Swansea, Glamorgan

Description
Swansea (called by the Welsh Abertawe), the metropolis of Wales, and in variety of products the metallurgical centre of the United Kingdom, is situated at the mouth of the Tawe in Glamorgan, and is the most westerly seaport in the Bristol Channel. Built on the neck of The peninsula of Gower, which stretches itself into the sea 25 miles, it faces the famous Swansea Bay, which Southey and Walter Savage Landor considered rivalled the Bay of Naples. Its climate is soft and pleasant, being sheltered from the northeast and north-west, the south-westerly winds being moderated by the vast, expanse of sea they blow over. On the authority of the Registrar-General it is one of the healthiest towns in the United Kingdom, the death-rate being on an average from 12 to 15 in the thousand. It is in Ion. 4º W and in lat. 51-36º N, being 200 miles from the metropolis and about the same distance from Manchester and Liverpool. It is 40 miles W of Cardiff. At the census of 1891 the municipal borough contained 90,349 inhabitants, and the Swansea Parliamentary district, which includes Loughor, Kenfig, Neath, and Aberavon, 117,367.

The commercial part of the town. is centred in the Strand, and around its docks and wharves, its copper yards and smelting houses, its tin mills and iron works, its collieries and patent fuel depots, &c., which line the banks of its river for some miles, and present a sight during the night which recalls Dante's "Inferno," on account of the dense smoke issuing from a forest of chimney stacks and a thousand tongues of fire from the works. " Out of the thick darkness below into the darkness above come fierce consuming fires and belching smoke, and the roar of the blasts and the metallic clang of steam hammers, and the deafening din of gigantic machinery. The tapping a smelting furnace is as the making of a pseudo sun, a fountain of liquid fire; and a sheet of glowing copper at the mills is a softer moon; and the rush of a white-hot steel bar through the works an erratic comet, and the scintillations of the spelter make a galaxy of twinkling stars." This pandemonium is however forgotten by turning round to gaze upon residential Swansea, upon its new and palatial buildings, its fine business streets, its boulevards and mansions, and its many terraces, which rise tier above tier, and which are built on the slopes of two hills-Kilvey, on the east, rising to a height of 630 feet, and Town Hill on the west, to one of 550 feet. From the summits of the two hills can be seen one of the most magnificent views in Britain.

Swansea Bay, whose waters cover a submerged forest, is enclosed within a demilune of hills, here gently sloping, there rising into bold rotundity, whose undulating ridges are fringed with trees that shiver against the sky-line, and whose grassy declivities and dales are dotted with mansion and cottage villa and farmstead. The western horn of these crescentic hills loses its verdure just beyond the fashionable village of Oystermouth, popularly known as the Mumbles, behind which is a ridge of limestone rock terminating in three cones or mammels. On the outermost, which is known as the Mumbles Head, is a battery of five 68-pounders, and a tapering lighthouse, whose powerful dioptric lantern sends out its rays 15 miles into the darkness of the stormy channel's mouth. The other horn of the crescent is Nash Point, and is 21 miles distant as the crow flies across the water, or 30 miles round the yellow sand-banked margin, where the all-brightening sun and the gently lipping wavelets and little children come to play together in the summer months. On a fine summer day the spectator from the same height may see the coastline and blue hills of Devonshire and Somersetshire with Ilfracombe nestling under its tors, the Bristol Channel from Lundy Island to Weston-super-Mare and the Steep Holme ("steep" or "precipitous island"); to the east and north-east the red vans of Breconshire and the vale of Glamorgan; to the west the whole of the peninsula of Gower, and the Black Mountain ranges of Carmarthenshire, forming a panorama of unsurpassable beauty.

Swansea was created a borough in 1210 by King John's charter, and between that year and 1720 it received from successive monarchs nine charters, which contained civic and mercantile privileges of great commercial importance; two were granted by Lord Marchers and two from Oliver Cromwell. De Brea's charter, dated 1305, granted " dead wood for fuel" and oak wood for repairing their houses and ships. The burgesses might have " four great ships and as many boats as they will, able to carry twenty casks of wine, paying us and our heirs for every new built ship or boat 12d." They might also cut " turves " and " dig pit coal in Byllywasta," &c. This is believed to be the earliest mention of coalmining in South Wales. It was reconstituted a county borough under the powers of the Local Government Act of 1888, and for municipal purposes was divided into ten wards, represented by ten aldermen and three common councillors for each ward, from which body a mayor is chosen annually. The police force consists of 1 chief, 1 superintendent, 5 inspectors, 10 sergeants, and 82 constables, the total length of the streets being nearly 70 miles. The peace and good order of the town are under a stipendiary magistrate and a number of local justices. The summer assizes for the six counties of South Wales are held alternately at Swansea and Cardiff. The ancient Court Leets are still held annually at Swansea and at the several manors of Gower.

The town is well supplied with water, the corporation having constructed five reservoirs during the last fifty years. The two oldest-the Brynmill, opened in 1848, and the Cwm-donken in 1852-cost £25,000. The Velindra, with water mains, was constructed in 1860-63, the Blaen-nant-ddu in 1874-78, and the Upper Lliw (just 10 miles from the town) in 1890-94; these have a combined capacity of 530,000,000 gallons, and cost £400,000. The corporation purchased the Cray watershed, and under the Act have power to construct a new reservoir, which will cost £270,000. The rateable value of Swansea in 1885 was £245,000, whilst its debt stood at £666,454. In 1894 the rateable value had risen to £335,000, and the debt had increased to £941,682. The capital value of the land and estates belonging to the corporation is upwards of £650,000, and it is estimated that within thirty-eight years, by reason of existing leases falling in, the capital value will be upwards of £1,250,000. The acreage of the borough is 6399. The Guildhall, the seat of justice and the rendezvous of civic life, is in Somerset Place. It is a fine building in the Classic style, with balus-traded parapet and window balconies, erected in 1841 from the designs of Thomas Taylor, London. In the yard is a bronze statue of Mr John Henry Vivian, M.P. for the borough 1833-52, and two cannon presented by the Government as trophies of the Crimean War. There are two county prisons, one at Cardiff and the other at Swansea; the latter was built in 1829 and has since been enlarged. It has an imposing front. There are several police stations in the borough. The railway service is excellent, the Great Western, the Midland, the London and North-Western, and the Rhondda and Swansea Bay railway companies having each large stations, yards, sidings, and warehouses to accommodate the ever-increasing passenger, merchandise, and mineral traffic. The 25 miles of tramways which intersect the town and terminate at the Mumbles, are worked by two rival companies. The Mumbles line was opened in 1804. Two canals terminate in the town-the Swansea Canal, 16 miles long, with seven aqueducts and thirty-six locks, and commencing in Brecknockshire at an elevation of 372 feet; and the Tenants' Canal, 8 miles long, from Aberdulais to St Thomas. Both are used by colliery barges to carry the coal from the neighbouring collieries to the ships in the several docks.

Swansea is still the greatest metallurgical centre in the world. Within a radius of 4 miles there are 150 works of thirty-six varieties, employing 30,000 persons. The smelting of copper began in 1564 under a charter of Queen Elizabeth. The annual total of copper-ore shipments recently reached 193,815 tons. Though all kinds of ores are treated, choice is chiefly made of those sulphides of copper which are comparatively poor in sulphur but rich in copper, and these are smelted by what is technically called the " dry process," which consists of a series of calcinations, meltings, roastings, and refinings until the copper of commerce is produced. The extent and importance of the smelting operations carried on in the Tawy Valley may be best gauged by looking at the great hills of black " slag" and scorias which disfigure the landscape in the neighbourhood of the works. A recent return of the value of the copper made in the mills was £1,631,250 sterling, gold, silver, yellow metal, and lead being £240,000; steel, 500,000 tons, was valued at £2,500,000; spelter and zinc at £500,000, being 19-20ths of the whole production of the world. The chief centre of the tin-plate trade is also at Swansea, where the administrative offices alike of employer and employed are located. The iron, formerly paddled and rolled into thin sheets of various sizes, next coated with tin, packed in boxes, and exported to the ends of the earth, is now by Siemens process made into steel plates and tinned. Tin and terne plates were of the value of £5,000,000 sterling, and within a radius of 12 miles about 6,000,000 of boxes are manufactured yearly. Within a radius of 15 miles of the town there are 240 collieries, 31 iron works, 31 tin mills, 4 steel works, 6 spelter works, 19 copper works, 7 patent fuel works, and 40 miscellaneous. The flour mills have a capacity of 3000 bags weekly, but the present demand only reaches one-third of that amount. A large amount of timber is imported, and thousands of barrels of beer come from Burton to meet the demand. The Cambrian Pottery, formerly of considerable repute on account of the choice china manufactured there, and known as Dillwyn's Etruscan ware, as well as Dillwyn's silver works, have both ceased to exist, and recent legislation in the United States has given a serious blow to the tin-plate manufacture, a number of mills having been closed for a time. The yards for shipbuilding are now devoted to repairing vessels.

The present entrance to the harbour is between two fine piers, the western pier running seaward half a mile, the eastern arm about one-third of a mile, and being built within a framework of great Memel baulks filled in with stonework; whilst they prevent any silting at the mouth of the river, they afford fine, broad, smooth promenades, and are the resort of visitors and inhabitants alike. The harbour trust as a corporate body was constituted in 1791. It has a borrowed capital of £1,500,000, and is under the management of a chairman and twelve proprietory and ten corporation trustees; the former class being elected for six years, the latter appointed annually by the corporation. The port was brought into prominence during the Commonwealth, the troops under Cromwell embarking here for Ireland, and was then considered the western key to the kingdom. The jurisdiction of the port formerly extended from Worm's Head to Chepstow, a distance of 100 miles. In the year 1768 the number of vessels clearing the port was 694, the tonnage being 30,631. In 1830 the number of vessels had risen to 5089. In 1864 the number cleared was 6061, the registered tonnage being 742,868; the total imports and exports being 1,582,300 tons. From this date the number of sailing vessels steadily declined, giving place to some of the largest steamers afloat. In 1884 the total tonnage entered and cleared was 2,351,710, the number of vessels being 9767. In 1894 the net registered tonnage was 3,223,752, the vessels numbering 8999. The income of the trust in 1890 amounted to £105,199, and in 1894 to £118,399. The gradual increase in the trade of the port is conclusive, and the dock accommodation now provided warrants this expectation. It consists of the North Dock, opened in 1852 (the ancient bed of the river having been converted into a float) 5 the South Dock, opened in 1859; and the Prince of Wales Dock, opened in 1880 by T.R.H. the Prince and Princess of Wales. The Beaufort Dock, devoted to the importation of grain and flour, was opened in 1850. Each is supplied with the most modern hydraulic machinery and appliances for discharging and loading cargoes of every description with despatch, and fitted throughout with the electric light. The total deep water acreage of the four docks is close upon 60 acres. The Prince of Wales Dock, constructed for vessels of the largest burden, possesses one of the largest and deepest locks on the Bristol Channel. The docks are surrounded by more than 20 miles of railway, the property of the trust, connecting the docks with each of the great railway systems-viz., the Great Western, London and North Western, and Midland. The quays, upwards of 3 miles in length, are furnished with fifty hydraulic and steam cranes and twenty-one hydraulic coal tips. The shipments of tin plates in 1893 amounted to 4,705,106 boxes, being the largest on record. Steamers of 2500 tons and upwards net register are regularly engaged in the trade. There are eight graving docks within the harbour. The trustees are prepared to let on lease land upon which to erect patent fuel works, creosote works, saw-mills, &c., and for other commercial purposes. Lines of steamers are already established between Swansea and the following ports-viz., New York, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Boston, Hamburg, Nantes, Bordeaux, Treport, Rouen, Lisbon, Leghorn, Genoa, Batoum, &c. Compulsory pilotage is now abolished. The Mumbles lighthouse signal station, established 1879, is connected with the post office system of telegraphs, and with Lloyd's in London and the Liverpool and Glasgow Exchanges. Vessels calling for orders can communicate with their own owners without lowering a boat. There are twelve pairs of sea-gates and seven opening bridges worked by hydraulic pressure. Ships are supplied with fresh water from the corporation reservoirs, and good and sheltered free anchorage can be found under the Mumbles Head at any state of the tide. The imports are copper, silver, lead, tin, nickel, zinc, iron, with their ores and alloys, steel, pig-iron, castings 1/2 machinery, timber, pitwood, bricks, slates, sulphur ore, pyrites, brimstone, phosphates, flour, grain, vegetables, &c. The exports are coal, coke, patent fuel, copper sheets, silver bars, regulus, zinc, ores, tin, teme, and black plates, alkali, arsenic, &c. Nearly 100 sailing vessels and 40 steamers, including tugs and trawlers, having an aggregate tonnage of 75,000, are registered by Swansea owners.

The Post Office, a commodious and handsome structure in the centre of the town, was built in 1856. Within the memory of the living, one Mrs Lemon discharged all the postal delivery of the town; to-day there are 286 persons employed in the head post and telegraph offices at Swansea, of which 75 are town and auxiliary postmen and 46 telegraph messengers. There are 20 town sub-offices and 46 county sub-offices subordinate to Swansea, and in these sub-offices 202 persons are employed on postal and telegraphic duties. The headquarters of the Militia Western Division R.A. is at the Royal Arsenal. The headquarters of the Third Glamorgan Rifle Volunteers is in Singleton Street, the enrolled strength being 805. H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, K.G., K.T, &c., is the hon. colonel. The headquarters of the First Glamorgan Artillery Volunteers is in Swansea Castle, the number of enrolled members being 565. The Custom-house of Her Majesty's Customs is in Cambrian Place, the basement of which is occupied by the officials of the county court. The building is lofty and plain, but substantial. The Sailors' Home, under the presidency of Lord Swansea, is in Victoria Road. It is fitted up with seventy beds and dormitories. Almost every commercial nation in Europe and America has a resident consul or vice-consul in Swansea, and a large number of merchants are agents for the various steamboat services trading from Swansea. By order of the Board of Trade Swansea is the centre of the Glamorgan Sea Fisheries District. The number of oysters taken in 1893-94 is reported to have been 1,100,000, worth £3500, and of mussels 24,000 baskets, value £300. The Union Workhouse is situated on Mount Pleasant, and was erected in 1861 at a cost of £15,780. The building was enlarged in 1884 at a cost of £30,000, and will now accommodate 584 inmates. The cottage homes at Cockett were erected in 1877 at a cost of £4200, and will bold 120 children.

The Royal Institution of South Wales was founded in 1835. The edifice is built in the Corinthian style, and contains a great variety of historical curiosities and pre-historie fossils. The library contains many rare and valuable works, and numbers 20,000 volumes. The Public Library, in the Alexandra Road, is one of the finest structures in Wales. It cost £20,000, and was opened, in 1887, by the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, who received a golden key as a token of remembrance. On the ground floor is the lecture-hall and news-room, the library containing 30,000 volumes, besides 25,000 volumes in the reference library, including Bishop Morgan's translation of the Bible in Welsh (1588) and Parry's revised version (1620), the collection of rare Welsh works and manuscripts being unique. The School of Art and Design is on the second floor. Nearly 2500 rare engravings, prints, and drawings adorn the walls of the fine-art gallery, the gift of the Hon. curator, Mr J. Deffett Francis, who also gave to the reference library nearly 10,000 volumes. There are several public halls in the town, the Royal Albert Hall being the largest; it was erected in 1864 at a cost of £4650. It has an orchestra and fine organ, which cost £600. The Albert Minor Hall, erected in 1881, cost £1500. The Prince of Wales Hall, built in 1882, cost £4000. The Temperance Hall, built in 1894, cost £6000, and the Assembly Rooms in St Helens Road £1500. The chief places of amusement are The Theatre and Star Opera-House, erected in 1873, which will seat 3000 persons; the Theatre Royal, in Temple Street, erected in 1806, seated for 800; and the Empire, in High Street, erected in 1888 at a cost of £10,000, seated fog 1700 persons. The benevolent institutions are the Swansea General and Eye Hospital, in St Helen's Road, built in 1867 at a cost of £30,000-a magnificent building; the Deaf and Dumb Institute, founded in 1856; the Institution for the Blind, the Orphan Home, the Provident Dispensary, the Nursing Institute, the Cwmdonken Refuge, the Sailors' Rest, the R.N. Lifeboat Institution, and the Public Baths. The public companies are very numerous. There are twenty-four registered building societies; the savings bank was established in the year 1848, and has a large number of depositors. The other banks are the Glamorganshire Banking Co. Ltd., the Capital and Counties Bank Ltd., the Metropolitan Bank Ltd., the London and Provincial Bank Ltd., Lloyd's Bank Ltd., and the London and Midland Bank Ltd. The principal clubs are the Swansea Club, established in 1871; the Salisbury Constitutional Club, in 1887; the Liberal Club, established in 1885; the Fynont Club; the Working-Men's Club and Institute, established in 1874-one of the most flourishing in the kingdom; and the Tradesmen's Club, founded in 1883. The nautical clubs are the Corinthian Sailing Club, the Bristol Channel Yacht Club, and the Swansea Model Yacht Club. The other clubs are the Athletic, and Cycling, Football, and Cricket clubs. The Photographic Association, the Sketching Club, the Scientific Society, and the Cymrodorian exist for mental improvement. The Young Men's and Young Women's Christian associations were instituted to promote Christian life. The Public Market in Oxford Street, the site of which was given by Rev. Calvert Jones, M.A., is 320 feet long by 220 wide, was built in 1830 at a cost of £20,000, and will shortly be rebuilt in a more imposing style. The Cattle Market and Slaughter-houses are new.

Swansea is the metropolis of dissenting Wales, there being no less than 105 places of worship provided for Nonconformists. The English Baptists have 19 chapels, the Welsh 34 chapels, the Bible Christians 2, the Calvinistic Methodists 17, the English Congregational 13, the Welsh Congregational 14, the English Presbyterian 2, the Welsh Wesleyan 1, the English Wesleyan 10, and a number of miscellaneous faiths 13 chapels. There are likewise 2 Roman Catholic churches- St David's in Rutland Street and St Joseph's in Brynmellyn. The Jewish Synagogue is in Fisher Street. The Church of England has 31 places of worship-21 consecrated churches and 10 mission halls. The parish church of St Mary consists of chancel, nave, aisles, western porch, mansel chapel, and lofty embattled tower, containing 8 bells. The chancel and tower are Norman. The nave was rebuilt after its collapse in 1739. The registers date from 1361. The living is a vicarage; yearly value, £650 with residence, in the gift of the Church Patronage Society. This ancient shrine is about to be rebuilt, £10,000 having already been subscribed for that purpose. The churches of St Thomas, St Mark, St Gabriel, and Holy Trinity, are modern structures, built in Gothic style, and are vicarages. Christ Church, in the Oystermouth Road, is an edifice of stone, built in the Early Gothic style in 1872, costing £3000, and enlarged in 1883. The living is a vicarage, net yearly value, £300. The Bath Memorial Hall is attached to Christ Church. St Paul's, Sketty, has a fine tower with a peal of bells. It is a vicarage, erected by the Vivian family, and is in the gift of Lord Vivian. The Congregational Chapel in Walter Road, and the Memorial Chapel for Baptists, have lofty spires, piercing the skyline. The Presbyterian Church terminates in two towers with minarets.

The elementary education of the children was formerly carried on by private adventure and denominational schools, but the School Board has succeeded these, and has built a large number of schools for the needs of the borough. The old Grammar School, founded by Bishop Gore in the 15th century, has passed over to a Committee of Management under the Technical Instruction Act 1889, and will in future be known as the Swansea Intermediate and Technical School for Boys. A large bronze figure of Lord Vivian, popularly known as the Copper King, was unveiled by Lord Aberdare in the presence of 50,000 people in 1875, and stands in Castle Square.

The town of Swansea is near a vast bed of anthracite coal, the demand for which is rapidly growing. The late Lord Swansea predicted that-" Swansea, you may depend upon it, is destined to become the ocean port of England." There are two daily evening newspapers, the Cambria Daily Leader and South Wales Daily Post. The daily morning paper is the Swansea Shipping Register. The weekly newspapers are the Cambrian, first published in 1804, the Herald of Wales, the Swansea Journal, the Welsh Industrial World. The Western Mail (daily), and the South Wales Daily News have a large circulation though printed in Cardiff. There-are eight public parks: the Cwmdonken, of 13 acres; the Bryn-mill, of 9, with a lake attached; the Llewellyn, 42, its summit being 440 feet above sea-level; the Brynmellyn, 2; the Swansea Bay Recreation Ground, 8; the Victoria Park, 16; the Marine Parade, 4; the Dyvatty Field, 2. Thousands of excursionists visit Swansea during summer to enjoy the sands.

The early history of Swansea is very obscure. Before the Roman occupation it was called Hebertawe by the Silurians, the original inhabitants. After Caradoc had built a stockade at the mouth of the Tawe it was called Caer Gwyr, meaning the fortress of Gowerland. During the Roman sway the town remained a mere fishing centre with probably a few Roman villas on the slopes of the hill, the residences of the officers of the garrisons quartered at Nidum and Lougher, a few miles distant. Roman coins have been found of Caracalla, Gallienus, Victorinus, Marius Tetricus, Claudius, Gothicus, Quintillns, and Aurelianus, of dates ranging from A.D. 250 to 300. On the withdrawal of the Roman eagles Irish brigands, after several assaults, overmastered the town and province of Gower, and remained its rulers for twenty-five years. Urien having been disinherited of his patrimony in Cumberland visited Glamorgan, and joining the fortunes of the Welsh chief Cunedda and his sous, succeeded in driving out the Irish in 530. For his bravery Urien, the eagle-eyed, was proclaimed King of Gowerland and Abertawe. The new ruler soon extended his dominion, building Kari Kennan Castle, Kidwelly Castle, and strengthening the forts at Lougher and Hebertawe. Urien became the friend of the illustrious Arthur, and is said to have been one of the Knights of the Round Table, assisting his august patron in his struggles to stem the Saxon invasion of 540. The state was called the kingdom of Urien Rheged, and it retained its sovereignty to the close of the seventh century. About this period the Danes began their ferocious raids against the seaports of the kingdom. In the year 879 the fleet, numbering 150 vessels, was caught in a storm whilst being pursued by Alfred's seamen. The vessels were stranded in Swansea Bay, and almost every Dane perished. The body of Sweyne, the admiral, and the nag of the Black Raven, were recovered; the former was buried. on Rhosilly Down, and the few sailors who survived built cabins in the woods of Sketty and Oystermare. The memory of this event clianged the name of the town into Sweyneelle or Swansea. Only a few years previously, in 871, the men of Swansea and Gower had fought a terrible battle at Lougher, assisting the King of Cardigan against the Danish pirates, when the former was drowned in the river as he fled from his enemies. In 958 the men of Abertawe and Gower were at war with Owain ap Hywel, Prince of South Wales. In 1065 Harold, the Saxon general, quelled an insurrection in Wales,-a number of memorial stones being raised to celebrate the event. William the Conqueror in 1069 passed through the town on his visit to St David's shrine. In 1091 a fierce encounter took place between the Normans and Gowermen, the former being temporarily ousted. In 1093 Jestyn ap Gwrgau, the last king of Glamorgan, invited Fitz-Hamon and his twelve knights to assist him against his powerful neighbour Rhys ap Twdor, Lord of Cardigan. Fitz-Hamon, not insensible to the attractions of a Marcher lordship, crossed the Severn with his troops in 1093, and joining his forces with those of Jestyn, conquered Rhys and slew him on Pen Rhys near Aberdare, together with his son Goronwy. Cynan, the second son, was pursued to Pwll Cynan near Swansea, where he was drowned. From that time the county of Glamorgan was ruled by the followers of Fitz-Hamon, each of whom lived in his own castle. The lordship of Swansea and Gower was next assailed by Henry Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, and his followers. They killed Rhys in his castle at Penrys Gower, the Earl becoming lord of the province. In 1099 the Earl rebuilt the castles of Swansea and Oystermouth, and garrisoned both with Flemings and Englishmen. In the time of Edward IV. the seigniory of Gower was conveyed to Sir Charles Somerset, the ancestor of the present Duke of Beaufort, in whose possession it still remains.

Swansea Castle was considered for ages the key to the English possessions in South Wales, Its favourable position soon attracted merchants and traders, and it became a place of mart and wealth. In 1113 the Welsh Prince Rhys failed to reduce the castle, but burnt the town. Early in the 13th century two Welsh princes, Rhys and Llewellyn, razed all the strongholds of the Normans in Gower. A Welsh writer, a contemporary, alludes to the vicissitudes of Swansea:-"In Swansea, that peaceless town, the towers are rent, and now peace prevails there; in strongly fortified Swansea, the key of England, all the women are widows." In 1260 Swansea was again besieged by Llewellyn the last prince of North Wales, and reduced to ruins. It remained in this condition until Henry Gower, Bishop of St Davids, rebuilt the castle in the 14th century. He also founded an hospital for decayed clergy. It was during the reign of Henry I. that Swansea and Gower received an influx of Flemings. This hardy and robust people were fearless and earnest, and kept in check the native Welsh. Gower, like Glamorgan, was a marcher lordship, the chief or lord exercising kingly authority. The lords of Glamorgan and Gower were little short of crowned kings. The king's writ did not run in their territories. They had their sheriffs, their chanceries, their great seal, their courts civil and criminal, and their local Parliament, which latter they held either in the Castle or Manor House. King John paid Swansea a visit in May, 1210, granting the burgesses a special charter of privileges, and composing the differences which had arisen between the English and Welsh. The conquest of Wales and the death of Llewellyn, in Edward I.'s reign, was followed by the annexation of Wales to England. The Welsh were not represented in Parliament until the time of the Tudors. When Henry VIII. came to the throne, the whole of the Principality became an integral part of England, and the power of the lord marchers crumbled away for ever.