Blaenavon Industrial Landscape
Blaenafon Water Balance Tower
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| UNESCO World Heritage Site | |
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| Location | Blaenavon, Torfaen, Wales |
| Criteria | (iii): illustrates social and economic structure (iv): example of a 19th century industrial landscape |
| Reference | 984 |
| Coordinates | 51°46′26″N 3°04′59″W / 51.774°N 3.083°WCoordinates: 51°46′26″N 3°04′59″W / 51.774°N 3.083°W |
| Inscription | 2000 ( Session) |
 Location of Blaenavon Industrial Landscape in Torfaen, Wales.
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Blaenavon Industrial Landscape, in and around Blaenavon, Torfaen, Wales, was inscribed a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2000. The Blaenavon Ironworks, now a museum, was a major centre of iron production using locally mined or quarried iron ore, coal and limestone. Raw materials and products were transported via horse-drawn tramroads, canals and steam railways. The Landscape includes protected or listed monuments of the industrial processes, transport infrastructure, workers' housing and other aspects of early industrialization in South Wales.
The Industrial Revolution in Britain was based on iron and coal, the main products of the South Wales valleys. Production of pig iron in the region grew from 39,600 tons in 1796 to 666,000 tons in 1852, and the iron was used to build railways, factories and engines around the world. Blaenavon was an important centre of coal mining and iron making in South Wales during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The Blaenavon Ironworks was opened around 1789 and caused development of the mines, quarries and housing.
Blaenavon lies at the upper end of the Afon Lwyd valley in South Wales. The World Heritage Site is based on the large area of land that the Blaenavon Company leased in 1789. The site is on the north eastern rim of the South Wales Coalfield. The area is an excellent example of an industrial landscape formed in the late 18th and early 19th centuries by mining and iron making activities. The 3,290 hectares (8,100 acres) site contains the Blaenavon Ironworks and the Big Pit coal mine, surrounded by mines and quarries, manufacturing plant, railways, canal, workers' housing and social infrastructure.
The Blaenavon Ironworks, now managed by Cadw, operated from 1789 to 1902. Today there are remains of six blast furnaces, cast houses, boiler rooms, engine houses, the water balance tower used to raise and lower railway trucks, and workers' housing around Stack Square. The remains of the furnaces from the late 18th century and the 19th century are well preserved. Other elements include the 1839 water balance tower, two casting houses, ruined kilns, the base of the massive chimney of the blowing engine, the cast-iron structure that carried the blast pipes to the furnaces and ruins of workers' housing.
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