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SWANSEA
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SWANSEA , a municipal, See also:county and See also:parliamentary See also:borough, founded in 1835, is housed in a handsome See also:building in the Ionic See also:market See also:town, and seaport of See also:Glamorganshire, See also:South See also:Wales, See also:style erected in 1838–1839 and possesses a museum in which the finely situated in an See also:angle between lofty hills, on the See also:river See also:geology, See also:mineralogy, See also:botany and antiquities of the See also:district Tawe or Tawy near its mouth in Swansea See also:Bay, a beautiful are well represented, there being a See also:fine collection of See also:neolithic See also:recess of the See also:Bristol Channel, 201 M. W. of See also:London by See also:rail and remains from the See also:Gower Caves and from Merthyr Mawr. Its 45a m. W.N.W. of See also:Cardiff. The See also:Great Western See also:main See also:line has a library is See also:rich in See also:historical and scientific See also:works See also:relating to junction within the borough at Landore, whence a See also:branch runs Wales and Welsh See also:industries and contains the collection of into a more central See also:part of the town. The Vale of See also:Neath branch historical See also:MSS. made by See also:Colonel See also: Dillwyn, See also: It also contains a two girder drawbridges, each of which has a See also:double line of See also:complete set of the patent See also:office publications.
roadway (on which tramways are laid), two footpaths and a The See also:grammar school founded in 1682 by See also:Hugh See also:Gore (1613–line of railway. All the main thoroughfares are spacious, and 1691), See also:bishop of See also:Waterford, is now carried on by the town See also:council in two or three instances even imposing, but most of the resi- under the Welsh Intermediate See also:Education See also:Act of 1889, and dential part consists of monotonous stuccoed terraces. The there is a similar school for girls. The technical See also:college is also See also:climate is mild and relaxing and the rainfall averages about carried on by the town council, the chief features of its
40 in. annually. curriculum being See also:chemistry, metallurgy and See also:engineering. A
Public Buildings, &c.—The old See also:castle, first built by See also: It pre- lished in 1847 at See also:Aberystwyth, removed to Swansea in 1850, and viously consisted of a tower and See also:chancel (with a fine Decorated several times enlarged, so as to have at present See also:accommodation
window) built by Bishop Gower, the piers of the chancel for ninety-eight pupils; the Swansea and South Wales Institution w
for the See also:Blind, established in 1865 and now under the See also:Board of
See also:arch being partly built on earlier See also:Norman work, the See also:Herbert Education; the Swansea and South Wales See also:Nursing See also:Institute (1873), See also:Chapel (originally St See also:Ann's) of about the same date as the providing a home for nurses in the intervals of their employment; chancel and rebuilt in the early part of the 16th See also:century, and a a nursing institution (19(32) for nursing the sick poor in their own
homes, affiliated with the See also:Queen's See also:Jubilee Institute of London;
Dane built in 1739. Of the earlier work there remains the See also:door
the Sailors' Home (1864) ; a Sailors' See also:Rest (1885) ; and a See also:Mission to
of the See also:rood See also:loft (built into a wall), a 15th-century See also:brass-inlaid See also:Seamen's Institute (1904).
See also:marble slab with a See also:representation of the resurrection, in memory The town possesses 103 acres of parks and open spaces, the chief of Sir Hugh Johnys (d. c. 1463) and his wife, and three canopied being See also:Llewelyn See also:Park of 42 acres in the north of the town near See also:Morris-See also:altar tombs—one with the effigy of a See also:priest and another with
See also:effigies of Sir See also:Matthew See also:Cradock and his wife. Within the parish of St Mary was St John's, the See also: There is a good See also:system of electrically worked tramways, 52 m. being owned by a company and nearly 6 m. by the corporation, but the whole worked by the company. The town obtains its chief See also:supply of See also:water from moorlands situated on the Old Red See also:Sandstone formation in the valley of the Cray, a tributary of the See also:Usk in Brecon-See also:shire where a reservoir of 1,000,000,000 gallons capacity has been constructed at a cost of £547,759, under parliamentary See also:powers obtained in 1892, 1902 and 1905. The water is brought to the town in a conduit consisting of 23i M. of See also:iron pipes and 3 m. of See also:tunnel into a service reservoir of 3,000,000 gallons capacity made on the Town Hill at an See also:elevation of 58o ft. above sea-level. There is a further supply obtained from three reservoirs of a combined capacity of 513,000,000, constructed in 1866, 1874 and 1889 respectively in the Lliw and adjoining valleys, in the drainage area of the Loughor, about to m. to the north of Swansea. Harbour and See also:Commerce.—Swansea owes its commercial prosperity to its great natural advantages as a harbour and its situation within the South Wales See also:coal See also:basin, for the See also:anthracite portion of which it is the natural port of shipment. It is the most See also:westerly port of the Bristol Channel and the nearest to the open sea, only 35 m. from the natural harbour of See also:refuge at See also:Lundy, and there is sheltered anchorage under the Mumbles See also:Head at all states of the See also:tide. The See also:modern development of the port See also:dates from about the See also:middle of the 18th century when coal began to be extensively worked at I.lansamlet and copper smelting (begun at Swansea in 1717, though at Neath it dated from 1584) assumed large proportions. The coal was conveyed to the works and for shipment to a See also:wharf on the east bank, on the backs of mules and somewhat later by means of a private See also:canal. The See also:common See also:quay was on the west bank; all See also:ships coming in had to See also:lie in the river See also:bed or in a natural tidal basin known as See also:Fabian's Bay, on the east. Under an act of 1791 harbour trustees were appointed who cleared and deepened the river bed and built a See also:long pier on either side of it; in 1796 the approach to the port was made safer by means of an improved light on Mumbles Head. A canal connecting the tidal part of the river Neath with the mouth of the Tawe, made in 1789, was in 1824 connected with the Vale of Neath canal by means of an See also:aqueduct across the Neath river, when also a small dock, Port Tennant (so named after its owner) or Salthouse Dock, was made near the east pier, and this continued to be used till 1880. Meanwhile in 1798 the whole coalfield of the Swansea Valley was connected with the port by a canal 162 m. long (acquired by the Great Western railway in 1872). In 1851 the river was diverted eastward into a new channel (called the New Cut) and its old channel was locked and floated, thereby forming the North Dock with an area of 112 acres and a See also:half-tide basin 500 yards long covering 22 acres. The Swansea Valley canal has a connecting lock with this dock, and on the See also:island between the dock and the New Cut are patent See also:fuel works, copper ore yards and other See also:mineral sheds and large See also:grain stores and See also:flour See also:mills. The South Dock, begun in 1847 under powers obtained that See also:year by a private company, transferred in 1857 to the harbour trustees and opened in 1859, is mainly used for See also:shipping coal and for discharging See also:timber and See also:fish. Lying parallel to the sea front and to the west of the entrance channel from which it runs at right angles, it has an area of 13 acres with a half-tide basin of 4 acres and a lock 300 ft. long by 6o ft. wide. The next development was on the east side of the river where the natural inlet of Fabian's Bay, inside the harbour mouth, was utilized for the construction of the Prince of Wales's Dock (authorized 1874, opened See also:October 1881, See also:extension opened See also: They were incorporated by the Harbour Act of 1854. There are 9 private graving docks. The total exports (foreign and coastwise) from Swansea during 1907 amounted to 4,825,898 tons, of which coal and See also:coke made up 3,655,050 tons; patent fuel, 679,002 tons; See also:tin, terne and See also:black plates, 348,240 tons; iron and See also:steel and their manufactures, 38,438 tons; various chemicals (mostly the by-products of the metal industries), 37,100 tons; copper, See also:zinc and See also:silver, 22,633 tons. Its imports during the same year amounted to 899,201 tons, including 172,319 tons of grain and other agricultural produce, 156,620 tons of firewood, 145,255 tons of See also:pig-iron and manufactured iron and steel, 47,201 tons of iron ore, 121,168 tons of copper, silver, See also:lead, tin and See also:nickel with their ores and See also:alloys, 63,009 tons of zinc, its ores and alloys, 41,029 tons of See also:sulphur ore, See also:phosphates and other raw material for the chemical See also:trade. The town (which is often called " the metallurgical See also:capital of Wales ") is the chief seat of the copper, spelter, tin-See also:plate and patent fuel industries, and has within a See also:compass of 4 rn. over too different works of 36 varieties (exclusive of collieries) for the treatment or manufacture of copper, See also:gold, silver, lead, sulphate of copper, spelter, tinplates, steel and iron, nickel and See also:cobalt, yellow metal, sulphuric See also:acid, hydrochloric acid, See also:creosote, See also:alkali, galvanized sheets, patent fuel as well as engineering works, iron foundries, large flour and provender mills, fuse works and See also:brick works. Copper smelting, which during most of the 19th century was the chief See also:industry, has not maintained its relative importance, though Swansea is still the chief seat of the trade, but three-fourths of the tinplates manufactured in Great See also:Britain and nineteen-twentieths of the spelter or zinc are made in the Swansea district, and its See also:tube works are also the largest in the See also:kingdom. While the bulk of the coal is sent to See also:France and the Mediterranean ports, an increasing quantity of anthracite is shipped to See also:Germany, and, in sailing vessels to the Pacific ports of See also:America, patent fuel is largely sent to South America, whence return cargoes of mineral ores and grain are obtained, while Germany, France, See also:Italy, See also:Rumania, the See also:United States and the Far East are the chief customers for tinplates. Over one See also:hundred fishing-smacks and trawlers usually land their catches at the south dock, where there is a flourishing fish-market. There is also a large See also:ice factory. From 1535 to 1832 (with the exception of 1658-1659) Swansea was associated with the other boroughs of Glamorgan in sending one representative to See also:Parliament. In 1658 See also:Cromwell gave the town the right of separately returning a member of its own, but this right lapsed with the Restoration. In 1832 St John's, St Thomas and parts of the parishes of Llansamlet and Llangyfelach were added to the parliamentary borough of Swansea, to which along with the boroughs of Neath, See also:Aberavon, Kenfig and Loughor a See also:separate representative was given. In 1836 the municipal borough was made coextensive with the parliamentary borough and continued so till 1868, when some further small additions were made to the latter, with which the municipal borough was once more made co-extensive in 1889. Meanwhile in 1885 the parliamentary See also:constituency was made into two divisions with a member each, namely Swansea Town consisting of the original borough with St Thomas's, and See also:Swan-sea District consisting of the See also:remainder of the borough with the four contributory boroughs. In 1888 Swansea was made a county borough and in 1900 the various parishes constituting it were consolidated into the See also:civil parish of Swansea. Its total area is 5194 acres. The corporation consists of to aldermen and 30 councillors. The assizes and quarter sessions for Glamorgan are held at Swansea alternately with Cardiff. The borough has a separate See also:commission of the See also:peace, and, since 1891, a See also:court of quarter sessions. The See also:population of the old borough was 6099 in 1801 and 13,256 in 1831; after the first extension it amounted to 24,604 in 1841. The population in 1901 was 94,537. Of those who were three years of See also:age and upwards, nearly 67 % were returned as speaking See also:English only, 29% as speaking both English and Welsh, and 3-1% as speaking Welsh only. See also:History.—No traces -of any See also:Roman See also:settlement have been discovered at Swansea, though there seems to have been a small one at See also:Oystermouth, 5 M. to the south, and the Via Julia from Nidum (Neath) to Loughor probably passed through the See also:northern part of the present borough where a large quantity of Roman coins was found in 1835. The name Swansea stands for Sweyn's " ey " or inlet, and may have been derived from King Sweyn Forkbeard, who certainly visited the Bristol Channel See also:SWANWICK and may have established a small settlement at the See also:estuary of the Tawe. The earliest known See also:form of the name is Sweynesse, which occurs in a See also:charter granted by William earl of See also:Warwick some time previous to 1184; in King John's charter (1215) it appears as Sweyneshe, and in the town See also:seal, the origin of which is supposed to date from about the same See also:period, it is given as " Sweyse." An See also:attempt has been made to derive the name from Sein Henydd, the Welsh name of a Gower castle which has been plausibly identified with the first castle built at Swansea, but that derivation is etymologically impossible. The Welsh name, Aber Tawy, first appears in Welsh poems of the beginning of the 13th century. The town See also:grew up See also:round the castle which Henry de See also:Beauchamp (or See also:Beaumont) on his See also:conquest of Gower about 1099, built on the west bank of the river. The castle passed with the lordship or seigniory of Gower, of which it was the ca put, into the hands of the De See also:Braose See also:family in 1203 (by grant from King John) and eventually it came by See also:marriage to the Somersets and is still held by the See also:dukes of Beaufort, whose See also:title of barons de Gower dates from 15o6. The castle was frequently attacked and on several occasions more or less demolished, in the 12th and 13th centuries by the Welsh under the princes of Dynevor. It was visited by King John in 1210 and probably by Edward II. in 1326, for, after his See also:capture, the See also:chancery rolls were found de-posited in the castle and were thence removed to Hereford. It was finally destroyed by See also:Glendower, was a " ruinous building " when seen by See also:Leland (1536) and has since wholly disappeared. In the Civil See also:War the town was royalist till the autumn of 1645 when Colonel See also: By 1305 the burgesses had become so powerful as to wring a most liberal grant of privileges from their then seigneur William de Braose (See also:fourth in descent from his namesake to whom Gower was granted by King John in 1203), and he See also:bound himself to pay £500 to the king and 500 marks to any See also:burgess in the event of his infringing any of the rights contained in it. By this charter the burgesses acquired the right of nominating annually two of their number for the office of portreeve so that the lord's steward might select one of them to exercise the office, an arrangement which continued till 1835; the See also:bailiff's functions were defined and curtailed, and the lord's chancery was to be continually kept open for all requiring writs, and in Gower—not wherever the lord might happen to be. A patent of murage and pavage—from which it may probably be inferred that Swansea was a walled town—was granted by Edward II. in 1317 and another by Edward III. in 1338. Cromwell's charter of 1655, though reciting that " time out of mind " Swansea had been " a town corporate," incorporated it anew, and changed the title of portreeve into See also:mayor, in whom, with twelve aldermen and twelve capital burgesses, it vested the See also:government of the town. The mayor, ex-mayor and one selected See also:alderman were to be justices of the peace with exclusive See also:jurisdiction and the mayor was the See also:coroner. Four annual fairs were appointed, namely on the 8th of May, 2nd of July, 15th of See also:August and 8th of October—the first, how-ever, being the only new one. In 1658 the See also:protector by another charter granted the town See also:independent representation in parliament. At the Restoration, Cromwell's charters lapsed, but in 1685 James II. granted another charter which contained the I83 arbitrary proviso that the king by See also:order in council might remove any officer or members of the corporation. This charter was not adopted by the burgesses. De Braose's charter of 1305 bears some See also:evidence to the importance of the shipping of Swansea even at that date, for by it there was granted or confirmed to the burgesses the right to take from the lord's See also:woods sufficient timber to make four great ships at a time and as many small vessels as they wished. Coal was even then worked in the district. Cromwell in his charter of 1655 recognized Swansea as " an ancient port town and populous, situate on the sea See also:coast towards France convenient for shipping and resisting foreign invasions." Its status was only that of a " See also:creek " in the port of Cardiff till 1685, when it was made an independent port with jurisdiction over See also:Newton (now See also:Porthcawl), Neath or Briton Ferry and South Burry, its limits being defined in 1847 as extending from See also:Nash Point on the east to Whitford Point on the west, but in 1904 Port See also:Talbot, which was included in this area, was made into a separate port. From about 1768 to 1850 Swansea had a somewhat famous pottery. Beginning with earthenware which twenty years later was improved into " opaque See also:china," it produced from 1814 to 1823 See also:superior See also:porcelain which was beautifully decorated with landscapes, birds, butterflies and See also:flowers and is much prized by connoisseurs. During a See also:short period (1845–1850) an See also:imitation of See also:Etruscan See also:ware was also produced with figures of rich red See also:colour over a See also:body of black. See See also:Lewis W. Dillwyn, Contributions towards a History of Swansea (1840); Colonel G. Grant-Francis, Charters Granted to Swansea (1867), and The Smelting of Copper in the Swansea District (2nd ed., 1881); S. C. Gamwell, A See also:Guide to Swansea and District (i88o)• Lieut.-Colonel W. LI. See also:Morgan, R.E., An Antiquarian Survey of East Gower. (D. La. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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