Skewen ( ) is a village
within the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, in Wales
.
The
village is served by Skewen railway station
.
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
, site of the former Llandarcy oil refinery. Huw Pudner and Chris
Hastings have written a folk song called "Skewen Main 1925" which
is about the closure of the Skewen Main coal mine.
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 site, Y
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. Also of the composer
David John de Lloyd and singer
Bonnie Tyler.
Eddie
Izzard, the comedian, lived in the village for a short while in
his boyhood as did the actress
Lorna Bennett.
External links
Wikis
Map
Search
