This Month

 

 

 

 WHY BLAENAVON ?

 

The ironworks and surrounding

landscape were awarded World Heritage

status in November 2000, granting

them the same standing as monuments

such as the Egyptian Pyramids. 

Helen Morgan reports:

 

                 

In the late 1700s a trio of entrepreneurs from Staffordshire saw the area’s potential. Their aim was to exploit the mineral wealth, bringing the latest technology to a greenfield site. The epicentre was Blaenavon. Here the essential ingredients for ironmaking — coal, limestone, iron and water — were in abundance. Led by Thomas Hill, the trio opened mines and quarries. They built the horse-drawn Blaenavon railroad to the head of the Monmouthshire canal at Pontnewynydd near Pontypool which had opened in 1796.  Experienced colliers, clerks, surveyors, furnace men and foremen moved here from the Midlands but most of the workforce flooded in from rural Wales. The area remained Welsh speaking until wage cuts led to mass emigration to America, and the Welsh were largely replaced by immigrants from Ireland and England. Meanwhile, Thomas Hill completed a plateway tramroad from Blaenavon through Garnddyrus to the Brecknock & Abergavenny Canal that had opened between Llanfoist and Newport in 1812.  In 1860, Blaenavon ironworks declined when Forgeside opened across the valley. Unusually, Forgeside was on freehold land, whereas most of the area was leased from Lord Abergavenny. For investors, Forgeside offered greater security, and immunity from rents and royalties. Blaenavon then entered the age of steelmaking.  It was here in 1878 that Sidney Gilchrist Thomas and Percy Carlyle Gilchrist developed the Bessemer process, which transformed the world’s steel industry.

As so often in the iron towns, boom times alternated with downturns. After 1900 the ironworks became the maintenance department for the company’s steelworks and collieries.  As heavy industry declined in the 20th century, Blaenavon became a shadow of its former self. In 1970 the old works were scheduled for demolition — until campaigns to preserve it succeeded, and Big Pit reopened as a museum where visitors could go underground. “The character of industrial society is evident from the contrast between the iron masters’ mansions and the cottages of the new working classes, and from the schools, chapels and other social institutions that formed part of this community,” says Peter Wakelin. “The UNESCO award covering 13 square miles recognised the key role that Blaenavon played during the 18th and 19th centuries and the characteristics that defined the industrial revolution.”

Peter Wakelin’s talk at the Borough Theatre on March 11th starts at 7.30pm. It is available to members only. To join visit the Membership page. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Image : Iron Works at Blaenavon

Sir Richard Colt Hoare