We are delighted to be taking part in the Cadw Open Doors scheme on the weekend of Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th September. We would like to thank Swansea Council for opening up the doors of the engine houses.
There will be a guided tour around the engine house compound on the site of the Hafod Morfa Copperworks and there will be access into both the Musgrave engine house and the Vivian engine house. Tours last for approximately 1 hour. There will be the opportunity to attend a number of tours at various times over the weekend.
Booking is essential, follow the link below on Eventbrite for free tickets for Saturday 23 September and Sunday 24 September:
Please be aware that the site is uneven, there are difficult steps leading into both of the engine houses also, as the Musgrave engine house contains some of the original machinery, there are obstacles inside the building. We are sorry to say that the site is not suitable for pushchairs or wheelchairs. It is important that sturdy footwear is worn, it will not be appropriate to wear flip flops or open toe sandals. We are also unable to allow dogs into the engine house compound.
The site in question is the rolling mill engine house compound near the river Tawe where the remains of the Hafod copperworks No1 rolling mill and sheet rolling mill engine houses survive. The Musgrave engine house still contains it’s engine and remains attached to the plate rolling mill it drove, the Vivian engine house though empty is wonderful space and a good example of how these buildings developed as the industries demands grew.
We are excited to be opening the doors of the Hafod copperworks so that these engine houses can be visited by the public in their semi restored state before further development takes place with levelling up grants.
This is a unique opportunity to get up and close to two rare survivors of Swansea’s once vast Copper industry and particularly to see the last copper rolling mill and engine to run in the Swansea valley.
The Musgrave engine is the earliest and only remaining example of it’s type built by John Musgrave and sons and is also unique that it is the sole remaining Musgrave engine still attached to the process it drove.
It’s special, and we’d love to share it with everybody!
