Blaenavon Industrial Landscape

Brief Description

Justification for Inscription

Criterion iii The Blaenavon landscape constitutes an exceptional illustration in material form of the social and economic structure of 19th century industry. Criterion iv The components of the Blaenavon industrial landscape together make up an outstanding and remarkably complete example of a 19th century industrial landscape.

Long Description

The Blaenavon landscape constitutes an exceptional illustration in material form of the social and economic structure of 19th-century industry. The area around the Blaenavon ironworks provides an extraordinarily comprehensive picture of the South Wales coal and iron industry in its heyday in the 19th and early 20th centuries, when it was one of the world's largest iron and steel producers. All the necessary elements can be seen in situ : coal and ore mines, quarries, a primitive railway system, furnaces, the homes of the workers, and the social infrastructure of their community.

From at least 1675, iron ore was extracted on the mountains of Blaenavon. However, the area was virtually unsettled and used only for small-scale iron mining and grazing. In 1788 Thomas Hill, Thomas Hopkins, and Benjamin Pratt built a major new ironworks at Blaenavon, putting into practice the latest technology and organization of the Industrial Revolution in a new and resource-rich setting. By 1789 the ironworks consisted of three blast furnaces using steam power, making it one of the largest in the world.

In 1817 adit mining for iron ore and coal developed on a larger scale, replacing surface scouring, and shaft mines were introduced, with sophisticated drainage, haulage, and ventilation arrangements. Population grew rapidly through the migration of workers from rural areas of Wales, from the industrial Midlands, Ireland, Scotland and rural England. Blaenavon parish, which had been minuscule before the ironworks was built, had grown to 11,452 in 1891. The social development of the area created a thriving urban culture. A rapidly created industrial landscape grew up of iron-ore patches, coal mines, limestone quarries, iron forges, brick works, tram roads, watercourses and workers' houses, all controlled by the Blaenavon Company, which was reorganized as a joint stock company in 1836.

During the 1840s and 1850s the scattered housing of the workers and the works' school, church and chapels were complemented by the evolution, on land outside the company's ownership, of a town with a variety of urban functions. There were three principal clusters of buildings in the area, one around the Ironworks, one along the east-west axis, now King Street, and one around St Peter's Church.

Relative decline in steelmaking from around the turn of the century permitted the growth of coal production for export. Steel production ceased in 1938, and Big Pit, the last substantial working colliery, closed in 1980. Big Pit is now a museum of coal mining of international significance, and one of only two mining museums in the United Kingdom where visitors can be taken underground. The conservation of Blaenavon Ironworks has contributed to economic regeneration. The town and the surrounding landscape have survived little altered to represent the story of their past.

The improvement of transport systems was a key component of the Industrial Revolution and was vital to the success of the coal and iron industries with their bulky goods and requirement to exploit new regions. Much evidence remains in the landscape of the transport systems by which Blaenavon Ironworks was supplied with raw materials and its products were conveyed to the coast.

In an upland setting like that of Blaenavon, which lies high on the watershed, the careful management of water was vital to provide sufficient and reliable supply, even in drought, to operate water-balance lifts, carry out scouring, and feed steam engines. Surface and underground drainage was also of the utmost importance for mining operations. Watercourses and drains can be seen in many places on the hills above Blaenavon, often with relationships to one another.

A variety of workers' housing remains within the Blaenavon landscape. The company usually built dwellings very close to its ironworks, mines, quarries or transport routes. Adjacent to the Ironworks stands Stack Square and Engine Row, a small group of solidly constructed stone cottages.

Historical Description

From at least 1675, and probably earlier, iron ore was extracted on the mountains of Blaenavon. However, the area was virtually unsettled and used only for small-scale iron mining and grazing.

In 1788 Lord Abergavenny leased the common lands, "Lord Abergavenny's Hills," to Thomas Hill, Thomas Hopkins, and Benjamin Pratt. These three entrepreneurs saw the opportunity to build a major new ironworks at Blaenavon, putting into practice the latest technology and organization of the Industrial Revolution in a new and resource-rich setting. By 1789 the Ironworks consisted of three blast furnaces utilizing steam power, making it the second largest ironworks in Wales and one of the largest in the world. Iron ores, fireclay, coal, and limestone were supplied by the company's own mineral properties. By 1796 the furnaces were producing 5400 tons of iron a year. Houses were built beside the company's ironworks, mines, and quarries for key workers, and a dense network of primitive railways was created to carry raw materials to the works and products towards markets. Population grew rapidly through the migration of workers from rural areas of Wales, from the industrial Midlands, Ireland, Scotland, and rural England. A rapidly created industrial landscape grew up of iron-ore patches, coal mines, limestone quarries, iron forges, brick works, tramroads, watercourses, and workers' houses, all controlled by the Blaenavon Company.

By 1812 there were five furnaces capable of making 14,000 tons of iron a year. New primitive railway connections were made with the Brecknock and Abergavenny Canal through the 2.4km long Pwll-Du tunnel, the longest ever built on a horse-drawn railway. The Garn-Ddyrys Forge, to convert pig iron to wrought iron, was built on the mountain north of Blaenavon in 1817. Adit mining for iron ore and coal developed on a larger scale, replacing surface scouring, and shaft mines were introduced, with sophisticated drainage, haulage, and ventilation arrangements. New sources of limestone were explored and larger quarries opened. During the 1840s and 1850s the scattered housing of the workers and the works' school, church and chapels were complemented by the evolution, on land outside the company's ownership, of a town with a variety of urban functions.

In the 1860s, the Company brought into production a new steelworks across the valley at Forgeside, making the old ironworks increasingly redundant and protecting it from redevelopment. In 1878, Sidney Gilchrist Thomas and Percy Gilchrist invented at Blaenavon the Basic Bessemer or Thomas process, which was of world-wide importance in permitting phosphoric iron ores to be used in bulk steelmaking. The scale of production expanded, and the iron products of Blaenavon and the skills of its workforce continued to be exported throughout the world. Big Pit was sunk to serve the new works, and the new settlement of Forgeside was built. The population of Blaenavon parish, which had been minuscule before the Ironworks was built, had grown to 11,452 in 1891. The social development of the area created a thriving urban culture with many chapels, schools, pubs, and tradesmen, and a Workmen's Hall and Institute was built in 1895 to provide social and educational facilities.

Relative decline in steelmaking from around the turn of the century permitted the growth of coal production for export. Demand for the high-quality steam coals of South Wales continued to grow, and the industry reached a peak in 1913, at which time coal mining employed directly 250,000 people in Wales, or one in four of the adult male population. Big Pit was enlarged, and after the nationalization of the British coal industry in 1947 it was further expanded. Nevertheless, employment in the area was falling, and the population has declined continuously since its peak in 1921 of 12,500 to the present 6,000 inhabitants. Steel production ceased in 1938, and Big Pit, the last substantial working colliery, closed in 1980.

Economic and social decline has meant that much of the fabric of the town is in need of investment, but the development of new industries, the opening of Big Pit as a mining museum in 1983, and the conservation of Blaenavon Ironworks have contributed to economic regeneration. The town and the surrounding landscape have survived little altered to represent the story of their past.