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Maesteg blast furnaces is a post-medieval and modern industrial monument situated in Wales, protected by Cadw under reference GM418. The furnaces exploited the rich mineral resources of the underlying Pennine and South Wales Middle Coal Measures, which here comprise mudstone, siltstone, sandstone, coal, ironstone and ferricrete deposits formed during the Moscovian period. This geological setting made Maesteg an ideal location for iron smelting, as the essential raw materials—coal for fuel and ironstone for ore—lay directly beneath the site.
The blast furnaces represent an important phase of Wales's industrial development, when advances in iron production technology drove demand for sites with direct access to coal and iron deposits. The combination of these resources within the same geological formation allowed for efficient, integrated production at a single location.
Today the furnaces stand as evidence of Wales's significant contribution to the Industrial Revolution and the exploitation of the coalfield resources that transformed the nation's economy and landscape during the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Maesteg blast furnaces is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference GM418. View the official record →
Maesteg blast furnaces is a post-medieval and modern industrial monument situated in Wales, protected by Cadw under reference GM418.
Maesteg blast furnaces dates from the post medieval/modern period, and is classified as a blast furnace. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Maesteg blast furnaces is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Cadw — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Wales. The official designation reference is GM418.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Earthwork & Platform Houses N of Nant Fadog (6 km), Cefn Cribwr Ironworks (8.1 km), Bryndu Coke Ovens (8.1 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Maesteg blast furnaces'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.
Maesteg blast furnaces stands on Pennine Middle Coal Measures Formation And South Wales Middle Coal Measures Formation (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Moscovian. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone, sandstone, coal, ironstone and ferricrete.