Morfa is a district of Swansea, Wales. It straddles the Bon-y-maen and Landore wards and generally covers the eastern part of the district of Landore.
Morfa is originally an old Welsh word for "marsh", not so much used in current parlance but found in Welsh placenames. The area is named after the Morfa copperworks which once existed in the area.
The Morfa Copperworks was started in 1835 and operated until the site closed in 1980. Several of the copperworks buildings still remain on the site. [1]
Morfa was mainly an area of light industry in the late 20th century. Until the development of the Morfa retail park and the Swansea.com Stadium in the new millennium, the area was a post industrial brownfield site with a local sports and leisure complex.
On the west bank were large grass playing fields which were also used for outdoor concerts. The west bank was re-developed into the Liberty Stadium, now the Swansea.com Stadium, complex.
On the east bank of the River Tawe stood the Morfa stadium, indoor and outdoor tennis courts and rubber surfaced football fields. The area now consists of a new town centre comprising the Morfa Shopping Park shopping centre and the Copper Quarter residential area to the south of the retail park. About 700 new homes are being built by the developer Barratt.
Nearby is Pluck Lake known for a sighting of an unusual animal in April 2008. [2]
The Morfa Shopping Park was developed on the site of the Morfa Stadium. It is an out-of-town shopping centre accessible from the A4067. It has 265,000 sq ft (24,600 m2) of retail space. Retail units include a B&Q store (the largest B&Q store in Wales at 105,000 sq ft [3] [4] [5] ).
Lakeside Shopping Centre is a large out-of-town shopping centre located in West Thurrock, Essex just beyond the eastern boundary of Greater London. It was constructed on the site of a former chalk quarry. The first tenants moved into the complex in 1988 and it was completed in 1990, being opened on 25 October of that year by Princess Alexandra of Kent, Marcus Bradford and Angus Ogilvy. New spaces in the red car park were added as recently as October 2019.
The River Tawe is a 30 miles (48 km) long river in South Wales. Its headwaters flow initially east from its source below Llyn y Fan Fawr south of Moel Feity in the Black Mountains, the westernmost range of the Brecon Beacons National Park, before the river turns south and then southwest to its estuary at Swansea. Its main tributaries are the right bank Upper and Lower Clydach Rivers and the Afon Twrch. The total area of the catchment is some 246 km2 (95 sq mi). The Tawe passes through a number of towns and villages including Ystradgynlais, Ystalyfera, Pontardawe, and Clydach and meets the sea at Swansea Bay below Swansea. The Tawe Valley is more commonly known as the Swansea Valley.
Landore is the name of an electoral ward in the City and County of Swansea, Wales, UK.
Plasmarl, or Plas-Marl, is a suburban district and historically a village of the City and County of Swansea, Wales. It falls within the old Copper Quarter of Landore electoral ward.
Swansea city centre in Swansea, Wales, contains the main shopping, leisure and nightlife district in Swansea. The city centre covers much of the Castle ward including the area around Oxford Street, Castle Square, and the Quadrant Shopping Centre; Alexandra Road, High Street, Wind Street and the Castle; Parc Tawe; and the Maritime Quarter extending down to the seafront.
The Swansea Museum in Swansea, Wales, UK is the oldest museum in Wales, created for and by the Royal Institution of South Wales in 1841 to house its collections and provide research and learning facilities.
The Landore viaduct is a railway viaduct over the Swansea valley and the River Tawe at Landore in south Wales. It provides a link between Swansea city center and the West Wales Line to the South Wales Main Line. The valley crossing provides a panoramic view of Landore, Kilvey Hill, the Liberty Stadium and the Swansea Enterprise Park.
St David's, previously known as St David's Shopping Centre, is one of the principal shopping centres in the city centre of Cardiff, Wales. It is in The Hayes area of the southern city centre. Following the extension of St David's 2 in 2009, St David's is the third busiest shopping centre in the United Kingdom.
The Swansea Enterprise Park is a combined business park, retail park and industrial estate in Swansea, Wales. In 1981 it became the first enterprise zone in the United Kingdom, and the largest. Originally it was named the Swansea Enterprise Zone. The designated area covers parts of the Llansamlet and Morriston wards in the Lower Swansea valley, Wales. The Enterprise Park is the largest commercial district and the largest out-of-town shopping district of Swansea. Major employers at the site include Morganite, Alberto-Culver, Viskase, The Land Registry and Welsh Water.
The Quadrant Shopping Centre is the principal under-cover shopping centre in Swansea, Wales. The centre opened in 1979. From the 1980s to 2019 it was home to the Swansea Devil, a controversial carved wooden statue of the Devil.
Morfa Stadium was an athletics stadium in the Landore area of Swansea, Wales. Constructed and in use since 1980, it was officially opened as Morfa Stadium on 20 April 1989 by Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh. The stadium was subsequently used as a residential training facility for the local Swansea Harriers Athletics Club; which produced numerous local, national, international, Commonwealth, Olympic and world competitors. It has now been demolished and the land is occupied by the Morfa Retail Park and the Swansea.com Stadium, home of the city's football and rugby teams, which opened in 2005.
The City and County of Swansea is an urban centre with a largely rural hinterland in Gower; the city has been described as the regional centre for South West Wales. Swansea's travel to work area, not coterminous with the local authority, also contained the Swansea Valley in 1991; the new 2001-based version merges the Swansea, Neath & Port Talbot, and Llanelli areas into a new Swansea Bay travel to work area. Formerly an industrial centre, most employment in the city is now in the service sector.
National Cycle Network, Route 43 is part of the National Cycle Network and the Celtic Trail, which connects Swansea with Builth Wells. Most of the route is still awaiting development. As of June 2006, there is a 13-mile section out of Swansea that is open and signed.
Hafod is a district of the city of Swansea, Wales, and lies just north of the city centre, within the Landore ward. Hafod is the home to the Hafod Copperworks, founded in 1810 and closed in 1980 which is now being developed into an industrial heritage site.
Fforestfach is a suburban district of Swansea, Wales which developed during the Victorian era as part of the expansion of Swansea, and to service several collieries in the area. It lies within the Cockett ward, between the districts of Waunarlwydd and Cwmbwrla, and contains the areas of Cadle and Ravenhill.
Landore is a district and community in Swansea, Wales. The district falls in the Landore council ward. A mainly residential area, it is located about 2.5 miles north of Swansea city centre. The north-easterly part of Landore is known as Morfa. There have been a number of new developments in the 21st century, such as the Liberty Stadium, now the Swansea.com Stadium, and the Morfa Shopping Park, which opened in 2005. It had a population of 6,168 as of the 2011 UK census.
SA1 Swansea Waterfront is the marketing name given to the brownfield development area in the northern part of Swansea Docks, Wales. The area lies directly to the southeast of Swansea city centre. It is bordered by the Fabian Way to the north, and includes the Prince of Wales Dock.
The Leckwith development is in the Leckwith area of southwest Cardiff, Wales. Work started in Autumn 2007 with the construction of a new stadium for Cardiff City F.C.
The remains of the Hafod-Morfa Copperworks, originally developed by Vivian & Sons, consists of a core Grade II listed building and additional Grade II listed structures on a 12 acres (4.9 ha) site, on the banks of the River Tawe in Hafod, Swansea.