Swansea, Glamorgan : Historical writing

Descriptive gazetteer entries

These other entries in our collection of descriptive gazetteers are also about Swansea. You may be able to find further references to Swansea in the descriptive gazetteers by doing a full-text search here.

Place Type of entry Source
Swansea hundred Bartholomew
Swansea parliamentary and municipal borough, seaport and parish Bartholomew
SWANSEA a town, a parish, a district, and a hundred Imperial
Swansea, Higher and Lower township Bartholomew
Swansea Town township Bartholomew
SWANSEA VALE RAILWAY a railway system Imperial

This additional information from our descriptive gazetteers is for locations within the parish or parishes associated with Swansea.

Place Type of entry Source
Cockett village with railway station Bartholomew
Cussrim village Bartholomew
Sketty ecclesiastical district with railway station Bartholomew
St Thomas Swansea township Bartholomew
Swansea St Thomas township Bartholomew

Travel writing

This website includes the complete texts of books describing journeys around Britain, written between the twelfth and nineteenth centuries. Selecting one of the links below will take you to the first reference to Swansea within the selected text. This will not always be a description of a visit: travellers often mention places other than where they are, for example as a basis for comparison.

Traveller Section No. of Refs.
George Borrow To Swansea 18
George Borrow Neath and Merthyr 4
Gerald of Wales Book I, Ch. 8: Swansea and Gower 2
William Camden Hereford, Radnor, Brecon, Monmouth and Glamorgan 2
Daniel Defoe Letter 6, Part 3: Worcester, Hereford and Wales 2
John Wesley 1763-4: In Scotland Again; Methodist's Wealth; "No Law for Methodists"; Exhausting Days 2
Daniel Defoe Letter 4, Part 2: Somerset and Wiltshire 1
Robert Gammage Touring South Wales 1
Arthur Young 1776 Tour of South Wales and South Midlands 1

This website includes two large libraries, of historical travel writing and of entries from nineteenth century gazetteers describing places. We have text from these sources available for these places near your location:

Place Mentioned in Travel Writing Mentioned in Historical Gazetteer
Cwmbwrla 0 2
St Johns 0 2
Landore 0 2
Port Tennant 0 2
Sketty 0 2
Y Cocyd 0 2
Morriston 0 2
Llangyfelach 0 2
Llansamlet 0 2
Clas 0 2
Penderi 0 2
Killay 0 2
Penller Gaer 0 1
Coed Ffranc 0 2
Gowerton 0 2
Norton 0 2
Mumbles 0 2
Oystermouth 0 2
Gorseinon 0 2
Loughor 5 3

Names from historical writing

The following appear as names for Swansea. Follow the links for what the author actually said:

Name Author Source
ABER TAW William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
ABERTAWE John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
George Borrow Wild Wales: Its People, Language and Scenery (Oxford, Mississippi, 1996).
Gerald of Wales The Itinerary of Archbishop Baldwin through Wales (Oxford, Mississippi, 1997).
SWANSEA John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
SWANSEA HIGHER AND LOWER John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
SWANSEA TOWN John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
SWANSEA VALE RAILWAY John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
SWANSEY George Borrow Wild Wales: Its People, Language and Scenery (Oxford, Mississippi, 1996).
SWANZEY Daniel Defoe A tour thro' the whole island of Great Britain, divided into circuits or journies (London: JM Dent and Co, 1927).
SWANZY Daniel Defoe A tour thro' the whole island of Great Britain, divided into circuits or journies (London: JM Dent and Co, 1927).
SWEYNSEI Gerald of Wales The Itinerary of Archbishop Baldwin through Wales (Oxford, Mississippi, 1997).
SWINESEY William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).

NB: These variant names come from our collections of historical travel writing and descriptive gazetteers:

  • The above links take you to the first reference to this particular version of the name within a book of travel writing, or to the relevant gazetteer entry.
  • Some names may derive from research by antiquarian writers such as William Camden and Thomas Pennant into the Roman, Saxon and medieval names of places. Their claims are not always supported by modern place-name researchers.
  • References by travel writers to the place using its "normal" name are not included. Descriptive gazetteer entries are included only if the name does not appear anywhere else.