Penllergaer () is a village and

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 ...

in the City and County of

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. It lies to the east of

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 ...

, within the electoral ward of the same name. It is situated about 4.5 miles north west of Swansea city centre, near junction 47 of the

M4 motorway The M4, originally the London-South Wales Motorway, is the third longest motorway in the United Kingdom, running from west London to southwest Wales. The English section to the Severn Bridge was constructed between 1961 and 1971; the Welsh ele ...

. The population of the community and ward was 2,868 in 2011.

Penllergaer Woods and Penllergare

Penllergaer Woods, on the edge of the Parc Penllergaer

housing development A housing estate (or sometimes housing complex, housing development, subdivision or community) is a group of homes and other buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to country. Popular throug ...

, once formed part of John Dillwyn Llewelyn's Penllergare estate and surrounded his

mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word ''manse'' originally defined a property l ...

house. The first photographs of the Moon were taken at Dillwyn Llewelyn's observatory, which still stands. The Penllergare Trust is a small charity that supports the upkeep of the estate. It is active in gardening, conservation and maintenance, and operates a coffee shop on the grounds. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the estate was purchased by the

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

Rees Howells and the mansion was offered as a residence to the exiled Emperor Haile Selassie of

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

Education

Penllergaer Primary School was built in 1881. It moved to its present site on Pontardulais Road in 1976.

Religion

Penllergaer has a

Church in Wales The Church in Wales () is an Anglican church in Wales, composed of six dioceses. The Archbishop of Wales does not have a fixed archiepiscopal see, but serves concurrently as one of the six diocesan bishops. The position is currently held b ...

church named St David's, located on Swansea Road. The vicarage is in Pontlliw.

Services

Penllergaer has a regular bus service to

Morriston Morriston (; ) is a Community (Wales), community in the City and County of Swansea, Wales, and falls within the Morriston (electoral ward), Morriston ward. It is the largest community in the Swansea county. Morriston is sometimes referred to ...

and

. Penllergar also has a post office, a village shop and a park.

Local government

Penllergaer is administered by the City and County of Swansea Council and an elected member for Penllergaer sits on the County Council. Penllergaer has its own elected Community Council.

Sport

Penllergaer has its own football and cricket teams. In 2022 the football team played in Division 2 of the Carmarthenshire League, but as of October 2023, it appears to be inactive in the league.

Neighbouring places

The nearby places are Garden Village,

, Fforestfach, Llangyfelach, Grovesend, Pontlliw and Felindre.

References

{{authority control Communities in Swansea Swansea Bay (region) Villages in Swansea