The information on the History page has been sourced from various locations. If you are able to contribute information please contact us.
Maybe you have relatives who have lived in the area all their lives.
Ask them for there experiences, photos, stories and let us know.
At
the bottom of this page are Photographs showing a pictorial Past of
Birchgrove. If you have any photos you would like to share with
everyone, let us know and we will add them to your website. Many thanks
to the Birchgrove Inn for sharing the photographs with their Community.
Birchgrove
(Welsh: Y Gellifedw) is a large village in the City & County of
Swansea, South Wales. The village is situated roughly 6 miles from the
centre of Swansea, and between the flood plain of the River Tawe and
Drummau Mountain. Birchgrove also lies on the Neath Port Talbot border.
Early History
From an early date to the beginning of the 19th century, coal mining
played an
important
role in Birchgrove. It was mainly on coal mining
that the villages
of the parish grew, and Birchgrove was no
exception.
Mining
played a very important role in the industrial development
of the
lower
Swansea Valley, which was becoming the
metallurgical centre of the
world.
Coal was replacing
wood in the smelting
of ores,
and it was because of the demand for coal that a pit was sunk
in Birchgrove,
known as Birchgrove
Colliery Company, locally know as
the 'Old Pit'. It was
situated just below the previous (as of 2009) Birchgrove Post Office. It was sunk in 1845,
to a depth of approximately
100 feet. As a result of
its prosperity,
two further pits were sunk, namely Sisters Pit, and Brothers Pit near
Glais.
Approximately 200 worked at the Old Pit. This involved many new
people coming into the area, to work in both mining and the copper
industry.
The only cultural recreation was a Reading
Room, situated
near the
colliery.
It was not used on Sundays,
so the people of the
village were given permission to use it for Sunday worship.
Services
were held there according to the Book of Common Prayer of the Church of
England (the Church in Wales not being founded until 1920). The
services held there were well supported. The Birchgrove Colliery was
closed in 1931. There
are still relics of Birchgrove's industrial past in the area, The ruins
of Scot's pit pump house dominate the lower end of Birchgrove and
evidence of mine workings can still be found.
The Swansea Vale Railway, situated in the Lower Swansea
Valley, is a relic of the industrial revolution.
Its origins lie in 1816 when Scott's Tramroad
was constructed to transport coal from Scott's Pit, near Birchgrove, to wharves
on the River Tawe nearly four miles to the South. The engine house of Scott's
Pit can still be seen next to the M4 between junctions 44 and
45.
The Tramroad was essentially a road of cast
iron plates
on stone sleeper blocks. Motive power was provided by Horses and Oxen,
although from 1819 there is evidence tha
t a George Stephenson Locomotive was
employed from time to time.
The Tramroad eventually passed into the hands of Charles Henry Smith, a local
Colliery owner, who used his own steam locomotives on the line, which would
normally be used at his Loco Works in Llansamlet.
Prehistory
The
countryside surrounding Birchgrove is littered with prehistoric sites.
There are numerous barrow mounds and evidence of prehistoric dwellings.
Carreg Bica is a large standing stone
on Drummau
Mountain. The stone is local sandstone and is around 13ft high
and is believed to be a bica
monument.
The word "Carreg" means "Stone"
in the Welsh language. The
stone is also known by other names: Maen Bredwan or Maen Bradwen. It is
also mentioned in a charter to King John and William de Breos in 1203 as "meynhirion", as a boundary stone marking the Gower.
Cistercian
monks built the nearby Neath Abbey in the early 12th century. They
wintered their flocks
and herds in the few open spaces down in the valley, but during the
other seasons they kept them in their specially constructed stone
walled fields on Drummau mountain top, using the standing stone as a
landmark. Many sections of the stone walls are still standing from
Cistercian times.
Birchgrove Today
Some
of the finest vistas in south Wales can be viewed from the top of
Drummau mountain, where the Swansea, Neath and Blaengwynfi valleys can
be seen along with clear views of Devon across the Bristol Channel.
Birchgrove has a Comprehensive and Primary school. Both of which are
state run, mixed and of no denominational religion. However, under
British law schools must perform a daily act of worship, but due to the
number of pupils and lack of space this is not done.
The
primary school has only recently been merged, despite being adjoined
and sharing the same kitchen, car park and grounds since opening.
Birchgrove
Comprehensive School was opened in 1991 on the grounds of the old
school. It serves the areas of Birchgrove, Glais and Clydach. However,
many pupils from Glais and Clydach attend another comprehensive, Cwm
Tawe, while pupils from Llansamlet and Trallwn attend Birchgrove instead
of Cefn Hengoed.
Your Photo Memories of Birchgrove
|
|
Birchgrove People
 Click on the Picture
|
|
Old Memories
Click on the Picture
|
Sporting Success
Click on the Picture
|
|
Mining History
Click on the Picture
|
|
Modern Birchgrove
Click on the Picture
|
Please ask your Friends and Neighbours if they have any Photo Memories of Birchgrove, and