Industrial Archaeology Of The Swansea Region

Industrial Archaeology of the Swansea Region
Cover: Copperworks in the Lower Swansea Valley, c1865

In its first century, the Royal Commission has produced more than 55 major publications. These have already made an enormous contribution to the understanding of the archaeological, built and maritime heritage of Wales, and many more books are in the pipeline. All of the publications are available in public and institutional libraries throughout Wales as well as in the Commission’s library and archive search room in Aberystwyth. Books still available for sale are listed in the Bookshop. 

Industrial Archaeology of the Swansea Region
By Stephen Hughes and Paul Reynolds
ISBN: 0950844829
Published 1992 - Out of Print

Review of Contents

The region which this gazetter describes is the western half of the south Wales coalfield excluding Pembrokeshire. It also includes the narrow limestone belt wich surrounds the coalfield and a few additional sites which are closely linked to this area.
   It is, of course, a region with a long history of industrial activity, and of perticular importance in the field of nonferrous metallurgy. In recent years the traditional types of heavy industry with which it is so very much associated in the popular mind have contracted sharply and economic activity is now characterised as much by tourism and services as by metal processing and coal mining.
   It might be thought , in an old-established industrial region, where many of the original industries have gone into decline, that there would be an abundance of sites of major IA significance. But in fact, in recent years widspread reclamation projects have been initiated with great, if not excessive, enthusiasm, often born as much of political motives as of environmental considertations. There are thus fewer outstanding sites to be seen today than one would like or would have expected, or indeed than there were some twenty or thirty years ago.
   Nevertheless it has been no problem to assemble the sites listed in this book. All of them are of historical interest and many are visually impressive. Frequently, too, they are in fine surroundings; foe while south Wales has been heavily industrialised and is still densely populated, this has normally been confined to the lower lying land along the coast or on the valley floors, with the results that the hilly country remains largely uncontaminated by urban sprawl. It is a region that has much ot offer the visitor, and it is hoped that this little book will help to reveal some of the features in its industrial history.

Contents

• Coal Mining
• Limestone and other Quarrying Activity
• Copper Smelting
• Other Nonferrous Smelting
• Iron and Steel
• Tinplate
• River and Port Facilities
• Canals
• Pre-locomotive Tramways and Railways
• Public Locomotive Railways
• Roads
• Housing
• Mills and Water Power
• Agriculture
• Biliography
• Museums
• Conservation Societies

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