Swansea Sea Festival Heritage Trail
Swansea’s story has very much been shaped by the sea. From its industrial hinterland through its bustling docks and global trade routes, maritime heritage runs through the city’s history and identity.
The Swansea Sea Festival Heritage Trail invites you to discover a fascinating collection of maritime-themed objects in museums and galleries across Swansea, from historic artefacts and nautical treasures to paintings, photographs and sculptures inspired by life on the water.
As you explore each venue, you’ll uncover the people, vessels and voyages that connected Swansea to the wider world, revealing how the sea has influenced the city’s culture, industry and imagination for generations.
National Waterfront Museum
Figure head of the British Antarctic Expedition ship TERRA NOVA, in which Captain Scott sailed from the port of Cardiff, 15 June 1910.
In 1912, Captain Scott and his four companions, Wilson, Bowers, Oates and Evans, died on their way back from the South Pole. The story of their journey has become one of the greatest epics of British exploration.
"Memento Mori" of Welsh copper industry, reputed to have been made by William Francis in about 1895.
This Momento Mori celebrates a visit to Mumbles, Caswell and Langland Bay by the Morfa Copper Refiners in 1895.
Dylan Thomas Centre
- A copy of The Mabinogion from 1877
Dylan’s name comes from this collection of Welsh folk tales, and means ‘son of wave’. Dylan was a very unusual name in 1914; despite its literary origins, Dylan told his first girlfriend it meant ‘Prince of Darkness’!
- Original Worksheets for ‘Poem on his birthday’
Two original handwritten worksheets for Dylan Thomas’ ‘Poem on his birthday’, which include imagery of the sea and waterbirds. Dylan worked on it from 1949 until 1951, and these pages are two of around 250 worksheets for this one poem alone.
Glynn Vivian Art Gallery
Swansea had become a booming port by the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and the town’s pottery industry capitalised on this maritime culture, producing commemorative ship plates and jugs to celebrate the vessels, sailors and merchants. The local potteries also worked on direct commissions, making customised ceramics which sometimes included the names of ships.
Kildare Meager bequest, 1965
- ‘From Paviland to the Worm’ by James Harris Senior (1810-1887)
James Harris Senior was a notable marine painter who portrayed Swansea’s success in global trade when the town was the copper-smelting capital of the world. Having been a seaman himself, his voyages included travelling around Cape Horn in copper ore ships. His maritime experience enabled considerable accuracy in his depiction of vessels, how they were constructed, and how they behaved at sea. In 1882 Harris retired and moved to Reynoldston, Gower, where another marine painter represented in the collection, Edward Duncan, was a regular visitor.
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