Cyfarthfa Ironworks
The Cyfarthfa Ironworks was a major 18th century and 19th century ironworks located in Cyfarthfa, on the north-western edge of Merthyr Tydfil, in South Wales.
The Cyfarthfa works were begun in 1765 by Anthony Bacon (by then a merchant in London), who in that year with William Brownrigg, his fellow native of Whitehaven, Cumberland leased the right to mine in a tract of 4,000 acres (16 km2) land on the west side of the river Taff at Merthyr Tydfil. They employed Brownrigg's brother-in-law Charles Wood to build a forge there, to use the potting and stamping process, for which he and his brother had a patent. This was powered by water from the river, the race dividing into six to power a clay mill (for making the pots), two stampers, two hammers and a chafery. The construction of the first coke blast furnace began in August 1766. This was intended to be 50 feet high with cast iron blowing cylinders, rather than the traditional bellows. It was probably brought into blast in Autumn 1767. In the meantime, Plymouth ironworks was leased to provide pig iron for the forge.
Brownrigg retired as a partner in 1777, receiving £1500 for his share. From about that time Richard Crawshay was Bacon's partner in his contracts to supply cannon to the Board of Ordnance, but perhaps not in the ironworks. Bacon had previously subcontracted cannon-founding to John Wilkinson, but henceforth made them at Cyfarthfa, as is indicated by his asking for ships carrying them to be convoyed from Penarth. Bacon had the Cyfarthfa Canal, a short tub boat waterway, constructed during the latter part of the 1770s to bring coal to the ironworks.
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