Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for BRITON-FERRY

BRITON-FERRY, a village and a parish in Neath district, Glamorgan. The village stands at the mouth of the Neath river, the end of the Neath canal, and the terminus of a short branch of the South Wales railway, 2½ miles SSE of Neath; and has a head post office.‡ Large docks were formed here in 1861 and previous years, aided by £20,000 from the Vale of Neath Railway Company; they comprise a tidal and floating area of 27 acres, and are provided with Armstrong's hydraulic machinery; and they will afford shipping accommodation to the mineral districts of Aberdare and Merthyr-Tydvil, nearer than that at Cardiff. The village is likewise the port of Neath; has undergone much recent increase; and promises soon to be an important town. The parish bears also the name of Llansawel; and comprises 1,593 acres. Real property, £8,640; of which £2,400 are in iron-works. Pop., 3,781. Houses, 627. The manor belonged formerly to the Mansells; and belongs now to the Earl of Jersey. The local scenery and the distant views are very fine. The view from a hill includes great part of the basin and screens of Bristol channel; and that from the churchyard is celebrated by Mason. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Llandaff. Value, £124. Patron, the Earl of Jersey. The church is good, quaint, and pretty.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a village and a parish"   (ADL Feature Type: "populated places")
Administrative units: Briton Ferry CP/Ch       Neath RegD/PLU       Glamorgan AncC
Place: Briton Ferry

Go to the linked place page for a location map, and for access to other historical writing about the place. Pages for linked administrative units may contain historical statistics and information on boundaries.