, when the Royal Mail ceased operating the Travelling Post Office network. The mail train was regularly seen in the siding and station and it was possible to post letters directly onto the train. After the cessation of the TPO, the mail train was left to rust quietly in the sidings outside High Street station. EWS and Royal Mail later restarted TPO services but not into Swansea. 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Royal Mail is the national postal service in the United Kingdom. ... British Rail TPO vehicle NSA 80390 on display at Doncaster Works open day on 27th July 2003. ... Class 66 66 090 at Gospel Oak in 2004. ...

Much of the apparently baffling design of the public transport system (a bus and train station two miles apart, for example, with until recently minimal connection between the two) results from historical legacy.

In 1944 the world's first test of a full-scale submarine oil pipeline was conducted on a pipeline laid between Swansea (Queen's Dock) and Cornwall in Operation Pluto. 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... Operation Pluto (Pipe-Lines Under The Ocean) was a World War II operation by British scientists, oil companies and armed forces to construct undersea oil pipelines under the English Channel between England and France. ...

Victorian slums and reform

In order to allow boats to dock without running aground at low tide and to remain afloat, the "Float" was constructed: the Tawe was diverted and a new dock with locks created. Work began in 1852, and the result was was New Dock in 1859.

Further changes to the docks were proposed, and the town authorities realised the potential grave effect on public health, particular in the riverside St Thomas area. Drinking water came from springs locally but clean water sources were increasingly rare. The population of the town of Swansea increased from 6000 in 1801 to 17,000 in 1851 (Campbell). Cholera broke out in 1832; and again in 1849. Cholera (also called Asiatic cholera) is an infectious disease, caused by bacteria that are typically ingested by drinking water that is contaminated by improper sanitation, or by eating improperly cooked fish, especially shellfish. ...

The spread of disease was not surprising. There was no sewerage system in Swansea until 1857 and the water supply in areas above the reservoir level was "in many cases of a questionable character" (contemporary report quoted by Dean). The Lliw reservoir of 1863 helped provide clean water, but drainage of dirty water was still a problem. 1857 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... 1863 is a common year starting on Thursday. ...

In 1865 Swansea suffered an epidemic of yellow fever, the only outbreak of that disease on the British mainland. A cargo of copper ore from Cuba was landed in exceptionally hot weather in September, and with it a number of infected mosquitoes. In a month, 27 inhabitants were infected and 15 died. 1865 is a common year starting on Sunday. ...

Swansea saw yet another outbreak of cholera in 1866 and the local authorities were eventually forced by legislation to act. The only way to improve some areas was wholesale slum clearance, and this was the solution imposed in several regions of Swansea, notably Greenhill (current Dyfatty and Alexandra Road area), an area with massive overcrowding and consequent disproportionate incidence of cholera cases. It was populated largely by Irish immigrants, many of whom had fled the potato famines. Several of the landlords of Greenhill making great profits from their rents, and who required recompense for the loss of their properties, were local dignitaries, including Lewis Llewelyn Dillwyn, MP. (Dean) 1866 is a common year starting on Monday. ... Bridget ODonnell and her two children during the famine The Great Famine or the Great Hunger (Irish: An Gorta Mór or An Drochshaol), known more commonly outside of Ireland as the Irish Potato Famine, is the name given to a famine in Ireland between 1845 and 1849. ...

Sewage and pollution were also part of the cause of the decline of the oyster trade centred on Mumbles, also known as Oystermouth. Kilvert's diary described a thriving and ancient industry in 1872; within five years, it had almost completely collapsed. Francis Kilvert (1840–1879) was the author of volumious private diaries describing rural life in the Victorian era. ...

Swansea industry continued to grow and the planned new docks were constructed. Tinplate works proliferated in the lower Swansea Valley in the second half of the nineteenth century (and on into the twentieth). The port exported the tinplate all over the world. America was a major importer until the McKinley Tariff, a tax on imported tinplate, was put into force in 1891. Tinplate production and export dropped sharply and poverty in the families in the industry was acute. By contrast, a number of Welsh workers emigrated to America to work in the tinplate industry there. Domestic demand for tinplate continued and was buoyed by two world wars but, by 1950, very few works remained. Plating is the general name of surface-covering techniques in which a metal is coated onto a solid surface. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1950 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Industrial decline

During the second world war, Swansea was a major target for bombing raids due to its industries, the port, and railways. By the end of the so-called Three Nights' Blitz, three consecutive nights of particularly intensive bombing in February 1941, the city centre was flattened, along with many residential streets. Rebuilding post-war was in typical British nineteen-fifties style and much of the result is regarded with high favour by neither residents nor visitors. One consequence of the bombing and rebuilding is the movement of the town centre by about half a mile. Pre-war, the town centre was on an axis around High Street and Wind Street. Post-war, Oxford Street and the new road the Kingsway took more prominence. World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrination, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons such as the atom bomb. ... German bomber over the Surrey Docks, London The Blitz, a popular English contraction of the German word Blitzkrieg, meaning Lightning War, was the sustained and intensive bombing of the United Kingdom by Nazi Germany during 1940–1941. ... The architecture of the United Kingdom has a long and diverse history from beyond Stonehenge to the designs of Norman Foster and the present day. ...

By 1960, industry in the valley was in steep decline and the landscape was littered with abandoned metalworks and the waste from them. The Lower Swansea Valley Scheme was started: an attempt to reclaim the polluted land into something usable. The Enterprise Zone at Llansamlet is built on part of this land. Further down the river, the Tawe was diverted—again—and the Parc Tawe development sits on top of the old North Dock. The old South Dock area now holds the Leisure Centre and Marina.

The Amazing Brock Hoback likes Swansea

References

• Terfysg Abertawe, Robin Campbell, ISBN 0-9542980-0-4
• A History of Wales, John Davies, ISBN 0-14-014581-8
• And They Blessed Rebecca: an account of the Welsh toll-gate riots, Pat Molloy, ISBN 0-86383-031-5.
• Place-names in Glamorgan, Gwynedd O. Pierce, ISBN 1-898937-57-5
• A Guide to Gower, Strawbridge and Thomas (eds), ISBN 0-902767-23-2
• The Effects of the Copper-Smoke, Thomas Williams, 1854 (before ISBN numbers)

Published by Swansea Museum, no ISBNs available:

• A Guide to the Potteries and Decorators
• Lower Swansea Valley series of factsheets, numbers 1 to 8.
• Slums: living conditions in 19th century Swansea by Bob Dean.

See also

• Swansea
• History of Wales
• Swansea Vale Railway
• Swansea and Mumbles Railway

View of Oxford Street in Swansea city centre Marina, formerly South Dock in the Maritime Quarter Aerial view of Swansea Bay Swansea (Welsh: Abertawe, mouth of the Tawe) is a city and county in South Wales, situated on the coast immediately to the east of the Gower Peninsula. ... The earliest inhabitants of Wales were from continental Europe, who migrated in several waves and who were later subsumed into the culture and race of the Celts. ... The Swansea Vale Railway is a heritage railway following a section of the old Midland Railway line between Swansea and Brecon. ... In 1804 the British Parliament approved the laying of a railway line between Swansea and Oystermouth in South Wales, and in the autumn of that year the first tracks were laid. ...

External links

• Swansea heritage net: major project to digitise important pieces in Swansea Museum Service's collection.

• Cable Tramway: Details of the Swansea Constitution Hill cable tramway.