Dowlais Ironworks

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Dowlais Ironworks was a major 19-century ironworks located near Merthyr Tydfil, in Wales.

In 1759 the Dowlais Ironworks was opened by the partnership of Thomas Lewis and Isaac Wilkinson. It was established on the hillside above Merthyr. It was not an ideal place, but they had a small rent so they could obtain their ore very cheaply. Two years later it was bought by John Guest and he became a partner at Dowlais. He continued to own Dowlais Ironworks and it was soon said to be the biggest in the world. In 1845, it employed 7,300 people and its 18 furnaces produced 89,000 tonnes of iron each year. Dowlais had many foreign orders for railways in 1835-36. Such as the Berlin and Leipzig Railway and the St.Petersburg to Pauloffsky railway. There were many others, too. This was during the period when there was a boom in demand for iron bars and railways.

The works owed much of its success to an 1821 contract for iron rail, as rail was needed in ever greater quantities to build the rapidly expanding railroads. At its peak in 1844, the works operated 18 blast furnaces and employed 7,300 people, and by 1857 had constructed the world's most powerful rolling mill.

Unlike the Cyfarthfa Ironworks, the Dowlais works converted to steel production early (becoming the first licensee of the Bessemer process in the 1850's), allowing it to survive into the 1930's.

In 1912, King George V of the United Kingdom and Queen Mary made an official visit to the ironworks as part of a tour of south Wales. They entered through a specially-constructed arch of coal, and left through an arch of steel.

By a process of amalgamation, the company became a part of a large engineering combine, Guest Keen and Nettlefolds (GKN). Iron production ceased in 1936, and the company built a new iron and steel works at East Moors, adjacent to the docks at Cardiff. The iron foundry and engineering works, still known locally as the "Ivor Works" after Ivor Bertie Guest, son of John Josiah Guest, continued to operate and new facilities were built after World War 2. It continued for some years under the name of Dowlais Foundry and Engineering Company, but was later sold to British Steel. It closed in 1987.

Dowlais Ironworks was one of the four main ironworks in Merthyr, the other three were Cyfarthfa, Plymouth and Penydarren Ironworks.