Swansea’s historic Hafod-Morfa Copperworks site is set for further major improvements, following-on from Penderyn opening a new operational distillery and visitor attraction there.
Thanks to a successful Swansea Council bid to the UK Government as part of its levelling-up programme, structures at the copperworks including the former laboratory building and Musgrave and Vivian engine houses are among those next due to be restored.
A restaurant and food and drink spaces are planned for the former laboratory building on site, while investment in the engine houses will see a new enclosure built to create a heritage visitor attraction and cafe.
Other plans for the copperworks include the reinstatement of the track and locomotive at the V & S shed. The creation of a marketplace is one option for parts of the former Rolling Mill building, and landscaped public spaces will be developed for visitors.
The new Penderyn distillery and visitor attraction opened at the copperworks earlier this month.
It followed an extensive preservation and restoration project on site, thanks to a collaborative effort between Penderyn Distillery, Swansea Council, Swansea University, John Weaver Contractors and several funding sources. These included the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Welsh Government and Penderyn.
Cllr Robert Francis-Davies, Swansea Council’s Cabinet Member for Investment, Regeneration and Tourism, said: “A team effort between all partners involved has led to a state-of-the-art Penderyn distillery and visitor facility at the copperworks that will create jobs and attract many thousands of visitors a year.
“We’re rightly proud of our history in Swansea and will continue to do all we can to celebrate it through innovative schemes that also generate employment for local people and opportunities for local businesses.
“The plans for the former laboratory and rolling mill buildings, engine houses and V & S shed will build on everything that’s been achieved at the copperworks site so far to create a heritage destination that breathes new life into even more historically significantly structures that have stood dormant for too long.
“These plans are part of an overall Lower Swansea Valley project that will also see improvements introduced at The Strand, the river corridor and Swansea Museum.”
It’s estimated the overall Lower Swansea Valley improvement project will support 106 jobs while creating 69 new jobs.
Plans for The Strand include the creation of small retail units for local traders at the historic Victorian arches which would be brought back into use. A new elevator to High Street would also be introduced, along with retail pods and improved lighting in The Strand’s tunnels.
Other features of the Lower Swansea Valley improvement project proposals include two new pontoons along the River Tawe.
A new-build addition to Swansea Museum is also being proposed to enable additional exhibition and gallery space, as well as new conservation and storage areas, and a new café.
Detailed design work will start once a multi-disciplinary project team is in place, with overall project completion earmarked for March 2026.
