Map - Ystalyfera

Ystalyfera is a former industrial village and community in the upper Swansea Valley, on the River Tawe, about 13 mi northeast of Swansea. It is an electoral ward and a community in the unitary authority of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, comprising a resident population of just over 3,000 people, approximately 60% of whom speak Welsh.

National Cycle Route 43 passes through the village.

The history of Ystalyfera begins with a small farming family who shared the land. This is reflected in the village's name, composed from the Welsh words, ynys (meaning island), tal (meaning tall) and berran (a composite of ber and rhan, indicating a land-share – a short piece of shared land, probably between agricultural labourers). The history of the name can be seen as it evolved through the ages: -

* 1582 Ynys Tal y Feran

* 1604 Tir Ynystalferran

* 1797 Stalyfera Issa, Ycha, Genol

* 1831 Ystalyfera

Ystalyfera grew as a village with the advent of coal mining and iron working which, together with copper working, were important industries in the Swansea Valley.

In 1838 a furnace was built by James Palmer Budd at Ystalyfera and from this grew the iron and tinplate works which by 1863 was described as “the largest tinplate manufactory in the world”. A new cold-blast process was successfully introduced here and, despite some early crises, the works prospered. By the mid-1850s there were 40 furnaces for puddling and balling in operation and 16 tin mills and houses. The output of iron increased from 4,893 tons in 1843 to 29,828 tons in 1858. The works continued to grow during the 1860s and reached peak production in 1872 with the sale of 182,000 boxes of tinplate.

However, the years of prosperity were limited. The 1870s saw little addition to the plant of the works. Steel had now come to challenge iron on a larger scale, new methods of production demanded the energy, technical skill and financial capital which the ageing J. P. Budd at Ystalyfera could not supply. The works continued to operate during the 1870s, but with Budd's death in 1880 the end was in sight. By this time the works were incurring heavy losses and late in 1885 the works finally closed. For more than 40 years the works had been the colossus of the district and, more than anything else, had been responsible for the transformation of the latter's economic basis and social structure. Less significant in their contribution were the two ironworks, at Pontardawe and Brynamman, though both became substantial producers of tinplate from the 1860s.