Loughor (; ) is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

Swansea Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...

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

. Historically in

Glamorgan Glamorgan (), or sometimes Glamorganshire ( or ), was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It is located in the South Wales, south of Wales. Originally an ea ...

, it lies on the

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime enviro ...

of the River Loughor (). The town has a

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

council under the name Llwchwr. The town is bordered by the communities of

Bynea Bynea ( ;G.M. Miller, ''BBC Pronouncing Dictionary of British Names'' (Oxford UP, 1971), p. 23. ; sometimes ) is a village close to the River Loughor () in Carmarthenshire, Wales. It also forms an Bynea (electoral ward), electoral ward for the ...

Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire (; or informally ') is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. ...

, Grovesend, Gowerton, and

Gorseinon Gorseinon is a town within the City and County of Swansea, Wales, near the Loughor estuary. It was a small village until the late 19th century, when it grew around the coal mining and tinplate industries. It is around north west of Swansea Ci ...

. Loughor is part of the built-up area of Gorseinon.

Etymology

The town's name has been called "possibly the oldest name in Gower", dating back to the Roman era. It derives from the name of the Roman

fort A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from La ...

of Leucarum.

History

The town includes the site of the Roman fort of Leucarum, occupied by Roman Auxiliary soldiers from AD73 to around 320. In 1106 much of South Wales was assigned to an Anglo-Norman lord, Henry de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Warwick, and as part of a castle-building programme he built Loughor Castle, as an earthwork with timber defenses, built into the south-east corner of the Roman ramparts. Over a turbulent 250 years or so the castle was progressively upgraded with stone buildings and curtain walls. The castle later fell into ruin and is now a scheduled monument in the care of

Cadw (, a Welsh verbal noun meaning "keeping/preserving") is the historic environment service of the Welsh Government and part of the Tourism and Culture group. works to protect the historic buildings and structures, the landscapes and heritage ...

. Meanwhile, Loughor developed around the castle. A medieval Church was established, also within the Roman fort. Rebuilt on the medieval foundations in 1885, St Michael's Church was deconsecrated in 2021. Loughor Castle - geograph

Loughor later grew as a

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manch ...

, although competition from the larger and better-connected ports at

Llanelli ; ) is a market town and community (Wales), community in Carmarthenshire and the Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is on the estuary of the River Loughor and is the largest town in the Principal areas of Wales, ...

and

Burry Port Burry Port () is a port town and community in Carmarthenshire, Wales, on the River Loughor, Loughor estuary (Moryd Llwchwr), to the west of Llanelli and south-east of Kidwelly. Its population was recorded at 5,680 in the 2001 census and 6,156 ...

, meant that Loughor was always a small-scale maritime town. Its position alongside the narrowing of the Loughor Estuary meant it was an important river crossing, originally as a ford at low tide and a ferry when the tide was in. A wooden swing-bridge was built in 1833, when river traffic still used the estuary. The arrival of the Railway in 1852 required the building of Loughor Viaduct, built from wooden trestles by Brunel, also originally featuring a swing-section. The viaduct was replaced by a steel and concrete structure in 2013. A new road bridge of 1923 acknowledged the river was now closed to shipping, and this itself was replaced by the new A484 Loughor bridge in 1988. Loughor Estuary and Burry Inlet, with vast areas of sandbanks and some of the highest tidal ranges in the world, has always had its share of risks. The town has had its own lifeboat station since 1969, situated near the road bridge. The current lifeboat is a Ribcraft 5.85m RIB. In the early 20th century the main industries were large tin and

steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

works, situated on both banks of the estuary. About 1800, John Vivian (1750–1826) of

Truro Truro (; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England; it is the southernmost city in the United Kingdom, just under west-south-west of Charing Cross in London. It is Cornwall's county town, s ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

, joined the Cheadle Brasswire Company as managing partner in the copper works at Loughor and Penclawdd. His family would go on to be key industrialists across the Swansea area, running copper-mining, copper-smelting and trading businesses, as Vivian & Sons, throughout the 19th century. At Ysbytty, on the other side of the river, the Spitty copper works of the early 19th century was succeeded by a major iron and tin-plate works which continued into the 1950s. This employed large numbers of both men and women from Loughor, who would cross the estuary each day to get to work.

Structure and amenities

Loughor town can be divided into two areas, defined by the present electoral wards of Lower Loughor and Upper Loughor, which have separate histories. Lower Loughor lies nearer the sea on low ground, Upper Loughor on higher ground. Loughor initially developed around the Norman castle in what is now the Lower Loughor ward. Upper Loughor began as a distinct settlement, initially around what is now the Glebe Road area, and became established as a separate town by the mid-19th century. Loughor today is mostly a

commuter town A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

for

and

via the Loughor bridge, and has merged with the neighbouring town of

. The West Wales line crosses the River Loughor over the Loughor Viaduct to the west of the town. Loughor railway station was closed in 1960. Local schools in the town include Tre Uchaf Primary School and Casllwchwr Primary School. Opposite the Tre Uchaf Primary is one of the sites of Gower College Swansea. The local

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

team of the town is Loughor RFC. The Old Town Hall, built in 1868, is currently disused and boarded up.

Notable people

In birth order: * Evan Roberts (1878–1951), minister, a major figure in the 1904–1905 Welsh Revival in religious worship * James Henry Govier (1910–1974), painter, etcher and engraver of the Swansea School, produced several images of Loughor. * Irma Chilton (1930–1990), children's writer in English and Welsh * Leighton James (1953-2024), Welsh international footballer

References

Sources

*Swansea Art Gallery Catalogue, 1936 *The Gower Journal *Who's Who in Art *Dictionary of British Artists 1900–1950, by Grant M. Waters, 1975

External links

History of Loughorwww.geograph.co.uk : photos of Loughor and surrounding area
{{authority control Towns in Swansea