© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © Historic Environment Scotland
Bonawe Iron Furnace is a charcoal-fuelled iron smelting works located in Argyllshire, Scotland, established in the mid-eighteenth century as part of the expanding British iron industry. The furnace was constructed around 1753 by English ironmasters to exploit the local abundance of charcoal from the surrounding woodlands and the water power of the River Awe. The stone-built structure survives as a substantial conical blast furnace stack, one of the finest examples of its kind in Scotland, accompanied by associated workshops and storage buildings that illustrate the scale of operations at this rural industrial site. Bonawe continued production into the nineteenth century and represents an important phase in Scottish industrial development before the shift to coal-fired smelting in lowland centres.
Bonawe, Iron Furnace is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM90037. View the official record →
Bonawe Iron Furnace is a charcoal-fuelled iron smelting works located in Argyllshire, Scotland, established in the mid-eighteenth century as part of the expanding British iron industry. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM90037.
Bonawe, Iron Furnace is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Historic Environment Scotland — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Scotland. The official designation reference is SM90037.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Cladh na h'Annaid, burial ground 280m SE of Corachie Farm (2.9 km), Tom an Iasgaire, fort (4.6 km), Barguillean Farm,dun 250m SSW of (4.6 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Bonawe, Iron Furnace's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Bonawe, Iron Furnace stands on Unnamed Extrusive Rocks, Silurian To Devonian, bedrock that formed in the Devonian. The rock here is mafic lava and mafic tuff.