Swansea

Sister cities

• Nantong
• Bydgoszcz
• Cork
• Ferrara
• Wuhan
• Mannheim
• Pau

History

The area around Swansea has a unique archaeological history dating back to the Palaeolithic. Finds at Long Hole Cave on the Gower Peninsula have been interpreted as those of the first modern humans in Britain, and the same area is also home to the oldest ceremonial burial in Western Europe, discovered at Paviland in 1823 and dated to 22,000 BC. The area also has many Bronze Age and Iron Age sites, such as the burial mound at Cillibion and the hill forts at Llwynheiernin and Cil Ifor. There are also the remains of a Roman villa also on the Gower peninsula. The area that would become Swansea was known as the Cantref Eginog in ancient times, located on the eastern edge of the cwmwd (commote) of Gwyr, the easternmost cantref of Ystrad Tywi. This area was noted for its valuable land and was highly contested by the early Welsh kingdoms. During the Viking Age, the mouth of the Tawe became a focus for trade, and a trade post may have been founded sometime between the 9th and 11th centuries. The settlement remained under Welsh control until the Norman invasion of Wales, when Iestyn ap Gwrgant ceded the settlement as part of the new Lordship of Gower to Henry de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Warwick in the early 1100s. The Lordship included land around Swansea Bay as far as the River Tawe, the manor of Kilvey beyond the Tawe, and the peninsula itself. In the following years, Henry built Swansea Castle , and minted coins bearing the names Swensi, Sweni and Svenshi . Swansea was designated chief town of the lordship and received its first borough charter sometime between 1158 and 1184 from William de Newburgh, 3rd Earl of Warwick. This charter contains the earliest reference in English to Sweynesse and gave it the status of a borough, granting the townsmen (called burgesses) certain…

Geography

Swansea may be divided into four physical areas. The geology is complex, providing diverse scenery. The Gower Peninsula was the first area in the United Kingdom to be designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). Apart from the southeast corner, the whole of the Gower Peninsula is within the AONB. The region has featured regularly in the Wales in Bloom awards. To the north are the Lliw uplands which are mainly open moorland, reaching the foothills of the Black Mountain range. To the east is the coastal strip around Swansea Bay. Cutting through the middle from the south-east to the north-west is the urban and suburban zone stretching from the Swansea city centre to the towns of Gorseinon and Pontarddulais. The most populated areas of Swansea are Morriston, Sketty and the city centre. The chief urbanised area radiates from the city centre towards the north, south and west; along the coast of Swansea Bay to Mumbles; up the Swansea Valley past Landore and Morriston to Clydach; over Townhill and Mayhill to Cwmbwrla, Penlan, Treboeth and Fforestfach; through Uplands, Sketty, Killay to Dunvant; and east of the river from St. Thomas to Bonymaen, Llansamlet and Birchgrove. A second urbanised area is focused on a triangle defined by Gowerton, Gorseinon and Loughor along with the satellite communities of Penllergaer and Pontarddulais. About three-quarters of Swansea is on the coast—the Loughor Estuary, Swansea Bay and the Bristol Channel. The geology of the Gower Peninsula ranges from Carboniferous Limestone cliffs along its southern edge from Mumbles to Worm's Head and the salt-marshes and dune systems of the Loughor estuary to the north. The eastern, southern and western coasts of the peninsula are lined with numerous sandy beaches both wide and small, separated…

Most-observed species

• European Robin

  Erithacus rubecula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  4,263
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  4,125
• Common Wood-Pigeon

  Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  3,851
• Herring Gull

  Larus argentatus Pontoppidan, 1763 · Aves
  3,836
• Carrion Crow

  Corvus corone Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  3,835
• Eurasian Blue Tit

  Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  3,434
• Eurasian Magpie

  Pica pica (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  3,362
• Western Jackdaw

  Coloeus monedula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,978

Most recent

• M 3.4 — 2023-02-24
  1 km ENE of Brynmawr, United Kingdom
• M 3.4 — 2019-12-05
  1 km ESE of Taunton, United Kingdom
• M 4.3 — 2018-02-17
  5 km NE of Clydach, United Kingdom
• M 4.1 — 2014-02-20
  17 km NNW of Ilfracombe, United Kingdom
• M 2.7 — 2006-09-26
  4 km SSW of Dorstone, United Kingdom
• M 2.5 — 2006-08-14
  1 km E of North Petherton, United Kingdom