Mechanics Institute is a Grade II listed building in the Neath Port Talbot local planning authority area, Wales. First listed on 10 April 1975. Bridge. 2 related planning applications.
Mechanics Institute
- WRENN ID
- heavy-casement-crow
- Grade
- II
- Local Planning Authority
- Neath Port Talbot
- Constituency
- Neath and Swansea East MP: Carolyn Harris (Lab)
- Country
- Wales
- Date first listed
- 10 April 1975
- Type
- Bridge
- Address
- Mechanics Institute, 4 Church Place, SA11 3LL
- OS grid reference
- SS 753 977
- Coordinates
- 51.66423, -3.80436
- Source
- Cadw listing
Description
The Mechanics Institute is a building designed by Alfred Russel Wallace, who lived in Neath from 1841 to 1848. The structure features twelve-pane horned sash windows on the first floor, with scribed panels on the architraves and bracketed sills. The ground floor has slightly deeper twelve-pane sashes, and the windows are framed by rusticated architraves topped with triangular pediments, with sills resting on a plinth.
On the ground floor, there is a round-arched doorway to the left, which has a rusticated architrave and a triangular pediment also resting on a plinth. The doorway includes inset steps leading to a modern panelled door and a segmental fanlight above. A deep round-arched stair window is located on the left end elevation. At the rear, there are twelve-pane sash windows on the first floor and a cut doorway to the basement on the right.
A plaque is situated between the two middle ground floor bays on the front elevation, inscribed with the following text: "Alfred Russel Wallace 1823-1913. Designed this building. He lived in Neath from 1841-1848 during which period he worked as a surveyor and studied Natural History. In his lifetime he collaborated with Charles Darwin in the Study of the Law of Natural Selection and with him presented the first Paper on the Subject in 1858."
Local climate
Mechanics Institute sits in one of the wettest parts of the UK, with an average of 1,380 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 97% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 96% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 28 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 69% of listed buildings. Of these, 12 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
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- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- Related listed building consents — 2 applications
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.
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