Skewen

Skewen
Welsh: Sgiwen

A view over Skewen
Skewen
 Skewen shown within Neath Port Talbot
Population 8,500 
OS grid referenceSS727974
Principal areaNeath Port Talbot
Ceremonial countyWest Glamorgan
CountryWales
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town NEATH
Postcode district SA10
Dialling code 01792
Police South Wales
Fire Mid and West Wales
Ambulance Welsh
EU Parliament Wales
UK ParliamentAberavon
List of places
UK
Wales
Neath Port Talbot

Coordinates: 51°39′39″N 3°50′24″W / 51.6609°N 3.8399°W / 51.6609; -3.8399

Skewen (Welsh: Sgiwen) is a village within the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, in Wales.

The village is served by Skewen railway station.

Skewen supports its own rugby club.

History

Skewen was once an industrial village. There were a number of collieries around the village (see link below). The Crown and Mines Royal Copper Works and the Cheadle and Neath Abbey Ironworks were once important industrial sites which stood close by. Old top-loading blast furnaces can also be seen at Neath Abbey. To the south of Skewen lies the village of Llandarcy, the site of the country's first oil refinery. The site of this former oil refinery is now being developed as an urban village called Coed Darcy, as a development supported by the Prince of Wales's Foundation for the Built Environment.

Monuments of interest

The ruins of Neath Abbey, a former Cistercian monastery, are now in the care of Cadw. On Mynydd Drumau to the north of the village is an ancient standing stone known as the Carreg Bica (or 'Maen Bradwen' which translates into English as 'the white rock of betrayal').

Notable people

The village is the birthplace of Sir Samuel Thomas Evans (1859–1918), British judge and politician who was appointed Solicitor-General in 1908 and became the President of the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty division in 1910. Skewen is also the birthplace of internationally successful singer Bonnie Tyler and Welsh composer David John de Lloyd (1883-1948). Comedian Eddie Izzard lived in the village for a short while in his childhood, as did actress Lorna Bennett. The grandparents of the legendary American entrepreneur Howard Hughes are believed to have lived in Skewen in the 1830s. The successful Cresci family who have made award-winning ice-cream for over six decades also hails from the village.[1][2][3]

Nearest places

References

  1. ↑ "Cresci's Ice Cream and Cafe, Skewen". grubnub.co.uk. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  2. ↑ "Italian ice cream is favourite South Wales experience". walesonline.co.uk. 14 March 2011. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  3. ↑ "Neath". cymru.visitwales.co.uk/. Welsh government. 2013. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/27/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.