Cyfarthfa Iron Works at The Black Mountains

History

On the eastern fringes of Merthyr Tydfil is the site of a huge ironworks just west of Cyfarthfa Castle, and across the river Taf. Iron production was originally started at the site by Anthony Bacon, a merchant from London, in 1765, with the first blast furnace coming ‘online’ around 1767. The ironworks was contracted to supply the royal navy with cannon, and Bacon’s partner in this enterprise was Richard Crawshay. Following a court decision to transfer the lease for the entire works to Richard Crawshay (Bacon was now a member of parliament, and was therefore unable to hold government contracts) he then went into partnership with James Cockshutt and William Stevens for a few years. Crawshay terminated the partnership with in 1791 and became the sole owner of Cyfarthfa iron Works, and the first ‘Ironmaster of Cyfarthfa’.

Under the Crawshay family, the works flourished. Richard added 5 more blast furnaces, and in 1803 the works employed around 1500 people and was the largest in the world. Still producing ordnance for the navy, the works was so critical to the war effort (Britain was involved in multiple conflicts during this period) that Admiral Nelson visited the site personally. Richard died in 1810, and the works passed to his son William. His son, William II, was appointed by his father to manage the works and raised production to it’s peak (around 23,000 tons of iron per year). Another notable contract was to the Tsar of Russia, for whom the works forged train rails. As the industrial revolution gained paced, Cyfarthfa played a huge role in supplying high-grade iron for construction, although it was overtaken by nearby Dowlais works in terms of size and production levels. During this time, Cyfarthfa castle was built, the Crawshays family home.

Richard Thomas Crawshay took over the plant in 1847, but due to his refusal to switch to steel manufacturing, the works fell into decline until closure in 1875. His sons took over, re-opened the works once more, but had to close them very soon to allow for an expensive conversion to steel manufacturing. This was complete in 1884, and the works opened once more. They ran the plant until 1902; at this time it was sold to the owners of Dowlais works. The steelworks ran until 1910, before further closure. After a brief spell of production, from 1915 to 1919, producing steel for use in World War 1, the steelworks closed for the final time. It was dismantled in 1928.

The ironworks today

Only a small portion of the works remains today; a huge access arch amid 6 large blast furnaces, and a network od smaller tunnels that run between them. The blast furnaces form a man-made cliff from their sheer bulk, but behind them a high cavity can be found between them and the natural cliff face. This is roofed (again, man-made) to allow access to the tops of the furnaces, where the iron ore, coke and lime were added. Beyond this, little remains. On the nearby river Taf, there is a small remnant of the water mill that provided the original forge with power.