This image gallery from the Richard Burton Archives, Swansea University is part of a series of posts on Environmental History for History Day 2021. It focuses on the impact of the copper industry on Swansea and its environs, and the Lower Swansea Valley Project, which aimed to re-nature and regenerate the area.
View of the copper works, with part of Morris Town (now known as Morriston), and the River Tawe, Swansea, 1811.
Courtesy of the Richard Burton Archives, Swansea University
LAC/126/D/1 – Extract from the brief for the defendants in an indictment for a nuisance [copper smoke] – J H and Sir R H Vivian on the prosecution of Thomas David, and ten others, in 1833. The extract describes some of the processes in the copper industry and possible effects on those involved. It is asserted that ‘common coal smoke offensive only to the Eye and not injurious to vegetation’ and the witness declares that ‘he never experienced any illness or nausea from Copper Smoke. That he is of the opinion that persons employed in Copper Works are as healthy as other people.’
The document is from the Yorkshire Imperial Metals Records, which mainly relate to the Vivian family’s business interests, the activities of Williams Foster and Company, as well as office papers of Yorkshire Imperial Metals.
This brief was part of perhaps ‘the best known of the south Wales nuisance cases’ – ‘the “Great Copper Trial” of David v Vivian at the Carmarthen Assizes in 1834. Thomas David represented a group of eleven tenant farmers from the village of Llansamlet who, with the help of Merthyr Tydfil solicitor William Meyrick, had formed a club to indict Vivian and Sons for public nuisance. It was decided to bring the action in Carmarthen, as it was felt that no jury in Glamorgan would return a verdict against a copper smelter. In his summing up, the judge stated that the distress of a handful of farmers did not constitute the public nuisance required for an indictment against the company, and the jury returned a verdict of not guilty.’ (Newell, Edmund. “Atmospheric Pollution and the British Copper Industry, 1690-1920.” Technology and Culture 38, no. 3 (1997): 655–89. https://doi.org/10.2307/3106858)
Courtesy of the Richard Burton Archives, Swansea University
LAC/126/B/7 1- Lease of the Morriston Foundry or Pottery, Lower Forest and Birmingham Copper and Smelter Works in Morriston by Messrs Callard and others to W G Vivian and others, 26 February 1898.
The document is from a series of title deeds in the Yorkshire Imperial Metals Records, which mainly relate to the Vivian family’s business interests, the activities of Williams Foster and Company, as well as office papers of Yorkshire Imperial Metals.
Courtesy of the Richard Burton Archives, Swansea University
Section of a panoramic photograph by Vaughan Thomas of Swansea and its copper works, mid-20th century.
Courtesy of the Richard Burton Archives, Swansea University
LAC/69/B/4/A2 – Black and white photograph of the industrial works and river in the Lower Swansea Valley, overlaid with a drawing of the proposed landscape, to illustrate the potential of the Lower Swansea Valley Project. The Project was launched in 1961, aiming to research and return an area to the attractive valley it had been prior to the development of the copper smelting industry in the early 18th century, and other subsequent metal industries. A final report was produced in 1967 and the development and regeneration of the area has been ongoing.
Courtesy of the Richard Burton Archives, Swansea University
LAC/69/B/4/A2 – Preliminary landscape report for the Lower Swansea Valley Project. The Project was launched in 1961, aiming to research and return an area to the attractive valley it had been prior to the development of the copper smelting industry in the early 18th century, and other subsequent metal industries. The collection contains many reports which feed into the final report in 1967. Swansea University continues to be involved in the development and regeneration of the area.
Courtesy of the Richard Burton Archives, Swansea University
LAC/69/B/4/A2 – Black and white photograph of the Lower Swansea Valley, overlaid with a drawing of the proposed landscape, to communicate the vision of the project to regenerate and return nature to the valley. The Lower Swansea Valley Project was launched in 1961, aiming to research and return an area to the attractive valley it had been prior to the development of the copper smelting industry in the early 18th century, and other subsequent metal industries. Development and regeneration of the area has been ongoing.
Courtesy of the Richard Burton Archives, Swansea University