Swansea

The area around Swansea has a unique archaeological history dating back to the Palaeolithic. Finds at Long Hole Cave on the Gower Peninsula have been interpreted as those of the first modern humans in Britain,[13] and the same area is also home to the oldest ceremonial burial in Western Europe, discovered at Paviland in 1823, and dated to 22,000 BC.[14] The area also has many Bronze Age and Iron Age sites, such as the burial mound at Cillibion and the hill fort at Cil Ifor.[15] There are also the remains of a Roman villa again on the Gower peninsula.

The area that would become Swansea was known as the Cantref Eginog in ancient times, located on the eastern edge of the cwmwd of Gwyr, the easternmost Cantref of Ystrad Tywi. This area was noted for its valuable land and was highly contested by the early Welsh kingdoms. During the Viking Age, the mouth of the Tawe became a focus for trade, and a trade post may have been founded sometime between the 9th and 11th centuries.

The settlement remained under Welsh control until the Norman Invasion of Wales, when Iestyn ap Gwrgant ceded the settlement as part of the new Lordship of Gower to Henry de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Warwick in the early 1100s. The Lordship included land around Swansea Bay as far as the River Tawe, the manor of Kilvey beyond the Tawe, and the peninsula itself.

In the following years, Henry built Swansea Castle c. 1106, and minted coins bearing the names Swensi, Sweni and Svenshi c. 1140.[16] Swansea was designated chief town of the lordship and received its first borough charter sometime between 1158 and 1184 by William de Newburgh, 3rd Earl of Warwick.[17] This charter contains the earliest reference in English to Sweynesse and gave it the status of a borough, granting the townsmen (called burgesses) certain rights to develop the area. In 1215 King John granted a second charter, in which the name appears as Sweyneshe. A town seal which is believed to date from this period names the town as Sweyse.[18][19] Another charter was granted in 1304.

Temple street, Swansea, showing the bank, theatre and post office (1865)

Docks and railway bridge (1850)

A romanticised depiction of early copper smelting works in the Lower Swansea Valley c. 1800

From the early 1700s to the late 1800s, Swansea was the world's leading copper-smelting area.[20] Numerous smelters along the River Tawe received copper and other metal ores shipped from Cornwall and Devon, as well as from North and South America, Africa, and Australia. The industry declined severely in the late 1800s, and none of the smelters are now active.

The port of Swansea initially traded in wine, hides, wool, cloth and later in coal.[17] After the invention of the reverbatory furnace in the late 1600s, copper smelting was able to use coal rather than more-expensive charcoal. At the same time, the mines of Cornwall were increasing copper production. Swansea became the ideal place to smelt the Cornish copper ores, being close to the coalfields of South Wales and having an excellent port to receive ships carrying Cornish copper ore. Because each ton of copper ore smelted used about three tons of coal, it was more economical to ship the copper ore to Wales rather than send the coal to Cornwall.[21]

The first copper smelter at Swansea was established in 1717, followed by many more.[22] Once smelting was established, the smelters began receiving high-grade ore and ore concentrates from around the world. More coal mines opened to meet demand from northeast Gower to Clyne and Llangyfelach. In the 1850s Swansea had more than 600 furnaces, and a fleet of 500 oceangoing ships carrying out Welsh coal and bringing back metal ore from around the world. At that time most of the copper matte produced in the United States was sent to Swansea for refining.[23]

Smelters also processed arsenic, zinc, tin, and other metals. Nearby factories produced tinplate and pottery. The Swansea smelters became so adept at recovering gold and silver from complex ores that in the 1800s they received ore concentrates from the United States, for example from Arizona in the 1850s, and Colorado in the 1860s.[24]

The city expanded rapidly in the 18th and 19th centuries, and was termed "Copperopolis".[17] From the late 17th century to 1801, Swansea's population grew by 500%—the first official census (in 1841) indicated that, with 6,099 inhabitants, Swansea had become significantly larger than Glamorgan's county town, Cardiff, and was the second most populous town in Wales behind Merthyr Tydfil (which had a population of 7,705). However, the census understated Swansea's true size, as much of the built-up area lay outside the contemporary boundaries of the borough; the total population was actually 10,117. Swansea's population was later overtaken by Merthyr in 1821 and by Cardiff in 1881, although in the latter year Swansea once again surpassed Merthyr.[17] Much of Swansea's growth was due to migration from within and beyond Wales—in 1881 more than a third of the borough's population had been born outside Swansea and Glamorgan, and just under a quarter outside Wales.[25]

Copper smelting at Swansea declined in the late 1800s for a number of reasons. Copper mining in Cornwall declined. The price of copper dropped from £112 in 1860 to £35 in the 1890s. In the early 1900s, mining shifted to lower-grade copper deposits in North and South America, and the lower-grade ore could not support transportation to Swansea.[23] The Swansea and Mumbles Railway was built in 1804 to move limestone from the quarries of Mumbles and coal from the Clyne valley to Swansea and to the markets beyond. It carried the world's first fare-paying rail passengers on the day the British Parliament abolished the transportation of slaves from Africa. It later moved from horse power to steam locomotion, and finally converting to electric trams, before closing in January 1960, in favour of motor buses.

Through the 20th century, heavy industries in the town declined, leaving the Lower Swansea Valley filled with derelict works and mounds of waste products from them. The Lower Swansea Valley Scheme (which still continues) reclaimed much of the land. The present Enterprise Zone was the result and, of the many original docks, only those outside the city continue to work as docks; North Dock is now Parc Tawe and South Dock became the Marina.

High Street (1915)

In the Second World War, Swansea's industrial importance made it a target of German bombing, and much of the town centre was destroyed during the Swansea Blitz on the 19, 20 and 21 February 1941 (the 'Three Nights Blitz'[26]).

In 1969, Swansea was granted city status[27] to mark Prince Charles's investiture as the Prince of Wales. The Prince made the announcement on 3 July 1969 during a tour of Wales.[28] Swansea obtained the further right to have a Lord Mayor in 1982.[29]

Within the city centre are the ruins of the castle, the Marina, the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea Museum, the Dylan Thomas Centre, the Environment Centre, and the Market, which is the largest covered market in Wales.[30] It backs onto the Quadrant Shopping Centre, which opened in 1978, and the adjoining St David's Centre opened in 1982. Other notable modern buildings include the BT Tower (formerly the GPO tower) built around 1970, Alexandra House opened in 1976, County Hall opened in July 1982. Swansea Leisure Centre opened in 1977; it has undergone extensive refurbishment which retained elements of the original structure and re-opened in March 2008.

In 1887, Swansea was a township at the mouth of the river Tawe, covering 4,562 acres (1,846 hectares) in the county of Glamorgan.[32] There were three major extensions to the boundaries of the borough, first in 1835, when Morriston, St Thomas, Landore, St John-juxta-Swansea, and part of Llansamlet parish were added, and again in 1889 when areas around Cwmbwrla and Trewyddfa were included, and in 1918 when the borough was enlarged to include the whole of the ancient parish of Swansea, the southern part of Llangyfelach parish, all of Llansamlet parish, Oystermouth Urban District and Brynau parish.[33][34]

In 1889, Swansea attained county borough status,[35] and it was granted city status in 1969, which was inherited by the Swansea district when it was formed by the merger of the borough and Gower Rural District in 1974.[36] In 1996, Swansea became one of 22 unitary authorities with the addition of part of the former Lliw Valley Borough. The new authority received the name 'City and County of Swansea' (Welsh: Dinas a Sir Abertawe).[37]

Swansea was once a staunch stronghold of the Labour Party which, until 2004, had overall control of the council for 24 years.[38] The Liberal Democrats were the largest group in the administration that took control of Swansea Council in the 2004 local elections until the 2012 council elections saw the council return to Labour control. For 2009/2010, the Lord Mayor of Swansea was Councillor Alan Lloyd, and in 2010/2011 Richard Lewis was the Lord Mayor. The Lord Mayor changes in May each year.

The Senedd constituencies are:

• Gower, current MS is Rebecca Evans, Labour since 2016
• Swansea East, current MS is Mike Hedges, Labour since 2011
• Swansea West, current MS is Julie James, Labour since 2011

The city is also part of the South Wales West regional constituency and is served by Tom Giffard (Conservative), Sioned Williams (Plaid Cymru), Altaf Hussain (Conservative) and Luke Fletcher (Plaid Cymru).

The UK parliamentary constituencies are:

• Gower, current MP is Tonia Antoniazzi, Labour since 2017
• Swansea East, current MP is, Carolyn Harris, Labour since 2015
• Swansea West, current MP is Geraint Davies, Labour since 2010

Swansea has a temperate oceanic climate. As part of a coastal region, it experiences a milder climate than inland. Swansea is exposed to rain-bearing winds from the Atlantic, also cooling summer temperatures.

St. Mary's Church in St. Mary's Square

In 2001, 158,457 people in the local authority area (71 per cent) stated their religion to be Christian, 44,286 (20 per cent) no religion, 16,800 (7.5 per cent) did not state a religion and 2,167 were Muslim.[52] There are small communities of other religions, each making up a little under 1 per cent of the total population.[52]

Swansea Norwegian Church

Swansea is part of the Anglican Diocese of Swansea and Brecon and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Menevia. The Catholic see is based in Swansea at St. Joseph's Cathedral in the Greenhill area.

Christ Church (Church in Wales)[53]

Swansea, like Wales in general, has seen many Non-conformist religious revivals. In 1904, Evan Roberts, a miner from Loughor (Llwchwr), just outside Swansea, was the leader of what has been called one of the world's greatest Protestant religious revivals. Within a few months, about 100,000 people were converted. This revival in particular had a profound effect on Welsh society. Swansea is covered by the Swansea and Gower Methodist Circuit.

The Ebenezer Baptist Church dates from November 1875 when the foundation stone was laid for Tabernacle chapel in Skinner Street. The first pastor, the Rev. J. D. Jones, was called in February 1876 and the new building was opened in July that year. The church was served by a number of ministers until 1911 when the Rev. R. J. Willoughby came to the church.[54] The church has an organ by Harrison & Harrison.[55]

The Norwegian Church is a Grade II listed building in the docklands area of the city. The church building was originally located at Newport Docks. The building consists of a Seaman's Mission to the west end and a single gothic church to the east end. It was originally built as a place of worship for Norwegian sailors when they visited the UK. It was relocated to Swansea in 1910 at a site directly opposite the Sainsbury's supermarket on the River Tawe.

The city is home to 10% of the total Welsh Muslim population;[56] Swansea's Muslim community is raising money to open a new central mosque and community centre in the former St. Andrew's United Reformed Church. This would replace the existing central Mosque on St Helens Road and be in addition to the other three existing mosques (Swansea University Mosque, Hafod Mosque, Imam Khoei Mosque).[57]

Swansea is represented in Buddhism with the Dharmavajra Kadampa Buddhist Centre, Pulpung Changchub Dargyeling (Kagyu Tradition) and a branch of the international Dzogchen Community (Nyingma Tradition). Swansea Synagogue and Jehovah's Witness Kingdom Hall are both located in the Uplands area. Around 160 people in Swansea indicated they were Jewish in the 2011 census.[58]

The following table shows the religious identity of residents residing in Swansea according to the 2001, 2011 and the 2021 censuses.

Brangwyn Hall; one of the Senedd buildings

The Grand Theatre in the centre of the city is a Victorian theatre which celebrated its centenary in 1997 and which has a capacity of a little over a thousand people. It was opened by the celebrated opera singer Adelina Patti and was refurbished from 1983 to 1987. The annual programme ranges from pantomime and drama to opera and ballet. Fluellen Theatre Company is a professional theatre company based in Swansea who perform at the Grand Theatre and the Dylan Thomas Centre. The Taliesin building on the university campus has a theatre, opened in 1984. Other theatres include the Dylan Thomas Theatre (formerly the Little Theatre) near the marina, and one in Penyrheol Leisure Centre near Gorseinon. In the summer, outdoor Shakespeare performances are a regular feature at Oystermouth Castle, and Singleton Park is the venue for a number of parties and concerts, from dance music to outdoor Proms. A folk festival is held on Gower.[66] Standing near Victoria Park on the coast road is the Patti Pavilion; this was the Winter Garden from Adelina Patti's Craig-y-Nos estate in the upper Swansea valley, which she donated to the town in 1918. It is used as a venue for music shows and fairs. The Brangwyn Hall is a multi-use venue with events such as the graduation ceremonies for Swansea University. Every autumn, Swansea hosts a Festival of Music and the Arts, when international orchestras and soloists visit the Brangwyn Hall. The Brangwyn Hall is praised for its acoustics for recitals, orchestral pieces and chamber music alike.[67]

Swansea is home to the Palace Theatre. Located at 156 High Street, it is recognisable for its distinctive wedge shape. Originally built in 1888 as a traditional music hall, the building's original name was the 'Pavilion'. During its lifetime, the building has been used as a bingo hall as well as a nightclub.

In 2018 Singleton Park, Swansea was the home-city for BBC Music's 'Biggest Weekend' featuring Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift, Sam Smith, Florence + The Machine and others. Priority was given to Swansea residents in purchasing tickets for this one-off 'day festival' (over 2 days); tickets were priced at £18 a day and all 60,000 tickets (30,000 for each day) sold out almost instantly.[68]

Swansea hosted the National Eisteddfod in 1863, 1891, 1907, 1926, 1964, 1982 and 2006. The 2006 event occupied the site of the former Felindre tinplate works to the north of the city and featured a strikingly pink main tent. In 2009 Swansea Council launched Wales's only week long St David's Week festival in venues throughout the city. The Beginning and Do Not Go Gentle are Festivals in the Uplands area of the city where Dylan Thomas was born and lived for 23 years.

Swansea is known for its celebration of Beaujolais Day with people booking tables in restaurants and bars for the day up to a year in advance to ensure they can sample the year's newly released Beaujolais wine.[69] Historian Peter Stead argues that its rise in popularity there can be traced to the city's No Sign Bar, owned in the 1960s by former Wales rugby union captain Clem Thomas, who owned a house in Burgundy and could transport Beaujolais quickly and cheaply to south Wales, and suggests that it reflected Swansea's efforts to "gentrify and intellectualise itself" at the time. In 2015 it was estimated that Beaujolais Day contributed £5 million to the local economy.[70]

Red fountain water during the celebration of St David's Day in Swansea

There are many Welsh language chapels in the area. Welsh-medium education is a popular and growing choice for both English- and Welsh-speaking families. Just over 1,600 secondary pupils were educated through the medium of Welsh in 2017. Nearly double this figure, 3,063 pupils are currently educated through the medium of Welsh in the primary sector. The 2014 Swansea Pre-School survey showed that 35% of parents across the City and County of Swansea would select a Welsh education for their children if there was a local Welsh school available to them. 45% of the rural council ward Mawr are able to speak Welsh, as can 38% of the ward of Pontarddulais. Clydach, Kingsbridge and Upper Loughor all have levels of more than 20%. By contrast, the urban St. Thomas has one of the lowest figures in Wales, at 6.4%, a figure only barely lower than Penderry and Townhill wards.[71]

Local produce includes cockles and laverbread sourced from the Loughor estuary. Salt marsh lamb, raised in the salt marshes of the estuary, is also a local speciality.[72]

Swansea Castle ruins

The city has three Grade One listed buildings: Swansea Castle, the Tabernacle Chapel, Morriston and the Swansea Guildhall.[73] Swansea Castle was an impressive building occupying a strategic position above the River Tawe. The ruins that are visible today date from the late 13th and early 14th centuries. Today, the castle is hemmed in by modern buildings.[74] The Tabernacle Chapel at Morriston was built in 1872 by John Humphreys of Swansea. A unique feature is the use of semi-circular arches. The building has been described as the "Nonconformist Cathedral of Wales" and has been listed as Grade I on the basis that it is "the most ambitious grand chapel in Wales, its interior and fittings remain virtually unaltered".[75] The Guildhall is one of the main office buildings in the centre of the city and was designed by Percy Thomas and opened in 1934. It is faced in white Portland stone and includes a tall clock-tower which makes it a landmark. The building comprises the City Hall, the Brangwyn Hall concert venue and the County Law Courts. It is considered "the most important building in Wales of its period".[76]

Wind Street

In addition to these there are a number of Grade II* listed buildings; Ebenezer Baptist Chapel and its Hall in Ebenezer Street; the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery; the Midland Bank building; the Mount Pleasant Baptist Church in Kingsway, along with its Hall and School blocks; the Offices of Associated British Ports in Pier Street; the Royal Institution of South Wales building, now Swansea Museum in Victoria Road; and the Old Guildhall in Somerset Place.[77]

Swansea University has a campus in Singleton Park overlooking Swansea Bay. Its engineering department is recognised as a centre of excellence with pioneering work on computational techniques for solving engineering design problems.[91] The department of physics is renowned for its research achievements at the frontiers of theoretical physics, particularly in the areas of elementary particle physics and string theory. Many other departments including history, computer science and German have been awarded "excellent" inspection ratings. In 2015, Swansea University opened a new Bay Campus situated in the Jersey Marine area of Swansea. The university was awarded The Times Higher Education Supplement Award for the UK's "best student experience" in 2005.[92] In 2017, Swansea University Medical School was ranked as the third best medical school in the United Kingdom, behind Oxford and Cambridge universities.[93]

Other establishments for further and higher education in the city include University of Wales Trinity Saint David, Gower College Swansea and also Swansea College. Trinity Saint David was formed on 18 November 2010 through the merger of University of Wales Lampeter and Trinity University college Carmarthen under Lampeter's royal charter of 1828. On 1 August 2013, Swansea Metropolitan University became part of University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD). Swansea Metropolitan University was particularly well known for its Architectural Glass department, as well as its Teaching and Transport & Logistics degrees. Trinity Saint David also took over the Swansea Business School, which was formerly part of the Metropolitan University. It continues to provide higher education in the field of business including an MBA programme. Swansea Sixth Form College Wales (sscwales) was founded in 2013 and 2021 changed its name to Swansea College.

In the local authority area, there is one nursery school; six infant schools and five junior schools. There are 77 primary schools, ten of which are Welsh-medium, and six of which are voluntary aided. There are 15 comprehensive schools under the remit of the local education authority, of which two are Welsh-medium. In addition, there are six special schools.[94]

The oldest school in Swansea is Bishop Gore School, founded in 1682. The largest comprehensive school is Olchfa School. There is one Roman Catholic comprehensive school – Bishop Vaughan Catholic Comprehensive School. Other secondary schools include Birchgrove Comprehensive School, Cefn Hengoed Community School, Dylan Thomas School, Pentrehafod Comprehensive School, Morriston Comprehensive School and Gowerton School. There are 2 Welsh-medium secondary schools in Swansea: Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Gŵyr and Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Bryn Tawe.[95]

Independent schools in Swansea include Ffynone House School and Oakleigh House School.

Swansea has been used as a location for films such as Only Two Can Play,[100] Submarine and Twin Town, the TV series Mine All Mine and in episodes of Doctor Who.[101]

Swansea was the first city in Wales to feature in its own version of the board game Monopoly. The Swansea edition of Monopoly features 33 local landmarks, including the Mumbles Pier and the National Waterfront Museum; the game has been produced in both English and Welsh.[102]

Swansea was also featured in a television documentary titled Swansea Love Story as part of the Rule Britannia series on VBS.tv. The film is of a rather graphic nature and features heroin users, as well as community members affected by the narcotic, while trying to provide some explanation for the increase in use.[103] Swansea was featured in several Yes Minister series as an undesirable civil service posting, in particular the vehicle licensing centre.

Swansea is the hometown of Edward Kenway, the main protagonist of the video game Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. This is because Matt Ryan, the voice actor of Edward, is from Swansea.[104]

The M4 motorway, with junctions 44 to 47, bypasses Swansea, replacing the A48 as the main east–west route. Both the M4 and the A48 connect with Neath, Port Talbot and Cardiff to the east and Carmarthen to the west. The A483 dual carriageway links the city centre with the motorway at junction 42 to the east and junction 47 to the north west.

On departing Swansea to the north, the A483 multiplexes with the A48 before continuing through mid Wales and terminating at Chester. The A4067 connecting Mumbles with the city centre and continuing up the Swansea Valley towards Brecon is also a dual carriageway for much of its route through Swansea. Other notable local roads include the A484, which provides a link from Fforestfach west to Llanelli, and the A4118, the main route westwards from the city centre across Gower to Port Eynon.

Swansea railway station is approximately a fifteen-minute walk from Swansea bus station. Services calling at Swansea operate to Llanelli, Carmarthen, Haverfordwest, Milford Haven, Tenby, Pembroke Dock and Fishguard Harbour (connecting with the Stena Line to Rosslare Europort and Irish Rail to Dublin Connolly) to the west, Shrewsbury to the northeast via the Heart of Wales Line with four trains each way, Monday–Saturday, and Cardiff Central, Newport, Bristol Parkway, Swindon, Reading and London Paddington to the east run by Great Western Railway. There are also suburban stations in Gowerton, Llansamlet and in Pontarddulais which are served by Transport for Wales Rail, as well as longer-distance services to Hereford, Shrewsbury, Crewe and Manchester Piccadilly.

Swansea Airport is a minor aerodrome situated in the Gower providing recreational flights only. Further development of the airport is strongly resisted by the local communities and environmental groups.[108] Swansea is served by Cardiff Airport, 44 miles (71 km) east, in the Vale of Glamorgan, which provides scheduled domestic and international flights. It is approximately 40 minutes away by road or 70 minutes by rail. Pembrey Airport, 17 miles (27 km) to the west, is available for private flights.

South Dock at Swansea Marina

Swansea Marina to the south of the city centre has berths for 410 leisure boats.[109] An addition 200 berths for leisure boats are located near the mouth of the River Tawe.[110] Further leisure boating berths are being constructed at the Prince of Wales Dock in the Swansea Docks complex. The Swansea Docks complex is owned and operated by Associated British Ports and is used to handle a range of cargo ranging from agribulks and coal to timber and steel.[111] Swansea Docks consists of three floating docks and a ferry terminal.

Fastnet Line operated a Swansea Cork Ferry roll-on/roll-off service until November 2011, when the service was ended.[112] A proposal for a catamaran-based passenger ferry service from Ilfracombe to Swansea—scheduled to begin in time for Easter in 2010— has yet to launch. It would have had two return trips a day taking around 50 minutes each way and carried cycles.[113]

Swansea bus station

Bus routes within Swansea are operated predominantly by First Cymru, while smaller bus and coach operators such as NAT Group, South Wales Transport, Lewis Coaches, First Call Travel and DANSA also operate some routes in the city, most of which serve Swansea bus station. First Cymru operated the Swansea Metro, a road-based FTR bus rapid transit route, introduced between Morriston Hospital and Singleton Hospital in 2009,.[114] In late 2015 the fleet of Wright StreetCar articulated buses that served the Swansea Metro route were removed from service and replaced with standard non-articulated Wright StreetLite vehicles. First Cymru introduced the "Cymru Clipper", "Swansea & The Bay" and "Campus to Campus" liveries in 2014 and 2019 respectively with services originating from Swansea bus station. The "Cymru Clipper" operations serve several rural communities across South West Wales, the "Swansea & The Bay" services operate within Swansea and Neath Port Talbot and the "Campus to Campus" services operate between the Student Village at Hendrefoilan and the Singleton Park and Crymlyn Burrows (Bay) campuses of Swansea University.

Veolia used to operate the rural services around the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw Valley - branded Gower Explorer and Lliw Link respectively. Since Veolia's withdrawal from Swansea, these services were operated by First Cymru for several years, and are now operated by NAT Group. Swansea direct coach services:

• National Express Coaches operate eastbound to Heathrow Airport, Gatwick Airport, London, Birmingham, Cardiff and Bristol, and westbound to Llanelli, Carmarthen and Haverfordwest.
• Megabus operate to Cardiff, Newport, Bristol, Heathrow Airport and London.
• TrawsCymru operate services to Brecon, Carmarthen, Lampeter, Aberaeron and Aberystwyth.

Park and ride services are operated from car parks at Landore and Fabian Way.[115] During busy periods of the year, additional services are operated from the Brynmill recreation ground. Subsidised services to Fforestfach were cut in 2015 due to local authority financial constraints.[116]

There are four dedicated cycle routes in the local authority's area:

• Swansea Bay: The Maritime Quarter to the Knab Rock near the Mumbles Pier.
• Clyne Valley Country Park: Blackpill to Gowerton forming part of National Cycle Network, Route 4.
• Along the east bank of the River Tawe forming the start of National Cycle Network, Route 43, which terminates at Abercraf. Sustrans advise that it will continue northwards to Builth Wells once complete.[117]
• Adjacent to the Fabian Way: Forming part of National Cycle Network, Route 4 and extending as the Celtic Trail to Chepstow and (eventually) London.

City cruiser pedal vehicles are being introduced to the city centre in a joint venture between the council and Swansea Business Improvement District.[118][119]

In November 2007 a new bridge was completed over the Fabian Way which provides a one way park and ride bus lane and a shared-use pedestrian and NCN route 4 cycle way. The leaf-shaped bridge was shortlisted for the 2008 British Constructional Steelwork Association Structural Steel Design Awards.[120]

Swansea has a range of activities including sailing, water skiing, surfing, and other watersports,[144] walking[145] and cycling.[146] Part of the Celtic Trail and the National Cycle Network, Swansea Bay provides a range of traffic-free cycle routes including along the seafront and through Clyne Valley Country Park.[147] The Cycling Touring Club CTC has a local group in the area.[148] Swansea Bay, Mumbles and Gower have a selection of golf courses.[149]

Prior to closure in 2003, Swansea Leisure Centre was one of the top ten visitor attractions in the Wales; it has been redeveloped as an indoor waterpark, rebranded the 'LC',[150] and was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 7 March 2008.[151] The Wales National Pool is in Swansea.[152]

Swansea has a number of pubs, bars, clubs, restaurants and a casino.[153] Swansea had two casinos until 30 August 2012 when Aspers closed. The majority of city centre bars are situated on Wind Street, with various chains represented including JD Wetherspoon, Revolution, Varsity and Walkabout. Some venues feature live music.[154] The Mumbles Mile, described by the BBC as "one of Wales's best-known pub crawls", declined in the early 21st century and a number of local pubs were converted into flats or restaurants.[155]

• Admiral Lord Nelson: 14 August 1802.[161]
• Sir William Hamilton: 14 August 1802.
• John Henry Vivian: 6 October 1834.
• William Ewart Gladstone: 26 May 1887.
• Field Marshal Sir Francis Grenfell: 11 October 1889.
• Sir Henry Morton Stanley: 16 July 1890.[162]
• Lord Swansea: 20 July 1893.
• Sir John Jones Jenkins: 19 June 1895.
• Lord Rosebery: 29 November 1901.
• Sir Samuel Evans: 18 March 1908.
• Adelina Patti: 15 November 1911.[163]
• Sir John Dillwyn-Llewellyn: 21 January 1914.
• David Davies: 21 January 1914.
• Roger Beck: 21 January 1914.
• John Dyer: 21 January 1914.
• David Lloyd George: 19 June 1918.
• Lord Haig : 17 May 1922.
• Alderman David Matthews: 15 July 1924.
• David Williams: 15 July 1924.
• Lord McGowan: 15 March 1939.
• William Owen: 15 March 1939.
• David John Davies: 15 March 1939.
• Sir Robert Menzies: 29 April 1941.
• Peter Fraser: 16 July 1941.
• Field Marshal Lord Montgomery of Alamein: 16 June 1948.
• David Grenfell: 18 February 1953.
• Daniel Evans: 18 February 1953.
• George William Peacock: 18 February 1953.
• Percy Morris: 19 February 1958.
• Lord Callaghan of Cardiff: 29 November 1993.
• Charles, Prince of Wales: 24 May 1994.
• President James Earl Carter Jr.: 11 August 1995.
• Gerhard Widder of Mannheim: 18 November 1995.
• Donald Anderson}: 11 February 2000.
• John Charles: 4 March 2001.
• Rowan Williams: 31 July 2010.
• Mel Nurse: 28 April 2016.
• Chris Coleman: 20 October 2016.
• Sir Karl Jenkins: 4 October 2018.
• Alun Wyn Jones: 13 June 2019.[164]
• Catherine Zeta-Jones: 24 July 2019.[165][166]
• Kevin Johns: 8 December 2022.[167]

• The Welsh Guards: 15 September 1948.
• The Welch Regiment: 17 February 1960.
• The Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers: 15 April 1978.
• The Royal Regiment of Wales: 20 February 1981.
• HMS Arethusa, RN: 27 June 1981.
• Her Majesty's Coastguard (Swansea Station): 8 December 1982.
• The Mumbles Lifeboat Station, RNLI: 23 April 1987.
• The Royal Welch Fusiliers: 20 January 1994.
• HMS Scott, RN: 15 September 2006.
• The Royal Welsh: 13 September 2008.
• 215 (City of Swansea) Squadron Air Training Corps: 12 March 2016.
• HMS Cambria, RNR: 17 March 2018.[166]
• 157 (Welsh) Regiment, RLC: 27 July 2019.[168][169]