Workshops, stores and office at Briton Ferry Foundary

Cadw's description

Location

On the S side of the engineering works and immediately W of a disused railway line.

History

Probably built in the late C19 as part of the expansion of the old Briton Ferry Foundry into an engineering
works, and replacing an earlier range of buildings on this site shown on the 1877 Ordnance Survey.
(The date is unclear, however, as later Ordnance Survey maps do not show the present building until 1941.)

The site was established in 1862 as the Briton Ferry Foundry. It was operated by various owners and in 1882
was sold to Taylor, Struve, Eaton and Price, who expanded and diversified their operations into heavy
engineering. The company has traded since 1900 as Taylor & Sons. The works established its
reputation by manufacturing heavy machinery for the steel, tinplate and coal industries, notably a
patent tinning machine used at local tinplate works. During the 1914-18 war it was converted for
munitions manufacture.

Exterior

A 2-storey workshop and store of rubble stone, with brick wall to the N facing the yard, and slate
roof. Windows have brick surrounds with iron-frame glazing. The N wall is longer than the S and
consequently the W gable end is at an oblique angle. The front, facing the yard on the N side, is
of 7 bays with round-headed windows. The centre bay is wider and beneath a gablet. In the upper storey
is blocked doorway under an elliptical head, with a similar doorway in the lower storey also blocked
but with a small doorway inserted into it. The L-hand bay also has a round-headed doorway. In the upper
storey the bays are defined by large recessed panels. A high rubble-stone wall is attached at the R end.

The W gable end is 4 bays with round-headed windows and a large oculus beneath the apex. The shorter
rear wall is of 5 bays with round-headed windows in the lower storey and lunettes above. The E gable end is
roughcast and has a coped gable with ball-topped finial. Set back against the E gable end is a lower
one-and-a-half storey office with a brick front and advanced central gabled bay, and wooden mullioned and
transomed windows. On its R side is an added lean-to.

Interior

Not inspected.

Reason for designation

Listed for architectural interest as a well-preserved and now rare example of S Wales industrial architecture,
and for the industrial archaeological interest of its association with an important engineering works
manufacturing plant for heavy industry.