Hafod-Morfa Copperworks

Swansea is known as ‘Copperoplis’ for its global position in smelting and manufacturing copper in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Swansea University is working with the city council to restore and reuse buildings from two of largest former copper works, Hafod (started in 1808) and Morfa (started in 1835). The works combined in 1924 and closed in 1980. The site is between the River Tawe, where ships delivered copper ore, and the Swansea Canal, which brought coal to smelt it. Its tall chimney is still a landmark in the valley. Visitors explore surviving features with the aid of interpretation panels and audio trails. There are three former engine houses that powered rolling mills – one of these still contains a Musgrave steam engine of 1910 and has a set of rolls outside. One of the rolling mill buildings is a collections centre for Swansea museums. Another of the engine houses, which has a clocktower, later became a works canteen. Other buildings in include a laboratory built in 1880 and a locomotive shed. Bricks and blocks made from waste ash or copper slag are used in many of the structures.