Harbour walls, breakwater and locks at Burry Port

Cadw's description

Location

Enclosing the harbour at Burry Port.

History

Burry Port, originally known as Pembrey New Harbour, was opened in 1832, served by tramroads and the Kidwelly & Llanelly Canal. It superseded Pembrey Old Harbour, which had opened in 1819. This expansion was demanded by the development of the local anthracite mines in the Gwendraeth Valley to which the harbour was linked by the canal. A tramroad also connected the harbour with the Carmarthenshire Dock at Llanelli. The initial harbour consisted of a tidal channel scoured from the sand dunes by the River Derwydd and lined by a stone wharf. Of the present structures, the E dock was built as a floating dock by 1840, while the W dock was created by 1888 from an earlier scouring reservoir. The copper slag that forms much of its bank was taken from the Pembrey Copperworks, built on the E side of the docks in 1849. On the E side of the E breakwater is a line of iron tub boats, said to have been seized from Carway Colliery in 1870 to recover a debt owing to the railway company.

It was here that Amelia Earhart landed in 1928 after her heroic trans-Atlantic flight. The harbour is now used for private boats.

Exterior

Comprising E and W docks, leading to an outer harbour, the entrance to which is protected by breakwaters. Construction is mainly of battered rubble stone with render, behind and above which is earlier vertical masonry. The E breakwater curves sharply inwards toward the harbour mouth and on the outer E side is a line of iron tub boats (Scheduled Ancient Monument Cm 268). On the long W breakwater is a line of thin stone slabs placed on edge to form a windbreak, and a harbour light.

New walls have been built between the breakwaters forming a harbour entrance. The outer harbour has a landing stage on the W side. The W dock has a lock at its entrance, of coursed freestone, with rebate for the lock gate and slots for stop gates. It is spanned by a modern footbridge. The dock itself is partly defined by rubble-stone walls on the N and E sides, but the remainder is mainly a bank composed of crushed copper slag. The E dock has a similar lock at its entrance. The N and part of the E dock wall are of rock-faced stone, the remainder is battered rubble stone, with a concrete stormwater outfall apron to the NE.

Reason for designation

Listed for its special interest as a rare surviving example of an earlier C19 coal harbour combined with an important early transport system serving the local industry.