Swansea Wales communities - Townhill locator

Townhill is the name of a

hill A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct Summit (topography), summit. Terminology The distinction between a hill and a mountain is unclear and largely subjective, but a hill is universally con ...

, a residential district and 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, tow ...

(civil parish) and

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to t ...

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, UK. It had a population of 8,696 in 2011.

History

The Garden City style layout of Townhill was overseen by

Ernest Morgan Ernest Morgan (1881 – 10 August 1954) was a Welsh architect and painter. As the borough architect of Swansea, buildings he designed include: *Mayhill School *Swansea Technical College extension, c.1910 (the Technical College became the Mount P ...

, the Swansea city architect, in the early 1920s.

Townhill Baptist Church

Townhill Baptist Church was formed on the hill in the late 1920s and the church still meets today on Sunday mornings and evenings in the original building on Powys Avenue.

Swansea St Nicholas on the Hill and St Jude, Townhill

St Nicholas on the Hill, the parish church for Townhill and Mayhill, is located on the corner of Dyfed Avenue and Powys Avenue. With the closure of St Jude in Mount Pleasant in 2015, the two parishes were merged into The Benefice of Swansea St Nicholas on the Hill and St Jude.

Townhill district

The suburb of Townhill falls within the Townhill ward. The district of Townhill consists of a council estate and some private housing spread over a steep hill of the same name bordering Mayhill and visible from the

Swansea city centre Swansea city centre in Swansea, Wales, contains the main shopping, leisure and nightlife district in Swansea. The city centre covers much of the Castle ward including the area around Oxford Street, Castle Square, and the Quadrant Shopping Centr ...

. The area overlooks

, Swansea Docks and

Swansea Bay Swansea Bay ( cy, Bae Abertawe) is a bay on the southern coast of Wales. The River Neath, River Tawe, River Afan, River Kenfig and Clyne River flow into the bay. Swansea Bay and the upper reaches of the Bristol Channel experience a large tidal ...

to the south; and

Cockett Cockett ( cy, Y Cocyd) is a district and community (Wales), community in Swansea, Wales falling within Cockett (electoral ward), Cockett ward. It is located about north-west of Swansea city centre. It includes the eastern half of Gowerton. Coc ...

Gendros Gendros is a suburban district of the City and County of Swansea, Wales falling within the Cockett ward. Gendros approximates to the settlement northwest of Carmarthen Road (A483 road) between Cwmdu and Penlan. Other areas surrounding Gendros a ...

and

Cwmbwrla Cwmbwrla ( en, Bwrla valley) is a residential area and community of Swansea in Wales, within the Cwmbwrla ward of the city. Located on rising ground about 1 mile (1.6 km) north of the city centre, it takes its name from the valley of the Bur ...

to the north. Local amenities at the top of the hill include a public library, the Townhill Community primary school, a nursery school and some playing fields.

Swansea Metropolitan University , students = 5,765 , undergrad = 4,520 , postgrad = 1,075 , other = 175 FE , city = Swansea , country = Wales, UK , campus = Urban , address = Mount PleasantSwansea SA1 6ED , we ...

had a campus to the west. In 2018 the university opened a new £350 million campus at the

SA1 Swansea Waterfront SA1 Swansea Waterfront (''colloquially'': SA1) is the marketing name given to the brownfield development area located in northern part of Swansea Docks. The area is located directly to the southeast of Swansea city centre. It is bordered by ...

, housing Yr Athrofa: the Institute of Education, and the Faculty of Architecture, Computing and Engineering. Staff and students from the city centre Townhill and Mount Pleasant campuses relocated to SA1, with Townhill closing at the end of the 2017–18 academic year although the university has retained a presence at Mount Pleasant. Townhill is a

Communities First Communities First was a Welsh Government programme aimed at reducing poverty. The programme was community focused and supported the most disadvantaged people in the most deprived areas of Wales with the aim of contributing to alleviating persisten ...

area.

Townhill landform

Backing

to the north is a large slab of

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

called Townhill. The summit of Townhill is approximately 175m above sea leve

At the top of hill lies the housing estate of Townhill which falls away to the north west of the hill. The Mayhill district lies on the northeast face of the hill. The southeastern face of the hill is the steepest and is covered by the district of Mount Pleasant, Swansea, Mount Pleasant. The

Uplands Upland or Uplands may refer to: Geography *Hill, an area of higher land, generally *Highland, an area of higher land divided into low and high points *Upland and lowland, conditional descriptions of a plain based on elevation above sea level *I ...

district occupies the southwestern face of the hill which slopes gently downwards towards

Singleton Park Singleton Park ( cy, Parc Singleton) is the largest urban park in the city of Swansea. It is located in Sketty. The park comprises 250 acres of land. An ornamental garden is located to the south, near the entrance to Swansea University, and a wa ...

Rosehill Quarry Community Park

The hill is rounded by a band of rock which is too steep to develop on and is recognised by the

City and County of Swansea council , coa_pic = , coa_res = , coa_alt = , logo_pic = Swansea City Council Logo.svg , logo_res = , logo_alt = , house_type = Unitary authority , jurisdiction = , foundation = 1 April 1996 , preceded_by = West Glamorgan County Council S ...

as a

wildlife corridor A wildlife corridor, habitat corridor, or green corridor is an area of habitat connecting wildlife populations separated by human activities or structures (such as roads, development, or logging). This allows an exchange of individuals between ...

. In this band, on the south side of the hill is the designated Rosehill Quarry Community Park. Rosehill Quarry is a semi-natural

urban green space In land-use planning, urban green space is open-space areas reserved for parks and other "green spaces", including plant life, water features -also referred to as blue spaces- and other kinds of natural environment. Most urban open spaces are ...

which is not formally cultivated in its entirety. Wildlife areas include a stream, waterfall and several ponds. There are over one hundred species of plants including

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

, royal fern and

rowan tree The rowans ( or ) or mountain-ashes are shrubs or trees in the genus ''Sorbus'' of the rose family, Rosaceae. They are native throughout the cool temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with the highest species diversity in the Himalaya ...

s. Around thirty species of birds can be found in the park, including

sparrowhawk Sparrowhawk (sometimes sparrow hawk) may refer to several species of small hawk in the genus ''Accipiter''. "Sparrow-hawk" or sparhawk originally referred to ''Eurasian sparrowhawk, Accipiter nisus'', now called "Eurasian" or "northern" sparrowha ...

kestrel The term kestrel (from french: crécerelle, derivative from , i.e. ratchet) is the common name given to several species of predatory birds from the falcon genus ''Falco''. Kestrels are most easily distinguished by their typical hunting behaviour ...

, and

tawny owl The tawny owl (''Strix aluco''), also called the brown owl, is commonly found in woodlands across Europe to western Siberia, and has seven recognized subspecies. It is a stocky, medium-sized owl, whose underparts are pale with dark streaks, an ...

. Additionally, there are

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely Carnivore, carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order (biology), order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-f ...

newt A newt is a salamander in the subfamily Pleurodelinae. The terrestrial juvenile phase is called an eft. Unlike other members of the family Salamandridae, newts are semiaquatic, alternating between aquatic and terrestrial habitats. Not all aqua ...

s, dragonfiles and

damselflies Damselflies are flying insects of the suborder Zygoptera in the order Odonata. They are similar to dragonflies, which constitute the other odonatan suborder, Anisoptera, but are smaller and have slimmer bodies. Most species fold the wings along ...

including the

blue-tailed damselfly The blue-tailed damselfly or common bluetail (''Ischnura elegans'') is a damselfly, belonging to the family Coenagrionidae. Subspecies and varieties Subspecies and varieties include: *''Ischnura elegans ebneri'' Schmidt, 1938 *''Ischnura eleg ...

, which is used as the quarry's symbol. Recreational facilities in the park include

picnic A picnic is a meal taken outdoors ( ''al fresco'') as part of an excursion, especially in scenic surroundings, such as a park, lakeside, or other place affording an interesting view, or else in conjunction with a public event such as preceding ...

tables, play equipment, and a BMX bike track. The Rosehill Quarry six-acre site was

quarried A quarry is a type of open-pit mining, open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock (geology), rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some juri ...

for stone for house-building from the 1840s, creating the only flat ground in the area. The area stood derelict for some time until the early 20th century when the area was used as a tennis court which later fell into disuse. In the 1970s,

planning permission Planning permission or developmental approval refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. It is usually given in the form of a building perm ...

was granted for a block of flats, which never got built. In the 1970s and 1980s, local residents' initiatives persuaded the local council to buy the land and designate it as a public open space in the

Local Plan A development plan sets out a local authority's policies and proposals for land use in their area. The term is usually used in the United Kingdom. A Local Plan is one type of development plan. The development plan guides and shapes day-to-day dec ...

. The Rosehill Quarry Group was formed, with support from the council, to develop and maintain the quarry as the first community park in Swansea.

References

Rosehill QuarryTownhill Baptist Church
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