GM481

White Rock Copper Works  

24/10/1995  

Designated  

Swansea  

St. Thomas  

266293  

194728  

Industrial  

Copper Works  

Post Medieval/Modern  

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Ancient Monument. The monument consists of a copper works established in 1736, which was one of the most important copper smelting works in the Lower Swansea Valley. This area formed the world centre of non-ferrous smelting for much of the 18th and 19th centuries. It was the third of Swansea's copper works to have been built. Remains include the river wall, the rear revetment wall of the 'Great Workhouse' , former kilns, furnace and flue. The whole site is traversed by Smith's Canal of 1783, one of the earliest in Wales, which passes under the works in a cut and cover tunnel, with underground wharves behind the 'Great Workhouse'. The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance and illustrate our knowledge and understanding of the development of the copper industry. A copper works may be part of a larger industrial complex and their importance can further enhanced by their group value. The scheduled area comprises the remains described and areas around them within which related evidence may be expected to survive.