Foresthall mansion

Foresthall house or "'Fforestfach house" was a mansion like house that existed on the site of the Swansea suburb of Fforestfach until the 1970s when the old and crumbling mansion was bought by Swansea council and demolished in order to make way for various new estates.

The mansion was located on the western side of Ravenhill, and had a garden stretching from the mansion itself to the far back end of Cadle woods. The mansion dated back as far as the 1860s as many ordinace survey maps from 1861-8 show the mansion's existence [http://www.francisfrith.com/search/wales/west+glamorgan/fforestfach/maps/fforestfach_maps.htm] , the owner of the mansion planted many trees around his land most notably the Aesculus hippocastanum tree (Horse Chestnut Tree), which can still be see today in the local area. The owner of the house is blamed for the local Japanese knotweed problem within the Swansea area, as back in 19th century Japanese knotweed was used commonly as a potted plant for oramental use and was also used on his land to prevent soil erosion. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_knotweed]