History of Swansea this settlement are still disputed. Spellings such as "Swensi", "Sweni" and "Svenshi" are found on coins minted around 1140, The Welsh name, "Abertawe", translates to "Mouth of the Tawe". It first appears 1150 as "Aper Tyui". In the wake of the Norman Conquest and Norman invasion of Wales, Gower became a marcher lordship which included not only the peninsula itself but also the land to the east as far north as the Aman river and east to the river Tawe. This included the site of Swansea town, which was designated the capital of the area. Although Kilvey Hill is to
Swansea in 1969, which was inherited by the Swansea district when it was formed by the merger of the borough and Gower Rural District in 1974. In 1996, Swansea became one of 22 unitary authorities with the addition of part of the former Lliw Valley Borough. The new authority received the name 'City and County of Swansea' (). Swansea was once a staunch stronghold of the Labour Party which, until 2004, had overall control of the council for 24 years. The Liberal Democrats were the largest group in the administration that took control of Swansea Council in the 2004 local elections