Llanelli Timeline

This is just a basic timeline of Llanelli’s history.  Please help us create an enhanced version.  All submission can be emailed to history@llanellitown.com.

 

1600s

1682 – Creation of Llanelly Church
1683 – Start of parish records

1700s

1761 – Oldest map of Llanelli created, where Machynys is shown to be an island.
1772 – John Wesley visits Llanelly.
1779 – Wesley visits again.
1780 – Independent chapel established at Capel Als.
1785 – Calvinist Methodist church established at Gelli On.
1791 – Blast furnace set up in Cwmddyche by Gevers and Ingman.
1795 – Alexander Raby begins to operate mining and melting of metal ores. Llanelly’s population recorded as less than 500.

1800s

1801 – Llanelly’s first census – population 2,972.

1802 – Establishment of foundry and engineering works by Waddle in New Dock.
1803 – Llanelly and Mynnydd Mawr opened
1805 – Llanelly’s copper works established by Daniel & Co.
1809 – Llanelly is hit by floods. Jubilee of King George celebrated by townsfolk. Establishment of Capel Newydd.
1810 – Erw Fawr coal pit founded by General Ward.
1813 – Box coal pit opened.
1822 – Sion Chapel founded.
1823 – Part of Parish Church is built.
1828 – Six bells put in tower of the Parish Church. Upper and Lower Markets opened. Wesleyan church built.
1829 – Construction of Hall Street and New Street begin. Railway allowed between St Davids and Machynys. R.J. Nevill buys all coal pits belonging to General Ward.
1830 – Cambrian copper works opened.
1831 – Town population recorded as 7,646.
1832 – Seventeen persons die in Llanelly after the town is hit by cholers.
1835 – New Dock opened in Llanelly, the gas company is formed and the local industrialist Alexander Raby dies.
1839 – Swansea Road workhouse opened.
1840 – The Llanelly Pottery was established.
1875 – Llanelli RFC, one of the most storied rugby union clubs in Wales, is formed; though the club itself misidentified its formation date as 1872.
1879 – Stradey Park opens as the home of Llanelli RFC. It remained the home for Llanelli RFC for nearly 130 years, and later for the regional side Scarlets, but closed in November 2008 when the teams’ new home, Parc y Scarlets, opened in nearby Pemberton.

1895 – Host the National Eisteddfod of Wales

1903 – Hosts the National Eisteddfod for a second time.

1911 – Riots occur as a part of railway strikes during ‘the great unrest’. On 17 August, strikers at Llanelli held up trains at one of the level crossings in the town. The army was called in the next day and two bystanders were shot dead. Railway trucks carrying detonators were set on fire, causing an explosion that killed four people.
1930 – Hosts the National Eisteddfod.
1962 – Hosts the National Eisteddfod.
1972 – “The Day the Pubs Ran Dry”—31 October, when Llanelli RFC defeated the touring All Blacks of New Zealand 9-3 (10-3 in today’s scoring system) before a crowd of 26,000 at Stradey Park. Pubs throughout the town ran dry serving fans celebrating the win.

2000s

2000 – Hosts the National Eisteddfod.

2008 – 24 October—Stradey Park hosts its last match, an EDF Energy Cup contest in which the Scarlets defeat Bristol 27–0.

15 November—Parc y Scarlets opens with a match between Llanelli RFC and Cardiff RFC, with the home team comfortably winning 32–3.

2009 – 31 January—The official opening ceremony of Parc y Scarlets is held; the main event is a match between the Scarlets and the Barbarians, with the Scarlets winning 40–24.