Tintern Upper Wireworks (New Tongs Mill)

Cadw's description

Summary description and reason for designation

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

The monument consists of a leat, an artificial water channel that supplied the Tintern Upper Wireworks or New Tongs Mill, together with the remains of associated structures. Substantial retaining walls required to terrace the site survive along with the bastion and pit of a waterwheel, believed to have been 6m in diameter, the footings of the wire drawing mill and annealing furnace and the terraced working area. The works was built in about 1803 and was operated as part of the chain of ironworks in the Angidy Valley, the most important centre in Britain for wire making from the 16th century to the late 19th century. The wireworks ceased operation in the early 20th century.

The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of 18th or 19th century industrial practices. It retains significant archaeological potential, with a strong probability of the presence of associated archaeological features and deposits. The structure itself may be expected to contain archaeological information concerning chronology and building techniques. A leat may be part of a larger cluster of monuments 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.