Aerial photograph showing Neath, taken in April, 1972. The remains of the 13th century Neath Castle are visible.
The market town of Neath developed on a site that had long been important owing to its position as the lowest crossing point on the River Neath.
In the sixteenth century coal mining and copper smelting commenced in the area, and paved the way for the eighteenth century industrialisation of the town. In 1795 the Neath Canal was completed, followed in 1824 by the Swansea to Aberdulais Canal, and in 1850 and 1851 the South Wales Railway and Vale of Neath Railway respectively. Many of the signs of Neath's industrial past remain; the dry dock, the Town and Market Halls, the Mechanics Institute and the Melyn Tinplate Works.