The Hafod Copperworks 1810 - 1924
The Hafod Copperworks was located between the Swansea Canal on one side and a bend in the River Tawe on the other. It was laid out by John Vivian with expansion in mind from the very outset.
In its day it was one of the largest and most up to date industrial enterprises in Europe and by the 1840s Vivian & Sons were the largest exporters of finished copper in the UK.
Over the course of the 19th century the Vivians' also built an entire settlement for their employees called "Trevivian" or "Vivianstown" and which we now call the "Hafod".
The 'Trevivian' township
A works school built in 1846; a church and numerous terraces of housing can all still be seen.
The survival of "Trevivian" is remarkable and constitutes a complete copperworkers' township of the Victorian period.
By 1823 the Swansea Valley's various copperworks (together with coal and shipping interests) supported 10,000 out of an entire population of approximately 15,000.
Swansea was indeed "Copperopolis". By 1886 Vivian & Sons employed three thousand people, one thousand of them at the Hafod. The Hafod Works produced copper in bars, ingots, sheets, tube, rod, bolts, circles, sulphate of copper, yellow metal and condenser plates.
It also produced naval brass, ferro bronze, lead ingots, spelter, silver, gold, sulphuric acid, zinc chloride and superphosphate fertilisers.
An industrial empire
To the south of the Hafod Works and on the same side of the river, existed a string of industrial enterprises all owned by the Vivian family which included the Hafod Phosphate Works, Hafod Foundry, Hafod Forge and the Hafod Isaf (Isha) Nickel & Cobalt Works.
An excellent coloured Ordnance Survey map dated 1879 shows the Hafod Works and immediate surroundings in some detail and is available from the Archive Service at County Hall.
Other works belonging to the Vivians' could be found at Landore, Morriston and White Rock. The latter was founded in 1737 and smelted copper under various owners until 1871 when the Vivian's took it over to smelt silver and lead until 1924.
On the other side of the wall!
The Morfa Copperworks was started in 1834 immediately next door to the Hafod Works with only a high stone wall between the two works to divide them.
Legend has it that workers at Morfa were instructed not to talk to the Hafod workers for fear of giving away trade secrets. Prior to this in 1828 work had begun on building the steam-powered rolling mill that would eventually become the Swansea Museum Collections Centre we see today.
Morfa was operated by Williams Foster & Co. from 1835-80. Between 1880 - 93 it was operated by Williams Foster & Co. and between 1893 - 1924 by Williams Foster & Co. Ltd and Pascoe Grenfell & Co. Ltd.
After 1894 family interest in the Hafod Copperworks dwindled and in 1924 the firm was absorbed into the adjacent Morfa complex. The latter was the largest non-ferrous metal smelter in the world by the mid-19th century.
British Copper Manufacturers owned the combined works until 1928, when they were taken over by ICI, although the refining of copper had ended around 1924.
The site was taken over by Yorkshire Imperial Metals, an amalgamation of I.C.I and Yorkshire Metals in 1957, the two works worked as one until closure in August 1980.
Acknowledgements: This material is extracted from "A Short History of the Hafod Copperworks 1810-1924. This was researched and designed by the City & County of Swansea. It was made possible because of financial support from Development Enterprise and Technology / Welsh Assembly Government and copies can be seen at the National Waterfront Museum Swansea, Swansea Reference Library, the Archives Section of the City & County at County Hall and from Richard Porch in the Regeneration Department at County Hall, Oystermouth Road, Swansea.
your comments
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Paul Mainwaring from Australia...
The Smithfield Arms, Public House, which was situtated opposite the Slaughter House on Dyfatty Road, and on the corner of Matthew Street. It was knocked down when Dyfatty Street was widened back in the 1960's.
The landlords of the pub in the times of the census have been, Frederick Coles Woollard and his wife Anne Vaughan, 1851. By the time of the 1871 it was Anne Vaughan and her second husband Henry Wheatley. By 1891 it was a German and his wife.
Fri Jun 12 18:16:52 2009
Ann Farr, Coventry
I am looking for information about the Dyffryn Works at Morriston and Daniel Edwards, my great, great grandfather who built it.
Fri Jun 12 17:59:46 2009
Nancy Gay
My Great-great grandfather and Great grandfather both named William Thomas worked in the copper industry living on Graig St in Morriston. They attended the Parish Church of Llangyfelsh but I only know of the one who came to America and my Gran was his daughter.
Tue May 26 12:15:15 2009
Hazel Baeten from Scotland
My great grandfather was a Belgian mariner who settled first in Swansea after marrying Mary Ann Thornton from Ireland, before moving to Gwaun Cae gurwen. He must have gone between Swansea and America, as at least two of his children were born in America. One child was said to have been named Minnie, after a boat on which she was said to have been born. From various cencus returns, occupations e.g.at phes works, and tube udd works. Can anyone help with info on these occupations?
Tue Mar 24 14:59:31 2009
Laurence Mckevitt from Dorset
I was brought up in Swansea,living in Byng St., Landore, from 1942 until 1952. My bedroom looked out over the Millbrook Works, and Granpa Graham worked in the Mannesmann. Does anyone want to know more of him,or me?
Also had an illustrious forbear, named George Mitcell, who emigrated to America in the 1890's, founded Swansea, Arizona, became, according to family legend VERY rich,then lost it all!
He was a copperman. I would love to swap info with anyone, with a common interest in industrial Landore. Besides the one Granpa who worked in industry,the other{paternal}grandfather was an old Cape Horner,who died back in 1932.
Fri Nov 7 12:00:41 2008
Jonathan Roth (Swansea)
My Great Grandfather, Frederick Roth used to own the Smithfield Arms in Dyfatty Street round 1871. I can't find any record though of it ever existing. Some of the workers from the factory probably drank there, so I was wondering if anyone had any knowledge of it. He also owned a slaughterhouse and butchers in the same area.
Mon Sep 29 16:28:32 2008
Ann Dale from Hertfordshire
On my grandfather's service record for the RNR in 1916 he gives an address as:- 26 Dyfatty Street, Swansea. He was a furnaceman with the Crown Spelter Works who released him to join the RNR. Any information about the Crown Spelter Works or this address in Swansea would be greatly appreciated. His name was William Mansell born 1889 in Wellington, Shropshire.
Mon May 19 16:39:46 2008
Terrence thomas Ynysforgan
My grandfather left the Hafod isha works to enlist in the Swansea pals regiment in 1915. On his return he was presented with a gold medal...
Wed Nov 7 16:55:44 2007
Mona Everett, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
My ancestors were copper smelter foremen in Glamorgan and Carmarthenshire and came to Baltimore, Maryland, in the 1840s to help start the copperworks there and teach the "Welsh Method" of smelting to the Americans. They recruited many hundreds of other skilled copper workers to join them and had a big impact on the economy of that city, too. However, precious little is written about them or their work. There is a lot about the coal miners, and even the farmers and slate workers, who came to the US. Please, please preserve whatever is left of this important part of our heritage and thanks for writing about it in the web!
Wed Sep 26 09:29:52 2007
Brian Perrins from Swansea
Yes this site should be preserved as a monument to the men women and children who worked in the copper works and made Swansea what it is today and in response to mike from Birmingham I believe that our local council and assembly are not all that interested...There is a group of enthusiasts called the River Side Communities who are fighting an uphill battle to try and save the site for educational and tourist use - lets hope that something will come of it.
Mon Aug 6 16:23:56 2007
Mike Nener from Birmingham
Just what are the council and national assembly doing about preserving this unique landscape so that all "Jacks" can learn about their heritage?
Thu Jul 26 11:16:50 2007
Vern from Neath
I have been involved with The Kilvey Hill Volunteer Group and The Bonymaen History Group for many years, (12 years?) and I have seen numerous worthwhile projects come along and then flounder through lack of support by the powers that be. Group members have the ‘Vision’ but not the means.Other parts of the country, and indeed the world, would give their right arm to have the much abused ‘Gem’, Kilvey Hill on their doorstep. A great panoramic viewing point for Swansea City and Swansea Bay.
Added to this, is the ‘Copperopolis’ heritage site; not a great deal remains of it now, which makes it all the more precious. (The Hafod Engine Houses and Stacks. The 'Vivian' loco sheds. The 'Smiths Canal' with its unique twin tunnels on the ‘White Rock’ site, all sadly deteriorating by the day).Let us not see it all go, as in the case of the ‘Mumbles Railway’. What a fiasco! Quote: A Swansea Council spokeswoman said: "The Council hopes all the historic buildings will be restored and maintained. Hoping never did a damned thing! As Captain Kirk would say, “Make it so”.
Mon Jul 23 10:51:46 2007
David Morgans, now in Colchester
For many years my great-grandfather Captain George Hoskins supported the Swansea copper industry as one of Swansea's "Cape Horners", and regularly brought cargoes of copper ore by clipper ship and later steamer from South America. I still have the navigational instruments he used but the sextant was made in Liverpool.
Mon Jul 16 11:46:12 2007
Fiona Andrew from Pembroke Dock
Swansea truly led the world in Copper and this should be celebrated. The remaining buildings and signs of industry need to be conserved for future generations to appreciate the status this city once had on the world stage.This excellent article is a good introduction to a fascinating subject.
Mon Jul 9 10:57:21 2007
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