Cof Cymru: National Historic Assets of Wales · Wales
Remains of Venallt Ironworks
Blaengwrach, Neath Port Talbot, Wales
A scheduled monument in Blaengwrach, Neath Port Talbot, recorded as Ironworks (Post Medieval/Modern).
The record
- Designation
- Scheduled monument
- Site type
- Ironworks
- Period
- Post Medieval/Modern
- Date of designation
- 26 March 1982
- Community
- Blaengwrach
- Unitary authority
- Neath Port Talbot
- Country
- Wales
- Coordinates (centre of the scheduled area)
- 51.73192, -3.64612
- SAM number
- GM423
- Cadw record number
- 143
Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.
David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesUniversity Library, Vrije Universiteit AmsterdamDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesUniversity Library, Vrije Universiteit AmsterdamBayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich
5 historical maps cover this location, the earliest the 1588 map "Ortelius, Abraham: Theatro De La Tierra Universal. 0" (Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich).
Historical maps covering this location
- 1588 · Ortelius, Abraham: Theatro De La Tierra Universal. 0 (Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich)
- 1608 · (13) Cambriae Typus. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
- 1898 · 231 Merthyr Tydfil (Hills) (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
- [Kaart] (University Library, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)
- Sheet 7 South Wales (University Library, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)
Cadw's description
Summary description and reason for designation
The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Ancient Monument.
The monument consists of the remains of Venallt Ironworks built in 1830. It ceased production c. 1842. The blast furnace used anthracite in the making of pig iron. The surviving remains comprise an engine house, the base of the chimney stack, a block of slag with two tuyeres left in it, the charging bank retained by a large stone wall, a short section of Protheroe's Tramroad which served the works, a stone-revetted watercourse and waste tips.
The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance and illustrate our knowledge and understanding of the development of the iron industry. An ironworks may be part of a larger industrial complex and their importance can further enhanced by their group value.
The scheduled area comprises the remains described and areas around them within which related evidence may be expected to survive.
Nearby in the register
- Limekiln to SE of Maes-Gwyn Lock on Neath CanalIndustrialunder 1 mi
- Bridge over Neath Canal at Maes-gwynTransportunder 1 mi
- Bridge at lock on Neath Canal N of Yscwrfa BridgeTransportunder 1 mi
- Aberpergwm Aqueduct over Neath CanalWater Supply and Drainageunder 1 mi
Other entries of the same register within about three miles of this one, by straight line.