“Beneath your feet, somewhere under this garden, lies a crypt. Inside it rests a man whose decisions helped shape Swansea’s future – and whose name still echoes across the city today: Sir John Morris.”

Born in 1745, John Morris was many things: an industrialist, a planner, a visionary. But most of all, he was a builder, both of places and possibilities.

In the 1700s, Swansea’s location made it the perfect storm for industry. It had access to coal from the valleys and copper ore from Cornwall, shipped in by sea. That combination lit a fire, quite literally, in the Lower Swansea Valley. Soon, furnaces roared, chimneys rose, and Swansea earned its nickname: Copperopolis, the copper capital of the world.

At the centre of this industrial boom was Morris. He didn’t just run smelting works – he built a whole community to go with them. In 1768, he founded Morriston, one of the UK’s first planned industrial villages. It had houses, chapels, markets, even green space – a radical idea at the time. He believed workers should live close to their jobs, with some dignity and structure.

Some say he even wanted his workers to live better lives, not just cheaper ones.

He was also part of a revolutionary transport idea – helping develop the Swansea and Mumbles Railway, the first passenger railway in the world. What began as a coal track would become a lifeline for local travel.

When Sir John died in 1819, he was buried right here at what was then called St John’s Church, now Matthew’s House. His wife Henrietta was laid to rest beside him. You can still see their monument inside the church, honouring not just their titles, but their kindness.

Some people even whisper he was buried in a copper coffin, though no one’s proved it.

But what’s certain is this: his legacy didn’t end with smoke and metal.

Two centuries later, his descendants have supported Matthew’s House, which now sits in the very building where he worshipped and was laid to rest. Where once his industry shaped cities, now his resting place supports hospitality, dignity, and hope.

It’s a powerful thought, that the same ground used to remember the Morris family, now serves the hungry, the lonely, and the struggling.

Sir John Morris helped shape a city with fire and vision. Today, that vision continues, not in profit, but in people.