page_title: Briton Ferry
section_title: Background
hierarchical_section_title: Briton Ferry / Background
caption_attribution_description: A scene from the quayside showing large ships and boats.
context_page_description: Briton Ferry is a town and community in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales. The Welsh name may indicate that the church, llan, is protected from the wind, awel. Alternatively, Sawel may be a derivative of Saul, St Paul's earlier name. He once landed at Briton Ferry. An alternative Welsh name unused today is Rhyd y Brython, a direct translation of Briton Ferry. The Normans referred to the River crossing as La Brittonne and Leland in 1540 as Britanne Fery.
context_section_description: Briton Ferry is on the mouth of the River Neath, where it enters Swansea Bay, and is the first river crossing along the Roman road that follows the coastline along that part of South Wales. A milestone dedicated to Victorinus, a former Roman Governor in Gaul and Britain, was found at nearby Baglan. The ferry boat crossing was some 2 miles (3.2 km) from the bridge across the River Neath at Neath. At certain low tides, it was possible to walk across the river via a ford close to the ferry route using stepping stones.
  Briton Ferry lies on the heavily fractured ground near the mouth of the River Neath on a line between the upper and middle coal measures. The original course of the River Neath may have been through the Jersey Marine gap between the isolated hills, which formed a rocky ridge between Briton Ferry and Jersey Marine. Beyond the ridge, the sands of Baglan Bay extended into Briton Ferry until the mid-nineteenth century when the estuary’s saltings were developed for industry. Today, the river crossing comprises two bridge crossings which carry the M4 motorway and A483 road across the river.
  There are remains of ancient Iron Age hill forts on the hills in Briton Ferry at Warren Hill; above the town, they are found at Buarth-y-Gaer, Gaer Fawr, and Mynydd-y-Gaer alongside the boundary with Baglan. A Neolithic stone is in place within the grounds of Cwrt Sart school. A plaque alongside the stone is inscribed, "When removed, it will speak but once to reveal its secret, and then remain silent forever." One explanation for the name of the nearby Giant's Grave is the presence of a cromlech. At Crymlyn Burrows, an unlooped Bronze Age axe (c.1400 BC) was discovered.
  
  The town was part of the Briton Ferry Estate, whose lands belonged to Margam Abbey before they passed on, in turn, to the Mansel, Villiers, and Vernon families (Earls of Jersey). It had been owned by the Price family of Briton Ferry in the early 17th century until the Mansels inherited it. There it remained until Louisa Barbara Mansell married George Venables Vernon in 1757. There was no male issue, so she left the estate to her godson George, Earl of Jersey. He modernised and reduced the size of the estate to ensure its viability.
caption: William Daniell's Briton Ferry, painted in 1814 (Tate Gallery)
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