Swansea University Richard Burton Archives

The Richard Burton Archives is the corporate memory and archive repository of Swansea University and holds material of local, regional and national significance. The Archives selects, preserves and makes accessible to all the records of historical value created or acquired by the University.

Through its holdings and the expertise of its staff the Archives actively supports the mission of the University to provide an environment of research excellence, to deliver an outstanding student experience with teaching of the highest quality, and to enrich the community and cultural life of Wales and beyond.

Local Archives

These collections are particularly varied and include the records of many local businesses, such as the Mumbles Railway. The metallurgical industries in the area are well represented, especially copper, tinplate and steel.

Welsh Writers in English Collection

The records of Welsh writers in English are the focus of this collection and include the papers of Raymond Williams, Ron Berry and others. The Raymond Williams collection has been catalogued courtesy of funding from the Barry Amiel & Norman Melburn Trust. The papers of the renowned cultural critic and writer Raymond Williams (1921-1988) range from the creative works of his childhood through his time at Cambridge and World War Two, to his later academic life. The collection reveals the development of this leading intellectual figure.

South Wales Coalfield Collection

The South Wales Coalfield Collection is an internationally important research resource. The collection provides a unique picture of life in the coalfield valleys during the late nineteenth and the twentieth centuries, concentrating on the workers and the organisations they created. It contains records of trade unions, notably the National Union of Mineworkers (South Wales Area) and the Iron and Steel Trades Confederation, miners' institutes, co-operative societies, and individuals connected with the mining community. The Collection is split between the Richard Burton Archives on the Singleton Campus and the South Wales Miners' Library at Hendrefoelan.

Swansea University Records

The core records of the University are held in the Archives, together with collections reflecting the research interests of the University.