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Bank holiday information - Easter

Bank holiday information for our services, including opening times and emergency contacts. All recycling collections will take place on the usual days.

Nominate a building or individual for a blue plaque

Do you know of a person or building / site of wider historical interest that deserves to be honoured with a blue plaque?

The blue plaque scheme commemorates the unique, important figures from the arts, science, sport and philanthropy who have made a significant contribution to their field and to society. It enables the city to honour these people and their achievements and to share them with the world.

In addition to individuals, the scheme can commemorate buildings or sites that have a historical significance worthy of public notice - other than a particular personal association.

While preparing your application, please refer to the guidance notes provided below - these will help you prepare your application and provide as much information as possible to the blue plaque advisory panel to aid your submission. These notes also provide further information on the background to the scheme, and the blue plaque process.


Nomination guidance for blue plaques

Selection criteria:

Selection is made by a panel chaired by the Cabinet Member for Culture and comprising Swansea Council officers. Nominations are chosen based on the following criteria:

  • The nominee must have been dead for at least 20 years
  • The nominee must be of national or international significance
  • The nominee will have made a significant contribution to public life, be a nationally famous person and/or be remembered in history
  • The connection with Swansea needs to be clearly evidenced
  • For the commemoration of buildings or sites, evidence is required that:
    • a historical event of particular importance occurred there, or
    • the building or site had an important historical significance that is not obvious from its present appearance, use or any existing commemoration
  • The proposal must demonstrate it has public support outside of the immediate nominator
  • The location of plaques must be authentic, relevant and accessible
  • Sites for displaying plaques must be in good condition.
  • How the proposal contributes to the ambition for an interesting and varied scheme that considers representation in terms of: gender, category of accolade and geographic spread
  • Whether the plaque can be self-funded.


Researching your candidate:

When nominating, please supply as much information as possible to support the authenticity of the building or site as a place related to your nominee. By 'authentic' we mean that it has either to have been inhabited by the person or that the person had a strong association with the place through their profession or vocation/work.

Address information can initially be found in accounts of the person's life. Further detail can be found from sources such as electoral registers and census returns. Many of these are available online on sites such as www.ancestry.com (opens new window) and www.findmypast.co.uk (opens new window) which in Wales can be accessed free of charge in public libraries and local archives.

Please supply as much information as you can about the address, including dates of residence or association and any noteworthy details about the person's links to a particular building.  Whilst we will thoroughly research cases ourselves, it is helpful to have as much information as possible from the outset.

What happens next?

The blue plaques advisory panel meets once a year in April to assess applications. Once a nomination is approved, the consent of the building owners has to be secured prior to a legal agreement being drawn up and signed by the owner and Swansea Council. Listed building consent may also be required. 

Once all the consents are in place, wording for the plaque will be agreed between the parties concerned. Manufacture of the plaque takes between 4-6 weeks. A formal unveiling ceremony will be organised by Swansea Council's cultural services.

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