The Mansion House is a historic building in Ffynone Road in Swansea, Wales. The building was commissioned as a private residence but, since 1922, it has accommodated the official residence of the Lord Mayor of Swansea.
| The Mansion House | |
|---|---|
.jpg) The building in 2010 | |
| Location | Ffynone Road, Swansea |
| Coordinates | 51°37′18″N 3°57′35″W / 51.6216°N 3.9598°W |
| Built | 1863 |
| Architectural style(s) | Gothic Revival style |
  Shown in Swansea | |
History
editThe house was commissioned by a local builder, Evan Mathew Richards, as a private residence for himself and his family. The site he selected was in the Ffynone area of Swansea.[1] The house was designed in the Gothic Revival style, built in rubble masonry and was completed in 1863.[2]
The design involved an asymmetrical main frontage of six bays facing south towards Ffynone Road. The first bay was formed by an octagonal tower, which was fenestrated by bi-partite windows, and surmounted by a spire. The third bay was fenestrated by bay windows on the ground floor and first floor, these were castellated and surmounted by a gable containing a pointed window. The fourth bay was fenestrated by a castellated bay window on the ground floor and by a lancet window on the first floor, while the other bays were fenestrated by segmental headed bi-partite or tri-partite windows. The house was originally known as "Brooklands".[3][4][5]
Richards went on to be the Mayor of Swansea in 1855/56 and again 1862/63.[6][7] He also served as member of parliament for Cardiganshire from 1868[8] to 1874.[9] Following Richards' death in 1880, the house was acquired by James Jones who let the building out as the judges' lodgings. The property was subsequently inherited by his niece who continued to let it out to visiting judges.[3]
The house was purchased by the County Borough of Swansea in 1922 and since then has been known as the Mansion House. The house was subsequently fitted out with furniture and paintings from the Vivian Collection which had been left to the corporation in 1905.[10][11][12] Two cannons, which had been cast at the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich in 1804 and operated by the Sea Fencibles in defence of Swansea Harbour during the Napoleonic Wars, were placed on the terrace in front of the building.[13]
References
edit- ^ "Ordnance Survey Map". 1900. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
- ^ "The Mansion House". City and County of Swansea Council. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
- ^ a b "Aberystwyth". Welsh Gazette and West Wales Advertiser. 20 March 1902. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
- ^ Francis, George Grant (1881). The Smelting of Copper in the Swansea District of South Wales From the Time of Elizabeth to the Present Day. Henry Sotheran & Company. p. ix.
- ^ Slaughter, Mihill (1 January 1863). Railway Intelligence: Under the Sanction of the Committee of the Stock Exchange. Vol. 12. p. 173.
- ^ "Ffynone & Uplands Conservation Area Review" (PDF). City and County of Swansea Council. 1 August 2015. p. 9. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
- ^ Nicholas, Thomas (1991). Annals and Antiquities of the Counties and County Families of Wales. Genealogical Publishing Company. p. 639. ISBN 978-0806313146.
- ^ "Cardiganshire Election". Aberystwyth Observer. 28 November 1868. p. 4. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
- ^ "Liberal Defeat in Cardiganshire (editorial)". Cambrian News. 13 February 1874. p. 6. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
- ^ Guide to the Collections of the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery Swansea (1970), p. 6.
- ^ "Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea, short-listed for prize". Wales Online. 8 August 2009. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
- ^ "Richard Glynn Vivian". The Library of Nineteenth-Century Photography. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
- ^ "Graham Thomas". South Wales Evening Post. 4 October 2023. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
Further reading
edit- Alban, J. R. (1979). The Mansion House, Swansea. Swansea: Swansea City Council.