The Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust
Historic Environment Record
 

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Furnaces & Charging Bank, British Ironworks

Primary Reference Number (PRN) : 11539g
Trust : Glamorgan Gwent
Community : Abersychan
Unitary authority : Torfaen
NGR : SO2573203713
Site Type (preferred type first) : POST MEDIEVAL BLAST FURNACE

Summary :
The blast furnace bank at the British Ironworks comprised a row of 6 blast furnaces built c.1826 by the British Iron Co., each 48ft high and 17-18ft wide in the boshes with a 6,000 cu. ft. capacity. The Furnaces are referred to as 1-6 ranging from the NW to the SE. The furnaces were blown by a pair of coupled Neath Abbey 52 ½ -inch x 8ft beam blowing engines located in an impressive engine house to the SE of the furnace bank and casting house. The demolished furnace bases and other features remain in a buried state, despite a washout that occurred by 1991. Standing remnants of the walls of the charging bank also survive (Roberts 2017).

Description :
The blast furnace bank at the British Ironworks comprised a row of 6 blast furnaces built c.1826 by the British Iron Co., each 48ft high and 17-18ft wide in the boshes with a 6,000 cu. ft. capacity. The Furnaces are referred to as 1-6 ranging from the NW to the SE. The furnaces were blown by a pair of coupled Neath Abbey 52 ½ -inch x 8ft beam blowing engines located in an impressive engine house to the SE of the furnace bank and casting house. A document of 1876 lists the blowing engines providing blast to the 6 furnaces as follows: ‘No. 1 High Pressure Beam 52 ½-inch steam cylinder blowing 104 inches’ dating to 1826, No. 2 High Pressure Beam 54-inch steam cylinder blowing 108 inches’ dating to 1826, but rebuilt in 1875, ‘No. 3 High Pressure Beam 32½-inch steam cylinder blowing 96 inches’ dating to 1845, and ‘No. 4 High Pressure Beam 52-inch steam cylinder blowing 104 inches’ dating to 1870. The same document lists ‘21 Stoves for these 6 Furnaces’, indicating the number of hot-blast stoves in operation in 1876 (Roberts 2017).

The six furnaces were erected by 1826, with construction either starting in 1825 or April 1826. The furnaces at Abersychan were apparently constructed by the Bristol firm of Jones and Wilcox, who were also responsible for construction nearby workers’ housing in Abersychan. The initial construction had been poorly carried out originally without a retaining wall and as a result both the bank and furnaces had been destroyed by water pressure causing the bank behind the furnaces to collapse, and the foundations base to blow due to hydrostatic pressure. All early illustrations and plans show circular top sections, clad in wrought-iron plates. Cort’s sketch of a ‘Cross Section of the Blast Furnaces’ of 1826, which illustrates the ‘Falls at Abersychan’, i.e. the landslide, shows the external basal dimension of the furnace was 23ft (7m) with a height of 53ft (16m), and base-to-height ratio of 1:2.28. The construction problems relating to the furnaces delayed production until 1827. The furnaces are first shown in any detail on the 1st edition 1:2500 OS map of 1879 which shows a series of 6 round furnace tops set in a rectangular furnace bank aligned WNW-ESE, with open pig bed to the WSW. A number of maps of 1884 also show the same detail (Roberts 2017).

Following the end of production and closure in 1881, demolition of the works likely commenced shortly after 1889. The site of the furnaces appears to have been left almost to last, their site being cleared between 1902 and 1922 (2nd and 3rd edition OS maps), leaving the rear and side retaining walls in place. Standing remnants of the walls of the charging bank survive, whilst the demolished furnace bases and other features remain in a buried state, despite a washout that occurred by 1991 (Roberts 2017).


Sources :
Babtie , 1997 , ‘The British’, Pontypool, Archaeological Evaluation Report. (Cardiff) Unpublished report.
Roberts, R. , 2017 , GGAT 148: The British (Abersychan) Ironworks, Talywain, Torfaen: Survey

Events :
E008475 : Former British Ironworks, Talywain, Aberyschan, Torfaen (year : 2022)

Related records
GGAT Historic Environment Record (HER) 02515g
GGAT Historic Environment Record (HER) 10899g
National Monuments Record NPRN 85063

Compiled date : 10-01-2018


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