Llansamlet is a

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

an district and

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

, Wales, falling into the Llansamlet ward. The area is centred on the

A48 road The A48 is a trunk road in Great Britain running from the A40 at Highnam, west of Gloucester, England, to the A40 at Carmarthen, Wales. Before the Severn Bridge opened on 8 September 1966, it was a major route between England and South Wale ...

(named Samlet Road and Clase Road in the area) and the

M4 motorway The M4, originally the London-South Wales Motorway, is a motorway in the United Kingdom running from west London to southwest Wales. The English section to the Severn Bridge was constructed between 1961 and 1971; the Welsh element was largely ...

. Like other places in Wales having a name beginning with

Llan Llan may be: * Llan (placename), a Celtic morpheme, or element, common in British placenames ** A short form for any placename . * Llan, Powys, a Welsh village near Llanbrynmair * Llan the Sorcerer La Lunatica Lacuna Lady Bullseye Lady De ...

, Llansamlet is named after a church, usually itself bearing the name of a saint – in this case, the church of Saint Samlet. There is a Saint Samlet's Church in the area on Church Road.

History

Historically, the region was part of the Principality of Deheubarth until the Norman invasions between 1067 and 1101. From 1135 the Normans wrested the region from the Prince of Deheubarth and formed the basis for the Marcher Lordship of Kilvey of

comital Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

rank. After the

Laws in Wales Act 1535 Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

abolished Marcher lordships, the region was incorporated into the county of

Glamorgan , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Motto ...

. The parish of Llansamlet became part of the borough of Swansea in two boundary changes in 1835 and 1918. Llansamlet was an important

coal mining Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

area from at least the 14th century. Initially coal was mined for export but with the coming of the copper industry in the 18th century much of the output was used for smelting purposes. In 1750 the principal mineral properties were acquired by

Chauncy Townsend Chauncy Townsend (23 February 1708 – 28 March 1770) was a City of London merchant and a Member of Parliament in the Parliament of Great Britain. He was prominent in developing coalmines in the Swansea area of Wales and in supplying settler nee ...

and they remained in his family until his great-grandson, Charles Henry Smith, relinquished them in 1872. By this time the best seams had been worked out and output was in decline. Coal-working finally ceased in the first half of the 20th century. Much of the former mining area is now occupied by the

Swansea Enterprise Park The Swansea Enterprise Park ( cy, Parc Anturiaeth Abertawe) is a combined business park, retail park and industrial estate in Swansea, Wales. In 1981 it became the first enterprise zone in the United Kingdom, and the largest.George Stephenson George Stephenson (9 June 1781 – 12 August 1848) was a British civil engineer and mechanical engineer. Renowned as the "Father of Railways", Stephenson was considered by the Victorians a great example of diligent application and thirst for ...

, although it did not prove successful and was soon withdrawn. Scott was unable to operate the pit profitably and pulled out in 1828. The pit then reverted to Charles Henry Smith. It continued in use, sometimes for coal winning, sometimes for pumping, until 1930. It was restored in the 1970s. It is often stated that the pit was sunk in the 1770s by a Captain John Scott, but there is no truth in this: it probably derives from a garbled oral tradition.

Modern Llansamlet

Today the area consists of an

urban Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of people ...

belt centred on the A48 road and M4 motorway where new housing was built in the early 2000s. At the west of the area lies the

Swansea Enterprise Park The Swansea Enterprise Park ( cy, Parc Anturiaeth Abertawe) is a combined business park, retail park and industrial estate in Swansea, Wales. In 1981 it became the first enterprise zone in the United Kingdom, and the largest.Swansea Vale Swansea Vale ( cy, Bro Abertawe) is a mixed used new suburb development site in Swansea, Wales. The area is bounded east by Birchgrove; south by Swansea Enterprise Park, west by the River Tawe and north by the M4 motorway. The development is ...

development area. The north of the area is mainly rural, consisting of farmland.

Transport

Road transport links include the A48 trunk road to the

(Junction 44). It has its own

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

to the east, served by the

Transport for Wales Rail Transport for Wales Rail Limited, branded as Transport for Wales and TfW Rail ( and ), is a Welsh publicly owned train operating company, a subsidiary of Transport for Wales (TfW), a Welsh Government-owned company. It commenced operations of t ...

Swanline Swanline is the name of the local rail service from to , on the South Wales Main Line. History The Swanline service was launched in June 1994, following the construction of five new stations at , , , and on the existing South Wales Main Li ...

'' service between

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

and

. The railway runs through a

cutting Cutting is the separation or opening of a physical object, into two or more portions, through the application of an acutely directed force. Implements commonly used for wikt:cut, cutting are the knife and saw, or in medicine and science the scal ...

, designed by

Isambard Kingdom Brunel Isambard Kingdom Brunel (; 9 April 1806 – 15 September 1859) was a British civil engineer who is considered "one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history," "one of the 19th-century engineering giants," and "one ...

. Owing to the risk of landslip from the earth banks of this cutting, Brunel designed four

flying arch A flying arch is a form of arch bridge that does not carry any vertical load, but is provided solely to supply outward horizontal forces, to resist an inwards compression. They are used across cutting (transportation), cuttings, to avoid them colla ...

es to hold the cutting walls apart. For extra stability, these arches were ballasted with high mounds of copper slag.

Notable residents

Jack Kelsey Alfred John "Jack" Kelsey (19 November 1929 – 18 March 1992) was a Welsh international football goalkeeper, who also played for Arsenal. He is regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers to play for Wales. Early life Jack Kelsey was born at ...

, Welsh international goalkeeper *

Ruth Madoc Ruth Madoc (born Margaret Ruth Llewellyn Baker; 16 April 1943 – 9 December 2022) was a British actress who had a career on stage and screen spanning over 60 years. She was best known for her role as Gladys Pugh in the BBC television comedy '' ...

, best known for appearing in the TV comedy show ''

Hi-de-Hi! ''Hi-de-Hi!'' is a BBC television sitcom shown on BBC1 from 1 January 1980 to 30 January 1988. Set in 1959 and 1960 in Maplins, a fictional holiday camp, the show was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, who also wrote ''Dad's Army'' and ...

'', grew up here. *

Dai Parker Dai Parker (8 August 1904 – 16 June 1965) was a Welsh international rugby union prop who played club rugby for Swansea. He won ten caps for Wales and was selected to play in the 1930 British Lions tour of New Zealand and Australia. Club c ...

, Wales and British Lion rugby player, brother of Tom Parker, Welsh international rugby union captain *

Lucy Thomas Lucy Thomas (née Williams, baptised 11 March 1781 – 27 September 1847) was a Welsh businesswoman and colliery owner known as the "mother of the Welsh steam coal trade". Thomas took over the running of her husband Robert's coal ...

, 19th century businesswoman

References

Communities in Swansea Districts of Swansea