Swansea: History

Pre-20th-Century History

Swansea's Welsh name Abertawe describes its location at the mouth of the Tawe, where the river empties into Swansea Bay.

Remains scattered throughout Gower and the Lliw Valley bear testament to the city's significance as a prehistoric settlement dating from 2000 BC. Many of the most important prehistoric human remains have been found on the Gower peninsula, including the mysterious 'red lady' - a Neolithic skeleton.

A Roman fort on River Loughor predated the widescale invasion of the Vikings in these parts. The Vikings named the area Sveins Ey (Swein's Island), probably referring to the sandbank in the mouth of the River Tawe.

Believed to be the world's most powerful seaport at one time, Swansea's 14th-century ship-building industry was all but abandoned for delicate porcelain manufacture, only to be replaced by exhaustive oyster harvesting.

But Swansea didn't really hit its stride until the Industrial Revolution, when it developed into an important copper-smelting centre. Ore was first shipped in from Cornwall, across the Bristol Channel, but by the 19th century it was arriving from Chile, Cuba and the USA, in return for Welsh coal.

Modern History

By the 20th century, the heavy industrialisation of Swansea began to peter out, but the oil refinery and smaller factories were still judged a worthy target by the German Luftwaffe in 1941. The old town centre, with its blend of developments between the Medieval and the Edwardian eras, was devastated. The unimaginative rebuilding did not do much for the city's recovery.

What little remains of Georgian and Victorian Swansea stretches from Wind Street and York Street to Somerset Place and Cambrian Way in the Maritime Quarter; this is the most attractive part of the city centre.

The Thatcher years of privatisation also led to severe cuts in the already downcast manufacturing and steel industry. Agriculture was also in a state of disarray and unemployment began to soar in Swansea and all of Wales. Welsh living standards lagged far behind the rest of Britain and with the collapse of the Miners' Strike of 1984-85, Welsh morale hit an all-time low, some fighting back with extremist nationalism.

Recent History

Swansea's city centre, Maritime Quarter and the district on the east bank of the Tawe are undergoing a major redevelopment that plans to transform the city by 2020. In recent years, with the opening of the new National Waterfront Museum, a sparkling marina, and a thriving restaurant and bar scene, Swansea's future is looking more lovely than ugly. Sure, there was a time when it leaned towards industrial slum, but it can't be all that bad when Hollywood stars build million-pound homes a stone's throw away... Just ask Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones.

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