Clyne Castle is a Grade II*-

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

situated on a hill overlooking

Swansea Bay Swansea Bay ( cy, Bae Abertawe) is a bay on the southern coast of Wales. The River Neath, River Tawe, River Afan, River Kenfig and Clyne River flow into the bay. Swansea Bay and the upper reaches of the Bristol Channel experience a large tid ...

, adjacent to the

Clyne valley The Clyne Valley Country Park is an area of parkland in Britain, at Swansea in south Wales. It lies on either side of the valley of the Clyne River and comprises an area of over of land running from the sea at Blackpill, Swansea, inland to Go ...

, near

Blackpill Blackpill (or Black Pill) is a suburban area of Swansea, Wales, beside Swansea Bay, about southwest of the city centre. Description Blackpill falls into the Mayals ward. The area is centred on a seafront building on Mumbles road, which onc ...

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the C ...

. Originally built in 1791 by a wealthy landowner it passed into the hands of the Vivian family and saw many distinguished guests over the years. Acquired by Swansea University in the 1950s, it was used as student accommodation. It has since become a block of luxury apartments.

History

Clyne Castle was originally built in 1791 by Richard Phillips, a wealthy

Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire ( cy, Sir Gaerfyrddin; or informally ') is a county in the south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. The county is known as ...

landowner. The Castle was subsequently remodelled by later owners, and was for many years in the possession of the Vivian family. While they lived in the castle, the eminent guests that visited them are thought to include

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

and

King Edward VIII Edward VIII (Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David; 23 June 1894 – 28 May 1972), later known as the Duke of Windsor, was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Empire and Emperor of India from 20 January 19 ...

. William Graham Vivian planted the landscaped gardens in the 1860s.

Later uses

Swansea University Swansea University ( cy, Prifysgol Abertawe) is a public university, public research university located in Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom. It was chartered as University College of Swansea in 1920, as the fourth college of the University of Wales. ...

used the Castle as a hall of residence (Neuadd Gilbertson) after it acquired the building in the 1950s. The University built two accommodation blocks, and, later, a women's hall (Neuadd Martin), with exceptionally fine sea views, on the hill behind the castle. The two halls, which were linked by external steps, shared some functions. The City of Swansea acquired the mature park of the Castle, now called

Clyne Gardens Clyne Gardens is a botanical garden located in Swansea, Wales, UK. The current park was formed from the landscaped gardens created by Glynn Vivian of the Vivian family who purchased Clyne Castle in 1860. The estate passed to his nephew Algern ...

(Gerddi Clun), which has views over the bay. The historic landscape area of Clyne Castle is a Registered Historic Park. In 2003, the university decided to sell the halls and to build more accommodation on the main university campus instead. The current use of the refurbished castle is as a block of luxury one- and two-bedroom apartments. The grounds are protected by wrought iron gates and residents have use of the lawned gardens. The student accommodation blocks and the women's hall were demolished and were replaced in 2006 by new housing.

References

{{coord, 51, 35, 50.00, N, 4, 00, 09.00, W, type:landmark, display=title Castles in Swansea Mock castles in Wales Grade II* listed buildings in Swansea Houses completed in 1791 Country houses in Wales Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales