240px, Pre-2022 Mawr electoral ward Mawr is a

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, ...

(and former electoral ward) of the City and County of Swansea, in south

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, U.K. Mawr has its own elected

community council A community council is a public representative body in Great Britain. In England they may be statutory parish councils by another name, under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, or they may be non-statutory bodies. In ...

. Its name simply means "large", and it was given the name because it was the largest piece of land in the former parish of Llangyfelach.

Description

Mawr falls within the parliamentary constituency of

Gower Gower ( cy, Gŵyr) or the Gower Peninsula () in southwest Wales, projects towards the Bristol Channel. It is the most westerly part of the historic county of Glamorgan. In 1956, the majority of Gower became the first area in the United Kingdom ...

. It is bounded by the communities of

Pontarddulais Pontarddulais (), also known as Pontardulais (), is both a community and a town in Swansea, Wales. It is northwest of the city centre. The Pontarddulais ward is part of the City and County of Swansea. Pontarddulais adjoins the village of Hendy ...

to the west;

Llangyfelach Llangyfelach is a village and community located in the City and County of Swansea, Wales. Llangyfelach is situated about 4 miles north of the centre of Swansea, just west of Morriston. It falls within the Llangyfelach ward. To the west is open ...

and

Morriston Morriston (; cy, Treforys ) is a community in the City and County of Swansea, Wales and falls within the Morriston ward. It is the largest community in Swansea county. Morriston is sometimes referred to as a distinct town (e.g. the local fo ...

to the south; Clydach to the southeast;

Pontardawe Pontardawe () is a town and a community in the Swansea Valley (Welsh: ''Cwmtawe'') in Wales. With a population of 6,832, it comprises the electoral wards of Pontardawe and Trebanos. A town council is elected. Pontardawe forms part of the county ...

Neath Port Talbot Neath Port Talbot ( cy, Castell-nedd Port Talbot) is a county borough in the south-west of Wales. Its principal towns are Neath, Port Talbot, Briton Ferry and Pontardawe. The county borough borders Bridgend County Borough and Rhondda Cynon Taf ...

to the northeast; Betws to the north and

Tycroes Tycroes is a village in Carmarthenshire, Wales. As measured in the 2011 Census, the population of Tycroes electoral ward was 2,438 persons (50.5% male, 49.5% female). At the 2011 Census all the population was counted in Llanedi community. The ...

to the north west. For the purposes of community elections it is broken down into three polling districts: Garnswllt, Craigcefnparc and Felindre. Mawr consists of some or all of the following villages:

Felindre Felindre is a rural village in southern Wales. Felindre is located in the far north of Swansea, in the electoral ward of Mawr. The nearby Lower Lliw Reservoirs are a popular venue for walking and fishing. The water mill in the village was workin ...

, Bryntwood, Craigcefnparc,

Garnswllt Garnswllt () is a rural village in the City and County of Swansea, Wales falling within the Mawr ward. It lies in the far north of Swansea near the border with Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire ( cy, Sir Gaerfyrddin; or informally ') is a ...

, Rhydypandy and rural uplands of Mawr. The ward is one of the most sparsely populated in Swansea, and it has the highest proportion of

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language of the Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut Province, Argentina). Historically, it has ...

speakers (38% of those over three years old at the 2011 census). Mawr was the second largest ward in Swansea by land area, and the largest community. Most of the community consists of rural farmland and open moorland.

Local government

Mawr elects a community council of 12 members (with one vacancy in 2016), though in 2015 the council was found to be performing its duties inadequately and not addressing the problems identified in a 2011 report.

2022 boundary changes

Until 2022 Mawr was an electoral ward to Swansea Council. Following a local government ward boundary review, at the 2022 local elections the Mawr ward ceased to exist, with the area absorbed into the neighbouring wards of Clydach,

and

2012 local council elections

In the 2012 local council elections, the voter turnout for Mawr was 44.82%. The results were:

Lliw Reservoirs country park

There are two man-made reservoirs near the village of Felindre, in the Lliw valley, called the Lower Lliw Reservoir and the Upper Lliw Reservoir. The reservoirs are managed by

Welsh Water Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

. The surrounding countryside is open to the public for recreational purposes. The Lower Lliw Reservoir (or Felindre Reservoir) was originally opened in 1863 to provide water for Swansea and the surrounding area; it cost £160,000 to create. The Upper Lliw Reservoir opened in 1892 and cost £116,000 to buil

The Lower Lliw Reservoir was reconstructed between 1976 and 1978, including a new rockfill dam, new overflow spillway and new pumping station.

References

External links

Ward info for Mawr
{{coord, 51.70896, N, 3.98421, W, region:GB_source:enwiki-osgb36(SN630030), display=title Communities in Swansea Former electoral wards of Swansea