For pretty much 300 years Swansea was an English town
The Norman lords who founded the town in about 1106 brought in English settlers with names like Baker, Wrench, Bassett, Butler, Constable, Langton, Jordan, Porter, Perkin and Tomkin; and the old street names are all English - High, Castle, Wind etc
Until the 1800s Swansea was tiny
Where the railway station, Swansea Museum, the Quadrant and Mount Pleasant Chapel are today would all be outside the town. And population probably did not rise above 2,000 before 1760.
The market used to be at the top of Wind Street
The only building was an open shelter on pillars, built in the 1640s. Otherwise it was a higgledy-piggledy assortment ofr stalls in the streets around there. St Mary Street was known as Butter Street, and between 1813 and 1821 Robert Anderson was employed to stretch a chain across it on market days, probably to check marauding cattle. It moved to Oxford Street in 1820.
Swansea Castle was enormous
The remains of the 14th Century architecture at the top of Wind Street survived the blitz, but is only about 10% of what once stood. The north castle gate was near Argos on High Street, and the western wall as far out as McDonanlds.
For more than seven centuries the River Tawe was Swansea’s port
Between 1852 and 1919 five big docks were built, but before that ships just loaded at quays along the river - think Fowey or Looe in Cornwall. The Strand was the riverbanks and took the shape of what was called the Town Reach. In origin, Swansea was more a riverbank town than a 'seaside town' - the shore was always some distance away from the centre.
Ropes and leather were made in town
The Daniel and Richards families owned tanneries from the 1540’s on, some in Waun Wen beside Carmarthen Road. In the 1790’s Griffith Jenkin’s tanpits were roughly where the car park is behind Marks 7 Spencer. The two main ‘ropewalks’ ran from beside New Look right down the back wall of Swansea Museum, and from the back of Tesco across to Clarence Terrace (between the jail and the Vetch field).
As early as 1600 the Swansea area shipped out more coal than any other UK district, except Newcastle/Sunderland
Small vessels carried it to souther Ireland, the west country (Barnstaple and Minehead were big customers), Jersey, Guernsey and Brittany.
Dyfatty was probably a place where sheep were kept
In old local dialect the word is a name for a sheepfold (presumably from the Welsh ‘dafad’ - sheep, and ‘ty’ - house). In the 19th century the area was used for fairs and cattle markets, and was known as Tanner’s Field and then Ridd’s Field.
Streams ran everywhere
For example the Washing Lake brook poured down Mount Pleasant, across the line of the Kingsway, and down Whitewalls. The Town Pill flowed from St Helen's through the Sandfields, and joined up with it near our LC2. Just there it made a big loop inside which was Goose Island, probably a corruption of 'Gors', a marsh.
Where the big screen and the waterfall are in Castle Square stood a big house
In 1840 the last remnant of a mansion called the Plas was demolished. Probably begun in the 1300s, by Tudor times it was the magnificent residence of Sir Mathew Cradock and then his grandson, Sir George Herbert, men you quarrelled with at your peril. Opposite our Pizza Express stood their fine stone gateway, carved with their coat of arms and motto.
South Gower had its own dialect which was influenced by the West Country
Roads remained poor until the 1700s, making the sea a much better highway for trade and communication. Earliest records of Swansea trade in the 16th Century show Devon and Somerset ports were of prime significance, and the Rector of Coychurch in Bridgend wrote in 1696 that those in the south of the peninsula 'did pronounce their words something like the West of England, as v [instead of] f, or z for s, and the like...as vather for father'.
Brynmill was once home to the man who tried to make Shakespeare's work more family friendly.
The Rhyddings was once an isolated house noted for the resident of Thomas Bowdler, the expurgator of Shakespeare who produced versions of the bard's work without the parts deemed unsuitable for family. He is buried in Oystermouth Cemetery. The house remains and the name is till use for a pub. The word Rhyddings appears to be Saxon, and means a clearing.
The locals liked a drink!
Swansea's population rose from 6,000 to 17,000 in the first half of the nineteenth century. And in 1830 there were eighty named pubs in the town centre.
Gallows overlooked the town
In 1289 the town gallows were situated on a hill above Dyfatty, where it could be plainly seen from the town. In 1290 a man was hanged their twice - the first time the gallows collapsed and the second time was more successful - or so it seemed. He was later said to have survived, prompting the legend of William Crach, the hanged man of Gower.
Swansea may have been attacked by Owain Glyndwr
Swansea Castle hurriedly underwent repairs when it seemed the last Welsh Prince of Wales was likely to attack at the beginning of the 1400s, as he waged war against the English. He probably owned much of Gower from 1403 to 1405.
Sketty used to be known as Pistyll Gwyn
A 'pistyll' is a spring, spout or well, and was an important source of water for residents and travellers. Pistyll Gwyn was often used as a landmark. The site is now garages on Sketty Road, next to the pedestrian bridge. By the mid 19th century the term 'Sketty village' had been applied to the cottages ecentred on the corss roads a little way west.
The town used to be enclosed by walls
The walls had been built by the 14th century, and had gates to the north, at King's Lane on the High Street, and to the south at the bottom of Wind Street. There may also have been a gate to the west, near where the Dragon Hotel exists today.
For centuries a large proportion of Swansea's population lived in High Street.
But the name 'High Street' was very slow to emerge. It was often known as the Above, Bove, or Higher Town. A detailed 1650 survey of Swansea made no mention of High Street, but references to High Street are recorded by the beginning of the 19th century.
Residents contributed to friendly societies to safeguard finances.
Friendly societies were mutual associations for insurance or savings or pensions. By the late 18th century with the population of upper High Street growing quickly residents formed societies including the Friendly Club at the Full Moon, and the Amicable Club at the Lamb, whose names probably refer to pubs. A Full Moon pub on upper High Street still exists.
Wind Street was home to a large theatre.
The Mackworth Arms was opened in 1785, having been built by landowner Herbert Mackworth. The first coach service from Swansea to London seems to date from 1781, and by 1786 it left from the brand new Mackworth at the top of Green Dragon Lane.
There are different theories as to why Wind Street is pronounced 'wine'.
One theory is the Welsh world Gwaun, meaning meadow, which might have once made up the site, is often mutated to 'waun', and might have become anglicisized. However, no other main street name in old Swansea is of Welsh origin. Another theory is that it took its pronunciation because wine merchants congregated in the street.
The Tawe's riverbanks were once next to The Strand
The Strand's historic importance lay in its being alongside the river, something less easy to appreciate today because that stretch of the Tawe became the North Dock from 1852, was gradually filled in after 1928, and has left few clues of its former existence. The Parc Tawe buildings stand where the river once was.
Meat was a major part of people's diet
Even in 1790 when food prices were high the master of the Poor House in the castle aimed 'to supply the
These facts about Swansea are contained in a new history of the city, published by Dinefwr Press, and written by historian Gerald Gabb.
Swansea and its History Volume II is the follow-up to the first volume he published in 2007, which was 500 pages on the area up to the year 1100. The former history teacher and education officer at Swansea Museum has spent the past 12 years on the latest volume, which covers the history of the town of Swansea up until 1850, the point where Swansea became fully industrial, and contains approximately one million words.
He said: "I became interested in history at school, Dynevor, thanks to my history teacher Cliff Evans. He got my brain working and thinking about the subject, not just to possess facts.
"The first volume featured a lot of archeology, and I just got interested in it and started writing.
"One of the things that made Swansea successful is that it was a port, and therefore it became a town. Mumbles shelters the bay and makes it a viable port.
"I travelled to Cardiff, Aberystwyth and Kew to look at documents, but also made the most of rich resources at Swansea Museum, West Glamorgan Archives, the Central Library and the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery.
"The finding out bit is fun - I did not treat it as work. The worst bit of the whole thing though was the proof-reading, which I had to do several times. I am sure there are still several typos in there though, that's almost inevitable.
"I knew what I wanted to write. If people don't agree with it that's fine.
"It's taken me 12 years to write this, and I've been asked if I will write a third volume, to bring the history up to the present day.
"The answer is a firm 'don't know'".
"We grumble about it sometimes, but Swansea is a friendly place, the landscape is fantastic and it has a long, interesting history."
The book is launched at Swansea Museum this weekend, and will be followed by a series of talks including at St Paul's Parish Centre in Sketty on Thursday, May 30, from 11am; Swansea Market on Saturday, June 1, f4rom 9.30 to 4pm; Newton Village Hall on Saturday, June 8, from 11am; Tabernacle Chapel Hall in Mumbles, on Thursday, June 13, from 7pm; and St Teilo's Parish Hall in Bishopston on Saturday, June 29, from 11am.
