Llandarcy
Encyclopedia
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
near Neath
Neath
Neath is a town and community situated in the principal area of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, UK with a population of approximately 45,898 in 2001...
in Neath Port Talbot
Neath Port Talbot
Neath Port Talbot is a county borough and one of the unitary authority areas of Wales. Neath Port Talbot is the 8th most populous county in Wales and the third most populous county borough....
county borough
County borough
County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control. They were abolished by the Local Government Act 1972 in England and Wales, but continue in use for lieutenancy and shrievalty in...
, southwest
South West Wales
South West Wales is a region of Wales. A definition consisting of the unitary authorities of Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire is used by a number of government agencies and private organisations including:*BBC...
Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, and formerly the site of the UK's first oil refinery. The village, which lies near the Junction 43 of the M4 Motorway
M4 motorway
The M4 motorway links London with South Wales. It is part of the unsigned European route E30. Other major places directly accessible from M4 junctions are Reading, Swindon, Bristol, Newport, Cardiff and Swansea...
, was originally designed as a garden village
New town
A new town is a specific type of a planned community, or planned city, that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed in a previously undeveloped area. This contrasts with settlements that evolve in a more ad hoc fashion. Land use conflicts are uncommon in new...
to house the workers for the refinery, built by BP
BP
BP p.l.c. is a global oil and gas company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest energy company and fourth-largest company in the world measured by revenues and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors"...
Oil between 1918-22.
History
Llandarcy was chosen as a site for a refinery because of its proximity to Swansea docksSwansea docks
Swansea Docks is the collective name for several docks in Swansea, Wales. The Swansea docks are located immediately south east of Swansea city centre. In the mid-19th century the port was exporting 60% of the world's copper from factories situated in the Tawe valley...
, where crude oil could be transported by sea from the Middle East. The site was damaged by Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
bombing in 1940. At its peak the refinery was a major employer in South West Wales
South West Wales
South West Wales is a region of Wales. A definition consisting of the unitary authorities of Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire is used by a number of government agencies and private organisations including:*BBC...
, with over 2600 workers. However, it was also responsible for industrial pollution at nearby Crymlyn Bog
Crymlyn Bog
Crymlyn Bog is a nature reserve and a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest of international significance, near Swansea, south Wales....
, an area designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest. Operations at the refinery were gradually been scaled back in the late 20th century, and the site closed in 1998.
The village, named after William Knox D'Arcy
William Knox D'Arcy
William Knox D'Arcy was one of the principal founders of the oil and petrochemical industry in Persia .-Early life:...
(founding director of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, forerunner of BP) comprised approximately 250 houses constructed of stone with a community centre and local shop. The village was the site of the murders of school girls Pauline Floyd, Geraldine Hughes and Sandra Newton in 1973. Their killer's identity remained a mystery until 29 years later in 2002 when DNA evidence was taken by South Wales Police
South Wales Police
South Wales Police is one of the four territorial police forces in Wales. Its headquarters are based in Bridgend.Covering Wales' capital city, Cardiff, as well as Bridgend, Merthyr Tydfil, Swansea, and the western South Wales Valleys, it is the largest police force in Wales in terms of population,...
from the grave of Joe Kappen, who worked as a doorman, lorry and bus driver. Kappen died of lung cancer on 17 June 1990, at the age of 49, and took his secret with him to the grave.
Sport and leisure
BP, the company operating the refinery, also operated a sports and leisure club. Following the closure of the refinery, the leisure facilities were acquired by Llandarcy Park Ltd, which redeveloped the site with a new health and fitness club, hotel and restaurant. Llandarcy now hosts the Glamorgan Health & Racquets Club, which has a range of indoor and outdoor sports facilities, and the Llandarcy Academy of Sport, which has one of only two indoor grass training fields in Wales.Future plans
The disused land from the scaling down of the oil refinery has found a number of new uses. Part of the site is now occupied by offices of the Environment Agency WalesEnvironment Agency Wales
Environment Agency Wales is an Assembly Sponsored Public Body. It is that part of the Environment Agency that covers Wales. The Regional divisions of the Environment Agency are based on the concept of catchment management and administrative boundaries therefore follow the watersheds of major rivers...
. Land near the entrance of the old refinery near M4 Junction 43 has been redeveloped as a business park. All of the remaining brownfield land which was occupied by the refinery is being re-developed into a new village called Coed Darcy
Coed Darcy
Coed Darcy is a new village currently being developed adjacent to Llandarcy in Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales.-Historical background:...
. The Prince's Trust
The Prince's Trust
The Prince's Trust is a charity in the United Kingdom founded in 1976 by Charles, Prince of Wales to help young people. They run a range of training programmes, provide mentoring support and offer financial grants to build the confidence and motivation of disadvantaged young people...
is an interested party in this development, which seeks to develop the site as an "Urban Village" in the same vein as the Poundbury
Poundbury
Poundbury is an experimental new town or urban extension on the outskirts of Dorchester in the county of Dorset, England.The development is built on land owned by the Duchy of Cornwall. It is built according to the principles of Prince Charles...
village project.