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Home » Articles » Aerial photographs of ironworks and iron minesAerial photographs of ironworks and iron mines
Aerial photographs of ironworks and iron mines from the collection of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales.
Aerial photographs of ironworks and iron mines from the collection of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales.
The development of the iron industry was an important milestone in the history of Wales. Small-scale iron mining had taken place for centuries before the first blast furnace in Britain in 1496, and by the seventeenth century there were several furnaces in Wales. Between 1760 and 1900, Wales was transformed from an agricultural society to one of the main centres of the Industrial Revolution. The mines and factories of the south Wales coalfield attracted people from all over Britain and transformed Welsh culture. Merthyr Tydfil was a very important centre for the iron industry. The surrounding area contained all necessary materials - iron ore, limestone for lining furnaces, mountain streams to provide waterpower, timber for charcoal manufacture and ample coal. With the developmental smelting using coke in place of charcoal, ironworks were established at Dowlais in 1749 and at Cyfarthfa in 1765; the former was managed by the Guest family, and the latter by the Crawshay family. Merthyr's population rose from 7,700 in 1801, to 22,000 in 1831, and 46,000 in 1851, causing it to be by far the largest town in Wales. Merthyr's ironmasters implemented Cort's innovative puddling process, invented in 1784, which vastly speeded up the rate of production. This method was so widely adopted in Wales that it became known as 'the Welsh method'. By the 1820s, the Merthyr area was the centre of the source of 40 per cent of Britain's iron exports - the northern rim of the south Wales coalfield, a narrow strip extending from Aberdare to Blaenavon. Merthyr Tydfil remained dominant until the 1850s when new manufacturing methods demanding purer iron ore led to its decline. In the 1870s, Merthyr's population decreased, but demand for coal in the following three decades led to renewed expansion. The collapse of that demand in the 1920s caused much impoverishment.
Clydach Ironworks, near Brynmawr, was established in 1793 close to iron ore, coal and limestone sources. The Ironworks remained in production for about 65 years. In 1841 over 1,350 people were employed, two-thirds of whom were securing iron ore and coal higher up the valley. Limestone was also quarried locally for use as a flux in the smelting process. Raw materials and finished iron were transported to and from the ironworks by a series of railroads, tramroads and inclines. At Bersham Ironworks, near Wrexham, which dates from the late seventeenth century, John Wilkinson produced cannon for the American War of Independence and cylinders for James Watt's steam engines. Neath Abbey Ironworks on the river Clydach had long been an Industrial site prior to 1792. It had the advantages of waterpower, a plentiful supply of coal, was situated close to the tidal River Neath and could be supplied with ore by sea. The furnaces were built in 1792 and by 1796 were producing 75 to 80 tons of iron per week.
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