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MOUNT PLEASANT BUSINESS CENTRE LTD
TEL 01792 951196
Get to Know Mount Pleasant Business Centre
Mount Pleasant Business Centre offers a proffessional, welcoming workspace with a rich heritage. Take a moment to read the history of the Mount Pleasant Campus and discover the story behind this iconic Swansea location.
The Full Story
About Mount Pleasant Campus
The History of Mount Pleasant Campus
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The History of Mount Pleasant Campus at Mount Pleasant, Swansea.
Origins and Early Uses
The area of Mount Pleasant itself has long been part of Swansea’s urban fabric, with growth in the Victorian era and housing built around the late 19th century.
📚 Educational Heritage
In 1853, Swansea Grammar School for Boys relocated to Mount Pleasant to occupy a purpose-built facility on the site. Over time this and neighbouring institutions evolved — including the Swansea Intermediate and Technical School for Boys, which later became Swansea Technical College.
These institutions taught vocational and technical subjects and formed one of the foundational elements of what would become the Swansea Metropolitan University.
🎓 Swansea Metropolitan University Era
The combined evolution of the Swansea College of Art (1853), Swansea Training College (1872) and Swansea Technical College (1895) eventually led to the formation of the West Glamorgan Institute of Higher Education in 1976, later renamed Swansea Metropolitan University. The Mount Pleasant Campus bore much of this educational activity and was central to the university’s role in vocational and creative education.
📌 Merger and Transition to UWTSDI n 2013, Swansea Metropolitan University merged into the University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD), bringing the Mount Pleasant Campus into the wider university structure. Many faculties continued to operate at Mount Pleasant while UWTSD developed its footprint in Swansea.
🏙 Recent Changes and Campus Closure
In 2018, UWTSD began consolidating its Swansea operations, moving many staff and students from the Mount Pleasant Campus to a new £350 million SA1 Swansea Waterfront campus, designed to modernise and centralise teaching facilities.
The main Mount Pleasant Campus at SA1 6ED effectively closed for most academic use around that time, though some specialist teaching and arts provision remained in the locality, notably along Alexandra Road.
🧭 Context Within the Area
The site and the surrounding district also reflect a broader Swansea story — including its industrial expansion, workhouse and healthcare history (e.g., Mount Pleasant Hospital) and educational lineage, making this locale historically significant beyond just the campus itself.
**NOTABLE BUILDINGS AROUND WHAT WAS MOUNT PLEASANT CAMPUS...
Dylan Thomas Building
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The main surviving structure of the former Swansea Grammar School on Mount Pleasant was renamed the Dylan Thomas Building in 1988 in honour of the famous Welsh poet and writer who was a pupil there.
Mount Pleasant Campus Buildings
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Through the 20th century, the site expanded with technical and educational buildings — many designed or extended under architects like Ernest Morgan, who contributed to the expansion of Swansea Technical College (later the Mount Pleasant campus).
Alexandra Road Arts Campus
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While most facilities moved to the SA1 Waterfront campus in 2018, the arts faculty (Swansea College of Arts) remains nearby on Alexandra Road, where a new building was opened in 2015 on the site of the former Dynevor Grammar School.
Notable Alumini Connected With the History of Mount Pleasant
Dylan Thomas
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One of Wales’s most famous writers, Dylan Thomas attended Swansea Grammar School at Mount Pleasant before the site became part of the technical college/university lineage.
Alumni of Swansea Grammar School / Mount Pleasant Roots
The earlier grammar school at Mount Pleasant (whose campus later became part of the university system) educated a number of significant figures, including:
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Martin Amis – acclaimed novelist.
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Donald Anderson, Baron Anderson of Swansea – politician.
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Sir John Cadogan – leading chemist.
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Prof Sir Sam Edwards – noted physicist.
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Sir Alex Gordon – prominent architect.
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Neville George – distinguished geologist.
(These figures are associated with the historic Swansea Grammar School — which formed the early educational roots of the Mount Pleasant academic site.)
Legacy and Influence
The Mount Pleasant site has played a central role in Swansea’s education landscape for over a century, from grammar and technical schooling in the 19th century through to vocational and creative higher education in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Even after the academic relocation to the SA1 Waterfront campus in 2018, the arts teaching and heritage of education in this area remain strong, especially around Alexandra Road.
