Clyne Wood Arsenic & Copper Works

Summary description and reason for designation

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Ancient Monument.

The monument comprises the remains of a smelting works dating to the industrial period. The smelting of non-ferrous metals was the leading industry in the Swansea area in the late 18th and early 19th century, and the region dominated world production of copper. This is the best preserved of any of its 50 or so former non-ferrous smelting works. It was built between 1825 and about 1840 and operated intermittently until 1860, after which the buildings were used as hay sheds. It exhibits a high level of survival of an early to mid 19th century layout owing to the absence of subsequent development. The remains await detailed interpretation, but the multiple terraces typical of such works can be seen, together with a tall ruined building, pillars for an open timber structure, furnaces, and a long system of hillside flues and condensors leading to a large tower (Ivy Tower), gothicized in the late 19th century as a folly for the adjacent Clyne Castle. At the downhill side of the site are small slag heaps and at the bottom of these the line of the Clyne Wood Canal, including what appears to be a small dock.

The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of the industrial revolution. The monument retains significant archaeological potential and forms an important element in the wider south-Wales industrial landscape.

The area scheduled comprises the remains described and an area around them within which related evidence may be expected to survive.