Lord Nelson statue, Llanfairpwll

Jan 4, 2019

Engineering the shape of Wales


David Davies played a big part in the shaping of modern Wales, and nowhere more so than in Barry, where his statue stands. Starting with sawing timber and improving drainage on farms in Powys, he moved on to engineering …

new railways. Having founded the Ocean Coal Company in the Rhondda, he took on the powerful Bute family – which controlled Cardiff’s congested docks – and created a rival dock in Barry, with new railways to bring coal from the Valleys. He used his wealth to fund Methodist chapels around Wales, preached temperance to his workers and became a Liberal MP. For more of his story, use your smartphone or tablet to scan the HistoryPoints QR codes on the small concrete plinth behind the statue (south of Vale of Glamorgan Council’s Barry Dock offices). Or click here