The Cyfarthfa Ironworks was a major 18th century and 19th century ironworks

Ironworks

An ironworks or iron works is a building or site where iron is smelted and where heavy iron and/or steel products are made. The term is both singular and plural, i.e...

 located in Cyfarthfa

Cyfarthfa

Cyfarthfa is a community of the county borough of Merthyr Tydfil, in Wales. As of 2001, it has a population of 6141. Cyfartha mainly consists of the settlements of Gellideg and Heolgerrig....

, on the north-western edge of Merthyr Tydfil

Merthyr Tydfil

Merthyr Tydfil is a town in Wales, with a population of about 30,000. Although once the largest town in Wales, it is now ranked as the 15th largest urban area in Wales. It also gives its name to a county borough, which has a population of around 55,000. It is located in the historic county of...

, in South Wales

South Wales

South Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the north and west. The most densely populated region in the south-west of the United Kingdom, it is home to around 2.1 million people and includes the capital city of...

.

The beginning

The Cyfarthfa works were begun in 1765 by Anthony Bacon

Anthony Bacon (industrialist)

Anthony Bacon was an English-born merchant and industrialist who was significantly responsible for the emergence of Merthyr Tydfil as the iron-smelting centre of Britain.-Background:...

 (by then a merchant in London), who in that year with William Brownrigg

William Brownrigg

William Brownrigg M.D. F.R.S. was a doctor and scientist, who practised at Whitehaven in Cumberland. While there, William Brownrigg carried out experiments that won him not only a place in The Royal Society but the prized Copley Medal....

, his fellow native of Whitehaven

Whitehaven

Whitehaven is a small town and port on the coast of Cumbria, England, which lies equidistant between the county's two largest settlements, Carlisle and Barrow-in-Furness, and is served by the Cumbrian Coast Line and the A595 road...

, Cumberland

Cumberland

Cumberland is a historic county of North West England, on the border with Scotland, from the 12th century until 1974. It formed an administrative county from 1889 to 1974 and now forms part of Cumbria....

 leased the right to mine in a tract of 4000 acres (16.2 km²) land on the west side of the river Taff

River Taff

The River Taff is a large river in Wales. It rises as two rivers in the Brecon Beacons — the Taf Fechan and the Taf Fawr — before joining to form the Taff north of Merthyr Tydfil...

 at Merthyr Tydfil. They employed Brownrigg's brother-in-law Charles Wood

Charles Wood (ironmaster)

Charles Wood was an ironmaster and one of the inventors of the potting and stamping method of making wrought iron from pig iron.-Parents:...

 to build a forge there, to use the potting and stamping

Potting and stamping

Potting and stamping is a modern name for one of the 18th century processes for refining pig iron without the use of charcoal.-Inventors:The process was devised by Charles Wood of Lowmill, Egremont in Cumberland and his brother John Wood of Wednesbury and patented by them...

 process, for which he and his brother had a patent

Patent

A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....

. This was powered by water from the river, the race dividing into six to power a clay mill (for making the pots), two stampers, two hammers and a chafery

Chafery

A chafery is a variety of hearth used in ironmaking for reheating a bloom of iron, in the course of its being drawn out into a bar of wrought iron....

. The construction of the first coke

Coke (fuel)

Coke is the solid carbonaceous material derived from destructive distillation of low-ash, low-sulfur bituminous coal. Cokes from coal are grey, hard, and porous. While coke can be formed naturally, the commonly used form is man-made.- History :...

 blast furnace

Blast furnace

A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally iron.In a blast furnace, fuel and ore and flux are continuously supplied through the top of the furnace, while air is blown into the bottom of the chamber, so that the chemical reactions...

 began in August 1766. This was intended to be 50 feet high with cast iron

Cast iron

Cast iron is derived from pig iron, and while it usually refers to gray iron, it also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys which solidify with a eutectic. The color of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy. White cast iron is named after its white surface when fractured, due...

 blowing cylinders, rather than the traditional bellows

Bellows

A bellows is a device for delivering pressurized air in a controlled quantity to a controlled location.Basically, a bellows is a deformable container which has an outlet nozzle. When the volume of the bellows is decreased, the air escapes through the outlet...

. It was probably brought into blast in Autumn 1767. In the meantime, Plymouth ironworks

Plymouth Ironworks

The Plymouth Ironworks was a major 18th century and 19th century ironworks located at Merthyr Tydfil, in South Wales....

 was leased to provide pig iron

Pig iron

Pig iron is the intermediate product of smelting iron ore with a high-carbon fuel such as coke, usually with limestone as a flux. Charcoal and anthracite have also been used as fuel...

 for the forge.

Brownrigg retired as a partner in 1777, receiving £1500 for his share. From about that time Richard Crawshay

Richard Crawshay

Richard Crawshay was a London iron merchant and then South Wales ironmaster.Richard Crawshay was born in Normanton in the West Riding of Yorkshire...

 was Bacon's partner in his contracts to supply cannon

Cannon

A cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellents to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees,...

 to the Board of Ordnance

Board of Ordnance

The Board of Ordnance was a British government body responsible for the supply of armaments and munitions to the Royal Navy and British Army. It was also responsible for providing artillery trains for armies and maintaining coastal fortresses and, later, management of the artillery and engineer...

, but perhaps not in the ironworks. Bacon had previously subcontracted cannon-founding

Foundry

A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal in a mold, and removing the mold material or casting after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals processed are aluminum and cast iron...

 to John Wilkinson

John Wilkinson (industrialist)

John "Iron-Mad" Wilkinson was an English industrialist who pioneered the use and manufacture of cast iron and cast-iron goods in the Industrial Revolution.-Early life:...

, but henceforth made them at Cyfarthfa, as is indicated by his asking for ships carrying them to be convoy

Convoy

A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support, though it may also be used in a non-military sense, for example when driving through remote areas.-Age of Sail:Naval...

ed from Penarth

Penarth

Penarth is a town and seaside resort in the Vale of Glamorgan , Wales, 5.2 miles south west from the city centre of the Welsh capital city of Cardiff and lying on the north shore of the Severn Estuary at the southern end of Cardiff Bay...

.

In 1782, Bacon (as a Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 had to give up government contracts and passed the forge and broing mill with the gunfounding business to Francis Homfray

Francis Homfray

Francis Homfray was an English industrialist and one of the founders of the iron industry in South Wales.Homfray, whose family were originally from Yorkshire, had been successful in the iron trade in Coalbrookdale, Staffordshire, and made his home at Wollaston Hall, Worcestershire. He married...

. However, he gave it up in 1784 to David Tanner

David Tanner

David Tanner is a professional Australian road cyclist, currently riding for Saxo Bank-SunGard.-Palmarès:20052007...

, so that his sons could establish the Penydarren Ironworks. However David Tanner

David Tanner

David Tanner is a professional Australian road cyclist, currently riding for Saxo Bank-SunGard.-Palmarès:20052007...

 also did not stay long, giving up the works in 1786, the year of Bacon's death. Tanner's managers were James Cockshutt, Thomas Treharne, and Francis William Bowzer.

Bacon left a family of illegitimate children and was the subject of Chancery

Court of Chancery

The Court of Chancery was a court of equity in England and Wales that followed a set of loose rules to avoid the slow pace of change and possible harshness of the common law. The Chancery had jurisdiction over all matters of equity, including trusts, land law, the administration of the estates of...

 proceedings. The court directed a lease of the whole works to Richard Crawshay, who took as his partners, William Stevens (a London merchant) and James Cockshutt. Richard Crawshay took out a licence from Henry Cort

Henry Cort

Henry Cort was an English ironmaster. During the Industrial Revolution in England, Cort began refining iron from pig iron to wrought iron using innovative production systems. In 1783 he patented the puddling process for refining iron ore...

 for the use of his puddling

Puddling (metallurgy)

Puddling was an Industrial Revolution means of making iron and steel. In the original puddling technique, molten iron in a reverberatory furnace was stirred with rods, which were consumed in the process...

 process, and proceeded to build the necessary rolling mill. However, difficulties remained with the puddling process and it was not until perhaps 1791 that these were resolved. In 1791, Crawshay terminated the partnership, which had been barely profitable, and continued the works alone, adding further furnaces in the following years.

Richard Crawshay 1794-1810

Under Richard Crawshay

Richard Crawshay

Richard Crawshay was a London iron merchant and then South Wales ironmaster.Richard Crawshay was born in Normanton in the West Riding of Yorkshire...

, the Cyfarthfa works rapidly became an important producer of iron products. Great Britain

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

 was involved in various naval conflicts

Naval warfare

Naval warfare is combat in and on seas, oceans, or any other major bodies of water such as large lakes and wide rivers.-History:Mankind has fought battles on the sea for more than 3,000 years. Land warfare would seem, initially, to be irrelevant and entirely removed from warfare on the open ocean,...

 during this time around the British Empire

British Empire

The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...

, and the demand for cannon

Cannon

A cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellents to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees,...

 and other weapons was great. The Cyfarthfa works became critical to the success of the war

War

War is a state of organized, armed, and often prolonged conflict carried on between states, nations, or other parties typified by extreme aggression, social disruption, and usually high mortality. War should be understood as an actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict between political...

 effort, so much so that Admiral Nelson paid a personal visit to the works in 1802. The Crawshay family crest included a pile of cannon balls in token of the crucial role of their ironworks. Richard passed on the responsibility for the works to his son, William

William Crawshay I

William Crawshay was a South Wales industrialist.The son of Richard Crawshay, he took over the Cyfarthfa Ironworks from his father, but it was never his primary concern, and he continued to live in London. He already had trading interests in India and had only taken a role in the business because...

, but the latter was less committed to the business than his father.

William Crawshay II 1788-1867

William Crawshay II

William Crawshay II

William Crawshay II was the son of William Crawshay I, the owner of Cyfarthfa Ironworks in Merthyr Tydfil, south Wales....

 was appointed by his father William Crawshay to manage the works after Richard's death in 1810. By 1819, the ironworks had grown to six blast furnaces, producing 23,000 tons of iron. The works continued to play an enormous role in providing high-quality iron to fuel the voracious appetite of the Industrial Revolution

Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...

, with the Tsar

Tsar

Tsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism...

 of Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

 sending a representative to view the production of iron rail. During this time, the Cyfarthfa works lost its position as the leading ironworks in Merthyr Tydfil to its longtime rival, the Dowlais Ironworks

Dowlais Ironworks

The Dowlais Ironworks was a major ironworks and steelworks located at Dowlais near Merthyr Tydfil, in Wales. Founded in the 18th century, it operated until the end of the 20th, at one time in the 19th century being the largest steel producer in the UK...

.

It was also during this period that Crawshay had built a home, which became known as Cyfarthfa Castle

Cyfarthfa Castle

Cyfarthfa Castle is the former home of the Crawshay family, historical ironmasters of Cyfarthfa Ironworks in Park, Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. Despite appearing superficially to be a fortified building it is a house built in the style of a large mansion...

. The buildings were erected in 1824, at a cost of £30,000 (equivalent to £2,104,964.72 in 2007) http://www.measuringworth.com/index.html. They were solidly and massively built of local stone, and designed by Robert Lugar

Robert Lugar

Robert Lugar , was an English architect and engineer in the Industrial Revolution.Although born in Colchester, England, Lugar carried out much of his most important work in Scotland and Wales, where he was employed by several leading industrialists to design grand houses such as Balloch Castle and...

, the same engineer who had built many bridges and viaducts for the local railways. It was designed in the form of a "sham" or mock castle

Castle

A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...

, complete with crenellated battlements, towers and turrets, in Norman architecture

Norman architecture

About|Romanesque architecture, primarily English|other buildings in Normandy|Architecture of Normandy.File:Durham Cathedral. Nave by James Valentine c.1890.jpg|thumb|200px|The nave of Durham Cathedral demonstrates the characteristic round arched style, though use of shallow pointed arches above the...

 and Gothic architecture

Gothic architecture

Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....

 styles, and occupied by William Crawshay II and his family. It stood, and still does, amid 158 acre (0.63940388 km²) of landscaped parkland, and overlooked the family-owned iron works just across the river.

Robert Thompson Crawshay 1847-1879

Robert Thompson Crawshay

Robert Thompson Crawshay

Robert Thompson Crawshay was a British ironmaster.-Life:Crawshay, youngest son of William Crawshay by his second wife, Bella Thompson, was born at Cyfarthfa Ironworks. He was educated at Dr. Prichard's school at Llandaff, and from a very early age manifested interest in his father's ironworks, and...

 was the last of the great Crawshay Ironmaster

Ironmaster

An ironmaster is the manager – and usually owner – of a forge or blast furnace for the processing of iron. It is a term mainly associated with the period of the Industrial Revolution, especially in Great Britain....

s, as foreign competition and the rising cost of iron ore (much of which had to be imported as local supplies were exhausted) exacted a heavy toll on the Cyfarthfa works. Robert was reluctant to switch to the production of steel

Steel

Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...

, but in 1875 the works was forced to close.

Decline and final closure

The next generation

After R. T. Crawshay's death, his sons reopened the works, but soon closed again for a long and costly rebuild that was not complete until 1884, while a steel works was constructed. Crawshay Brothers, Cyfarthfa, Limited continued the business until 1902, when the works were sold to Guest Keen and Nettlefolds Limited, the proprietors of the Dowlais Ironworks

Dowlais Ironworks

The Dowlais Ironworks was a major ironworks and steelworks located at Dowlais near Merthyr Tydfil, in Wales. Founded in the 18th century, it operated until the end of the 20th, at one time in the 19th century being the largest steel producer in the UK...

.

By 1910, the steelworks had been forced to close again, and while it was briefly reopened in 1915 to aid in the production of materials for World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, the works closed for the last time in 1919. It fell into disrepair until it was dismantled in 1928. The failure of the works was a devastating blow to the local community, as it had depended heavily on the works for its economic livelihood.

The works today

Portions of the enormous complex that formed the Cyfarthfa works remain intact today, including six of the original blast furnaces.

See also

• Pont-y-Cafnau
  Pont-y-Cafnau
  The Pont-y-Cafnau , sometimes written Pont y Cafnau or Pontycafnau, is a long iron truss bridge over the River Taff in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. The bridge was designed by Watkin George and built in 1793 for his employer, the Cyfarthfa Ironworks, to support both a tramway and an aqueduct to carry...
  
  , world's earliest surviving iron railway bridge

External links

• Old Merthyr Tydfil: Cyfarthfa Ironworks - Historical Photographs of Cyfarthfa Ironworks.