Swansea (Sweyneseye) was given a grant of murage dated 28/11/1317.
This was in the form of:-
This is a grant which may have been used for walls but could have been used for other civic improvements.
Wording
Grant for ten years, at the request of William de Brewosa, to the bailiffs and good men of Sweyneseye of murage and pavage upon all wares brought for sale into their town. By p.s.
Granted by Edward II. (Regnal year 11). Granted at Windsor. Granted by p.s..
Primary Sources
Maxwell Lyte, H.C. (ed), 1903,
Calendar of Patent Rolls Edward II (1317-21) Vol. 3 p. 59
online copy
Secondary Sources
Coulson, Charles, 2009, Murage Grants (Handwritten list and notes)
Turner, H.L., 1971, Town Defences in England and Wales (London) p. 218
Comments
SWANSEA / BAE ABERTAWE 2658 1931. Borough twelfth century. Mint 1135-54 (feudal coinage not in K Steph’s name). Viking settlement from the ninth and tenth centuries. Norman town from c.1106, which received its first charter between 1153 and 1184. The market was held at the upper end of Castle Square. Despite an attack by Glyndwr, Swansea developed into a successful trading port. It was described by Leland as a market town and the ‘chief place of Gower lande’ in the late 1530s (Soulsby, pp. 242-7; R.A. Griffiths, ‘The medieval boroughs of Glamorgan and medieval Swansea’, in T.B. Pugh ed.,
Glamorgan County History iii (Cardiff, 1971), pp. 361-79). Market town c.1600 (Everitt, p. 472). (Letters, S., 2003,
Gazetter of Markets and Fairs in England and Wales to 1516 (Centre for Metropolitan History)
online copy)
Record created by Philip Davis. This record created 13/01/2009. Last updated on 04/06/2012. First published online 5/01/2013.
