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Remains of Blast Furnace at Pont Henry is a post-medieval industrial monument located in Wales and protected by Cadw under reference CM227. The furnace exploited the rich mineral deposits of the local bedrock, formed during the Moscovian period. The underlying Coal Measures geology provided access to coal, mudstone, siltstone and sandstone, alongside deposits of ironstone and ferricrete, all essential raw materials for iron production.
Blast furnaces of this type emerged from the 17th century onwards as Britain's iron industry expanded. The furnace at Pont Henry represents the technological developments that made large-scale iron smelting possible, transforming the Welsh landscape and economy. The site's location reflects deliberate placement to maximise access to fuel and ore resources whilst utilising local water power, a crucial requirement for early modern metallurgical operations.
Today the remains stand as evidence of Wales's pivotal role in the development of Britain's industrial heritage. The monument records a landscape fundamentally reshaped by extractive and manufacturing industry, when coal and iron working became central to the region's identity and prosperity. The physical traces of such furnaces provide crucial testimony to the engineering knowledge and labour systems that underpinned the industrial transformation of Britain.
Remains of Blast Furnace at Pont Henry is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference CM227. View the official record →
Remains of Blast Furnace at Pont Henry is a post-medieval industrial monument located in Wales and protected by Cadw under reference CM227.
Remains of Blast Furnace at Pont Henry 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.
Remains of Blast Furnace at Pont Henry 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 CM227.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Waun Twmpath Motte (6.7 km), Cross-Marked Stone at Cilymaenllwyd House (7.7 km), Y Gaer Defended Enclosure (8 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Remains of Blast Furnace at Pont Henry'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.
Remains of Blast Furnace at Pont Henry 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.