TreeAlive
‹ Cof Cymru: National Historic Assets of Wales, Wales

Cof Cymru: National Historic Assets of Wales · Wales

Penclawdd Sea Dock and Canal

Llanrhidian Higher, Swansea, Wales

A scheduled monument in Llanrhidian Higher, Swansea, recorded as Dockyard (Post Medieval/Modern).

Ordnance Survey six-inch map, 2nd edition (1888–1913) covering the location of Penclawdd Sea Dock and Canal, Llanrhidian Higher, Swansea, with a pin at the register's coordinates
Ordnance Survey six-inch map, 2nd edition (1888–1913), covering this location. Courtesy of the National Library of Scotland. The pin is ours, placed from the register's coordinates.

The record

Designation
Scheduled monument
Site type
Dockyard
Period
Post Medieval/Modern
Date of designation
8 November 1978
Community
Llanrhidian Higher
Unitary authority
Swansea
Country
Wales
Coordinates (centre of the scheduled area)
51.64446, -4.09445
SAM number
GM398
Cadw record number
3629

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

5 historical maps cover this location, the earliest the 1608 map "(13) Cambriae Typus." (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries).

Historical maps covering this location

  • 1608 · (13) Cambriae Typus. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
  • 1891 · Sheet 10. Ordnance Survey of England and Wales. . (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
  • 1897 · 247 Swansea (Hills) (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
  • 1920 · Sheet 100. Llanelly. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
  • Sheet 7 South Wales (University Library, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)

Get directions ↗

This record in Cadw's own full report ↗

Cadw's description

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Ancient Monument.

The monument consists of the remains of a tidal dock and canal dating to c. 1810. The dock served as a place for repairing boats which travelled along the Penclawdd canal. The canal was intended to bring coal from inland down to Penclawdd for export, however this operation ceased not long after it opened. The dock survives as a series of earthworks which still hold water. The jetty, which once would have had facing stones on the exterior, now consists of a rubble build, and is c. 120m in length and 1.5m in height. It is now grass covered and has at its seaward end the foundations of a rectangular building. The breakwater lies to the east and consists of a low bank enclosing a rectangular area which would form a water catchment for boats. The linear depression which marks the remains of the canal lies to the south and shows that the canal ran further west to the Penclawdd copperworks.

The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of industrial or modern maritime economy and transport. It retains significant archaeological potential, with a strong probability of the presence of associated archaeological features and deposits. A dockyard may be part of a larger cluster of monuments 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.

Nearby in the register

Other entries of the same register within about three miles of this one, by straight line.

Designated Historic Asset GIS Data, The Welsh Historic Environment Service (Cadw), 2026-09-07, licensed under the Open Government Licence http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/ Cadw, the Welsh Historic Environment Service · Open Government Licence v3.0
See your own family's places on a living map