Blaenavon Ironworks

Evidence of ironworking in the South Wales Valleys dates from the Roman period. In the 17th century, the Hanburys of Pontypool undertook tinplate manufacture in the area around Blaenavon. The land was the property of Lord Abergavenny, known as Lord Abergavenny's Hills, and in 1788 Henry Nevill, 2nd Earl of Abergavenny granted a renewal of the lease on 12,000 acres to three Midlands businessmen, Thomas Hill, his brother-in-law Thomas Hopkins and Benjamin Pratt. The commercial advantage of the area was that the three essential elements for iron production, coal, iron ore and limestone, all outcropped on the land surface in the western valleys, allowing for their much easier, horizontal,…