Twrch Aqueduct, Ystalyfera
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Gurnos Road, Glamorgan SA9 2
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Visit websiteThe Swansea Canal was a canal constructed by the Swansea Canal Navigation Company between 1794 and 1798, measuring some 16.5 miles (26.6 km) long and running from Swansea to Hen Neuadd, Abercraf. The canal was constructed to transport coal from the upper Swansea Valley to Swansea docks for export, or for use in the early metallurgical industries in the Lower Swansea Valley.
The opening of the canal caused an increase in industrial activity along the valley, with a number of manufacturing companies setting up works by its banks. Four short branch canals were constructed, and a network of tramways gradually linked mines and quarries to the canal.
The 1860s were a hard time for the canal, as the steel industry gradually replaced the iron industry, and ironworks contracted or closed. In 1871, the Company appoached the Great Western Railway, and negotiated a price of £107,666 for the main Swansea Canal, and £40,000 for the Duke of Beaufort's Trewyddfa Canal. The sale took place on 31 January 1873.
Rather than run it down, the Great Western Railway ran the canal well, and it remained profitable until 1895, when losses were first reported, though it recovered a little between 1898 and 1902. The tonnage of coal carried on the canal was very high, with 385,000 tons transported down the canal to Swansea in 1888 alone. The last commercial cargo carried on the Swansea Canal was in 1931.
The aqueduct carried the canal across the Twrch River in Ystalyfera. Its three segmental spans are supported by two heavy piers with cutwaters on both sides. It stands immediately above a weir. It is now dry.
By Road: It is approached by a lane running northward from Gurnos Road B 4599 near the Coop.
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