Llanelly (Llan-Elli) - From 'A Topographical Dictionary of Wales' (1849)
LLANELLY (LLAN-ELLI), an incorporated sea-port and market-town, a parish, and the head of a union, in the hundred of Carnawllon, county of Carmarthen, South Wales, 15 miles (S. E. by S.) from Carmarthen, on the road to Swansea, 11 miles (W. N. W.) from Swansea, and 216 (W. by N.) from London; containing 11,155 inhabitants, of whom 6846 are in the borough hamlet. This place, which appears to be of great antiquity, derives its name from its church being dedicated to St. Elliw. It was probably an ancient British town of some importance, and remains of British fortifications may be distinctly traced in the immediate neighbourhood. The town is situated on the northern bank of the Burry, which forms an expansive estuary, and constitutes the boundary between the counties of Carmarthen and Glamorgan; and though described forty years ago as a small and insignificant place, inhabited chiefly by sailors and persons employed in the adjacent coalmines, Llanelly, from the convenience of its situation on a navigable estuary, and from the richness of its vicinity in iron, coal, and limestone, has risen into manufacturing and commercial importance, and is still rapidly increasing in population and extent. An act of parliament was obtained in 1807, by which an inclosure of the commons of that portion of the parish immediately dependent on the town was effected, and the land, with the exception of onefourteenth allotted to the owner of the lordship of Kidwelly, was vested in trustees chosen by and from the burgesses, to be let on lease, and the proceeds applied to the improvement of the town and harbour: this property now produces £500 per annum, and is capable of being much increased in value. Respectable houses have been erected in almost every direction; as have numerous others of inferior character, which are occupied as soon as they can be finished. The town has been paved, and is supplied with water from the river Lliedi, which flows through it: an act for lighting it with gas was passed in 1835. Its prosperity will be further augmented by the South Wales railway, now in progress, which will pass by it. A mechanics' institute has been formed within the last three or four years.
Llanelly is supposed to be situated in or near the centre of the mineral basin of South Wales, which is calculated to contain no fewer than forty-two beds of coal, incumbent upon each other, with intervening strata of stone, &c.: upon these beds are found numerous fossil remains. The abundance of excellent coal, both anthracite and bituminous, in the vicinity, has caused the establishment here of extensive works called the Llanelly Works, which are used for smelting copper-ore, for extracting silver from lead and copper, and for rolling copper; also the Cambrian Works, used for smelting lead-ore. Both these concerns are carried on by Messrs. Sims, Willyams, Nevill, and Co.; and connected with them are extensive collieries, from which the works are supplied, and which produce large quantities of coal to be shipped to Cornwall, Ireland, and other parts: the mines also furnish the government steamers very largely with coal. The works are remarkable for having two immense chimneys, of the extraordinary height of 270 and 220 feet, of a pyramidal shape, and which, from their loftiness, form conspicuous and imposing objects in the view of the town. There are also extensive tin-plate works, iron-foundries, and potteries in the parish. Of late years, ironstone has been largely worked in the interior of this part of the county.
The Port, which exercises paramount jurisdiction over some others as dependent members, has been vastly improved within the last forty years, prior to which it was only open beach. An act of parliament for the improvement of the port was passed in 1813. In 1828, the Llanelly Railway and Dock Company obtained an act enabling them to make a railway from the Llangennech collieries to Llanelly harbour, and to construct a floating-dock at the latter place. The railway was completed and opened in 1833; and at its termination eastward of the harbour, are an extensive floating-dock and other works, in the formation of which numerous difficulties presented themselves, from quicksands and other obstacles. These works were opened in the month of July, 1834, and the railway has since been extended from Llangennech much further inland, to Llanedy, Bettws, and Llandebie; its present length, including branches, being twenty-six miles and a half. The floatingdock consists of a basin capable of holding fifty sail of ships, and is always kept full of water by means of a pair of lofty stop-gates, of African oak: the entrance is formed by wing and entrance walls, substantially composed of ashlar masonry, and secured by inverted arches, permitting a vessel of 1000 tons' burthen to pass in with perfect safety; the depth of water upon the sill during neap-tides is fourteen, during ordinary spring-tides twenty, and during high spring-tides twenty-four, feet. It communicates with the sea by an outer tide-basin, and an entrance channel, or ship-canal, about half a mile in length: the outer basin was constructed with a view to avoid the inconvenience and delay of crowding the canal with vessels, and in it light vessels wait until the loaded ships have passed out of the dock into the entrance canal, which is itself an artificial cut through the beach. Owing to its peculiar position, and the protection afforded to the estuary by the projecting coast of Glamorganshire, vessels can enter or leave the dock in almost any state of the weather. At the eastern side of the dock is a large reservoir, so situated as to be filled by the sea when required; by means of a sea-sluice it is made available for scouring out the mud and silt from the entrance canal and outer basin. The facilities for shipping coal in this dock, tide-basin, and canal, are very great, and there is abundant accommodation for any increase of the trade of this improving district. Vessels of 600 or 700 tons not unfrequently trade to Llanelly.
The principal article of import is copper-ore, the produce of which, after having been here manufactured, is shipped off to the value of £300,000 per annum. More than 230,000 tons of coal and culm are also annually exported, some of the coal, owing to its peculiarly fine quality, being shipped to France, Spain, India, and the West Indies, for the use of steam-boats. Besides the large dock previously described, there a |
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