Skewen

infobox UK place
country =Wales
welsh_name=Sgiwen
official_name= Skewen
static_

static_image_caption=A view over Skewen
unitary_wales= Neath Port Talbot
lieutenancy_wales= West Glamorgan
constituency_westminster= Neath
post_town= NEATH
postcode_district = SA10
postcode_area= SA
dial_code= 01792
os_grid_reference= SS727974
population= 8,500
london_distance=
cardiff_distance=
longitude= -3.8399
latitude= 51.6609

Skewen ( _cy. Sgiwen) 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, is now in the care of CADW. On Drummau Mountain 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.

External links

* [http://www.welshcoalmines.co.uk/GlamWest/SkewenMain.htm Skewen Colliery]
* [http://www.geograph.org.uk/search.php?i=2764507 www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Skewen and surrounding area]