Wales' population rapidly expanded because of the South Wales Coalfield's exploitation.
South Wales had several notable potteries, one of the first important sites being the Ewenny Pottery in Bridgend, which began producing earthenware in the 17th century
 In the 1870s, coal was transported by rail transport networks to Newport Docks, at the time the largest coal exporting docks in the world, and by the 1880s coal was being exported from Barry, Vale of Glamorgan

