Blaenavon Ironworks is a preserved 18th–19th century iron-making complex in Blaenavon, Torfaen, Wales. It was one of the earliest integrated ironworks, later becoming a key site in the development of steel-making through the Gilchrist–Thomas basic process. Today it is part of the Blaenavon Industrial Landscape UNESCO World Heritage Site and is managed by Cadw.

Site features include:

• Two furnaces
• Massey steam press
• Water balance tower
• Cast house
• Stack square - group of worker’s cottages, now furnished to illustrate different decades in the 20C

Early Development

• Ironmaking in the Blaenavon area dates back to Roman times.
• The ironworks was established in 1788 by Thomas Hill, Thomas Hopkins, and Benjamin Pratt.
• Built as a multi-furnace operation with blast furnaces, kilns, worker housing, and a company store.

Growth (Late 18th – Early 19th Century)

• Early visitor William Coxe (1798–99) described it as large and successful.
• Early adoption of steam power and use of local coal, iron ore, and limestone.
• Population rapidly expanded from ~1,000 (c.1800) to >5,000 (1840).
• By 1800 it was one of Wales’s major iron producers.

19th Century Changes

• Reorganised as the Blaenavon Iron & Coal Company in 1836.
• Construction of the water-balance tower for lifting pig iron to the canal.
• Produced iron rails for export worldwide.
• Became the Blaenavon Iron & Steel Company (1870), pioneering use of the basic steelmaking process.
• Iron production declined; operations shifted toward coal mining (e.g., Big Pit).

20th Century to Present

• Ironworks closed in 1904; briefly reopened in 1924, then abandoned.
• Reused for wartime production and later as a storage yard.
• Preserved during the rise of industrial archaeology in the 1950s–70s.
• Conservation began in 1974; major restoration completed in 2001.
• Now a museum and visitor site within a UNESCO World Heritage landscape.

Open Daily: 3rd Apr-2nd Nov: 10am to 5pm, winter: 10am to 4pm (Fri to Sun only)
North St, Blaenavon NP4 9RN
01495 792615
https://cadw.gov.wales/visit/places-to-visit/blaenafon-ironworks
BlaenavonIronworks@gov.wales

Unesco World Heritage site
Scheduled Monument
Many listed structures.