Swansea docks
dock in Swansea, City and County of Swansea, Wales, UK
Swansea Docks is the collective name for several docks in Swansea, Wales, which are immediately south-east of Swansea city centre. In the mid-19th century, the port was exporting 60% of the world's copper from factories situated in the Tawe Valley. The working docks area today is owned and operated by Associated British Ports as the Port of Swansea, and the northern part around the Prince of Wales Dock is undergoing re-development into a new urban area branded as the SA1 Swansea Waterfront.
Docks
Docks which have existed or still exist in the complex include:
North Dock
The North Dock was created to fulfil the increasing shipping demands from the nearby metals industry, and was created by diverting the River Tawe by cutting a new direct course within a meander section near the estuary. The old course of the river became the new dock and work was completed in 1852. Secluded and poorly lit, the area around North Dock was popular with prostitutes and their clients, until lighting was improved following the drowning of Selina Rushbrook in the lock in 1907. The North Dock closed in 1930 after the development of new larger docks on the east side of the River Tawe made it obsolete. The north dock has since been filled in and the Parc Tawe retail complex was built on the site in the late 1980s.
South Dock
Construction of the South Dock was begun in 1852 by a private company, the Swansea Dock Company, authorised by the Swansea Dock Act 1847 (10 & 11 Vict. c.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Swansea docks” as dock in Swansea, City and County of Swansea, Wales, UK. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as dock in Swansea, City and County of Swansea, Wales, UK. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 31, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7653725. Authority coordinates are 51.617, -3.918. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1852, 1907, 1930 and 1847.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Swansea docks”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Swansea docks primary sources, Swansea docks archive and Swansea research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Swansea docks”?
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- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Swansea docks” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.