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Llansamlet - Gazetteers

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Llansamlet - Extract from A Topographical Dictionary of Wales by Samuel Lewis 1833

"LLANSAMLET (LLAN-SAMLED), a parish in the hundred of LLANGYVELACH, county of GLAMORGAN, SOUTH WALES, 3 1/2 miles (N. E. by N.) from Swansea, comprising the Higher and Lower divisions, which separately maintain their own poor, and containing 3187 inhabitants, of which number, 1076 are in the Higher, and 2111 in the Lower, division.

One of the most picturesque features of this parish is Glanbrane, the seat of Capt. W. Jones, a good house situated near the summit of a lofty eminence, and commanding a fine marine view over Crymlen hill, the grounds surrounding which are very tastefully laid out. Gwern-llwynwith, formerly the property of the Morgans of Birch Grove, is a substantial mansion, the residence of C. H. Smith, Esq. The lands of this parish, which is intersected by the river Tawy, and by the turnpike road from Swansea to Neath, are, with the exception of a small portion, enclosed and in a good state of cultivation. Here are some extensive collieries, the principal of which, belonging to C. H. Smith, Esq., afford constant employment to about five hundred men. There are also, in the Lower division of the parish, three copperworks upon an extensive scale, belonging to three several companies, affording employment to a great number of persons : their produce is conveyed to the port of Swansea by a canal and tram-road which pass through the parish, and by the river Tawy, which is navigable to the works. A large portion of the parish is included within the new limits of the borough of Swansea.

The living is a perpetual curacy, in the archdeaconry of Carmarthen, and diocese of St. David's, endowed with £800 royal bounty, and in the patronage of the Bishop of St. David's. The church, dedicated to St. Samled, is a small edifice, consisting of a nave and chancel, neatly fitted up for divine service. There are places of worship for Baptists, Independents, and Wesleyan Methodists.

A school-room was erected, and a school is supported, at the expense of the three copper companies, for the gratuitous instruction of the workmen's children. Mr. Lewis Thomas, in 1708, bequeathed a sum of money to the poor, now producing £2 per annum, which, with another trifling benefaction by Mr. John Jenkin, is annually distributed among them.

The average annual expenditure for the support of the poor amounts to £ 1025. 12., of which sum, £489.3. is raised on the Higher, and £536.9. on the Lower, division." Llansamlet - Lewis 1833 [Last Updated : 12 Oct 2002 - Gareth Hicks]