Swansea

Swansea, although no longer a major port, is an important industrial centre, producing steel, non-ferrous metals, and motor-vehicle parts. A large petroleum refinery and chemical works are located in the suburb of Llandarcy. The Gower Peninsula is agriculturally ideal for the market gardens that grow vegetables for the Swansea market, for production of early potatoes, and for dairy farming. The north Gower coast is famous for its cockles and mussels. Tourism is also of considerable importance to the county, especially in the Gower Peninsula; Swansea's port has been turned into a marina.

Traces of human habitation in the Gower Peninsula region date from over 30,000 years ago. Cefn Bryn (also called Reynoldston) is an elevated bracken ridge well known as a site of prehistoric burial mounds, including Arthur’s Stone (2500 bc), which was excavated in 1870 and is protected under the Ancient Monuments Act. During the late Neolithic era and early Bronze Age (about 2400 bc), a new wave of migrants from continental Europe, known as the Beaker Culture, arrived in the region, bringing with them copper technology, improved farming, and a distinctive style of pottery. Further evidence of Bronze Age settlements exists in the wealth of megalithic monuments in the area, including cairns, standing stones, stone circles, and burial chambers. Iron Age ringwork fortifications and hill fort enclosures can be seen at Llanmadoc Hill and Cilifor.

The final Norman Conquest of the Gower and surrounding area did not take place until the end of the 11th century. A Norman fortress was built in Swansea in around 1099 and some of the walls remain. Throughout the county, ruins and remains of other medieval castles and strongholds—notably, the Oxwich, Oystermouth, Pennard, and Weobley castles—can be seen. During the Middle Ages the community began to develop as a thriving regional market town and Swansea was granted its first charter between 1158 and 1184—one of the earliest granted to any town in Wales. However, two severe outbreaks of the Black Death in the mid-14th century greatly depleted the population, disrupted trade, and caused farming lands to lie idle, which led to poverty and social unrest in the area. Owen Glendower (in Welsh, Owain Glyn Dŵr) reclaimed the area from the Normans in 1402. Under the terms of the 1536 Act of Union between England and Wales introduced by Henry VIII, the region was incorporated into the county of Glamorganshire. Swansea’s industrial growth began during the Industrial Revolution of the 18th century when the port was developed to export the coal mined in South Wales, and steel, copper, and tin-plate became important industries. The town centre was destroyed by German bombing during World War II, and part of the redevelopment included the creation of one of the largest covered markets in Britain. Swansea was given city status in 1969.