Swansea University has a number of diverse and fascinating Research Collections to aid your studies. At the South Wales Miners' Library, our collections explore the political, social and cultural aspects of industrial South Wales. The South Wales Coalfield Collection (SWCC) is our largest research collection, but we also hold numerous smaller collections donated by academics, politicians, institutions and workers. These provide valuable resources for research across numerous disciplines, including Industrial History, English Literature, Politics, Astronomy and Philosophy.
The Richard Burton Archives, Rare Book Collection and Store Books are all located at Singleton Park Library.
Some photographs of our special collections
The South Wales Miners Library (SWML) was established by University of Wales, Swansea in 1973 to house material collected by the Coalfield History Project. The project attempted to locate, collect and preserve records relating to the social, political, educational and cultural aspects of mining communities throughout the South Wales Coalfield. The material collected is now known as the South Wales Coalfield Collection. It is split between two sites: the South Wales Miners' Library and the Richard Burton Archives. The SWCC Collection exists in many forms, including minute books, pamphlets, newspapers, photographs and interviews.
Mining Institutes
As industry declined in South Wales and Miners' Institutes closed, a number of smaller miners' libraries donated their collections to SWML. The books contained within these institute libraries offer an insight into the literature valued by working men and their communities. The Institute Collections also often reflect the communities that they served, regularly demonstrating the influence of particular religious or political ideologies within the area.
The Miners’ Library began its Oral History Collection as a result of two Coalfield History Projects that ran from 1971-74 and 1979-82. The projects collected a broad range of sources that included oral testimony. Over 1175 hours of audio and video interviews were recorded as a result of these projects, which documented the lives of ordinary men and women. The interviews offer insights into the individual struggles of these people, as well as affording glimpses into the larger social, cultural and political contexts in which they lived. Subsequent recordings have been added in the years since the original projects, adding to the breadth and scope of the collection.
The interviews vary in length. Some last for several hours while others are around forty-minutes. Reflecting the bilingual nature of the coalfield, approximately 10% of the interviews were conducted in Welsh. Many prominent figures in the South Wales coal industry have been interviewed, such as Dai Francis, Emlyn Williams, Phil Weeks and Will Paynter.
Our collection includes a textual record of the coalfield but also a material and artistic record of the coalfield. The political and cultural significance of visual arts can be seen in our collections of banners and posters.
Banners
SWML currently holds sixty six banners in its collection, the majority of which are owned by the National Union of Mineworkers. The banners are visual symbols of a cohesive class identity within industrial communities. They are regularly loaned out for events, presentations, demonstrations and productions.
Posters
Our poster collection includes material from a range of diverse sources and organisations. Posters from the Spanish Civil War, the 1984-5 Miners' Strike, Miners' Institutions and recent political campaigns all demonstrate the power of visual materials.
The South Wales industrial communities' contribution to the Spanish Civil War (1936-39) remains relatively understudied. This contribution includes efforts on the battlefields and at home. Many of the Welsh volunteer soldiers in the International Brigade were miners, while Welsh nurses contributed to caring for the injured. Back home, there were numerous fund-raising attempts and the raising of political awareness within industrial communities themselves. At the Miners' Library, a wide-reaching collection across assorted materials (posters, interviews, pamphlets) highlights the political significance of the War for working-class communities in Britain.
The South Wales Miners Library houses the collection of the acclaimed and prolific writer Gwyn Thomas, author of seminal Anglo-Welsh texts The Dark Philosophers and All Things Betray Thee. Thomas's personal collection provides a glimpse into his literary preoccupations. As well as a range of fascinating texts, we also hold his hat and coat!
The Miners' Library houses a huge range of political pamphlets and documents. This collection contains literature relating to trade unionism, the NHS, party politics, mining history and civil rights.
CLIP Cymru is a collection of digitised film, video and audio from the Wales Broadcast Archive and The National Library of Wales' Screen and Sound Archive.
Clip Corners are being opened across Wales to allow free and local access to view and listen to The National Library of Wales’ entire digitised audiovisual collection. Due to rights restrictions, it is not possible to make the entire collection viewable online, however its records will be searchable online. We are lucky enough to have a Clip Corner here at the SWML