Now all can learn about mansion’s controversial past

KILVEY Hill on Swansea’s Eastside is a popular vantage point, and now visitors can use their mobile phones to discover how a mansion on the south-west side was built with the proceeds of slave exploitation in Jamaica.

By scanning QR codes on the three-sided stone seat near the summit, visitors can read a concise history of Kilvey Hill and see a picture of Maesteg House, the mansion built by copper magnate Pascoe St Leger Grenfell.

He was compensated with about £500,000 in today’s money when forced to free his slaves after Britain abolished slavery in 1833.

The information and QR codes are provided by the Historypoints project, in partnership with the Centre for the Study of Legacies of British Slave-ownership, Swansea Council’s Countryside Access Service, Swansea Museum and West Glamorgan Archive Service.

Rhodri Clark, editor of Historypoints.org, said: “Pascoe St Leger Grenfell had a major influence on Swansea’s development and was praised for his model housing for local workers. However, his hundreds of workers in distant Jamaica were paid nothing and received no compensation when they were eventually released from slavery.”

Rachel Lang, of the Centre for the Study of Legacies of British Slave-ownership, said: “Historypoints is an extraordinary resource with a wealth of stories, some well known, many unexpected, about so many aspects of Welsh history.

“This includes sites with connections to slave owners.

“The legacies of colonial slavery are all around us, from the houses built using the proceeds of slave ownership to the challenges we face today in overcoming the deep-rooted racist policies we upheld for so long.

“This is a history we have all been shaped by, albeit unequally.”

Robert Francis-davies, the council’s cabinet member for investment, regeneration and tourism, said: “I urge local residents to seek out the Kilvey Hill QR codes to discover more about their area’s history.

“Some of that history is about slavery and it is unpleasant – but it must be reflected in how we view our past.”

Kilvey Hill is one of a growing number of places in Wales whose historic links with slavery can be discovered by residents and visitors by scanning Historypoints QR codes. They include venues where antislavery meetings were held or former slaves from the USA gave talks.

Historypoints has created QR codes for over 1,700 places in Wales to give the public instant access to the stories of objects and places.