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  1. Industrial Archaeology
  2. Metal Industries of Wales

Abbey Tintern Furnace

The Abbey Tintern Furnace is a scheduled monument where you can explore the ruins of the furnace site which dates back to 1590. The Angiddy Valley would have been chosen as the location for ironworks due to the availability of waterpower, charcoal (from the surrounding woodland) and iron ore.

This was a charcoal blast furnace which pre-dates the later coke furnaces of the Industrial age. A waterwheel was used to power bellows which created the blast into the furnace chamber and increased the heat to burn the charcoal and melt the iron ore.

It is likely that the furnace was rebuilt on a number of occasions, giving rise to a complex sequence of phasing in the visible remains of stonework. One of these changes was the replacement of the earlier bellows with cylinders to power the blast into the furnace. The Angiddy Valley was the first place in Britain to use this method.

The ironworks complex extended to a much wider area than just the fenced site seen today as it would have included most of the adjacent cottage gardens. This furnace ceased production in 1826 when improved methods of manufacture rendered the complex redundant.
A condensed history of the ironworking industry in the Angiddy Valley is portrayed in a sequence of ceramic plaques on the wall bordering the Lower Wireworks site at the Tintern end of the Angiddy Valley.
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  • Abbey Tintern Furnace, Monmouthshire, Wales  -  May 31, 2019

    Abbey Tintern Furnace, Monmouthshire, Wales - May 31, 2019

    Recent archaeological worth outside the Abbey Tintern Furnace site.

  • Abbey Tintern Furnace, Monmouthshire, Wales  -  May 31, 2019

    Abbey Tintern Furnace, Monmouthshire, Wales - May 31, 2019

    Recent archaeological worth outside the Abbey Tintern Furnace site.

  • Abbey Tintern Furnace, Monmouthshire, Wales  -  May 31, 2019

    Abbey Tintern Furnace, Monmouthshire, Wales - May 31, 2019

    Recent archaeological worth outside the Abbey Tintern Furnace site.

  • Abbey Tintern Furnace, Monmouthshire, Wales  -  May 31, 2019

    Abbey Tintern Furnace, Monmouthshire, Wales - May 31, 2019

    Welcome board to the Abbey Tintern Furnace.

  • Abbey Tintern Furnace, Monmouthshire, Wales  -  May 31, 2019

    Abbey Tintern Furnace, Monmouthshire, Wales - May 31, 2019

    Information on the industrial history of the Angiddy Valley.

  • Abbey Tintern Furnace, Monmouthshire, Wales  -  May 31, 2019

    Abbey Tintern Furnace, Monmouthshire, Wales - May 31, 2019

    The launder supports which supported the water channel leading to the waterwheel.

  • Abbey Tintern Furnace, Monmouthshire, Wales  -  May 31, 2019

    Abbey Tintern Furnace, Monmouthshire, Wales - May 31, 2019

    The launder supports which supported the water channel leading to the waterwheel.

  • Abbey Tintern Furnace, Monmouthshire, Wales  -  May 31, 2019

    Abbey Tintern Furnace, Monmouthshire, Wales - May 31, 2019

    Walls of the Iron Ore Store.

  • Abbey Tintern Furnace, Monmouthshire, Wales  -  May 31, 2019

    Abbey Tintern Furnace, Monmouthshire, Wales - May 31, 2019

    Abbey Tintern Furnace information board giving details of the cannon made there.

  • Abbey Tintern Furnace, Monmouthshire, Wales  -  May 31, 2019

    Abbey Tintern Furnace, Monmouthshire, Wales - May 31, 2019

    remains of the launder support pillars which would have supported the wooden launder bringing the water to the waterwheel.

  • Abbey Tintern Furnace, Monmouthshire, Wales  -  May 31, 2019

    Abbey Tintern Furnace, Monmouthshire, Wales - May 31, 2019

    remains of the launder support pillars which would have supported the wooden launder bringing the water to the waterwheel.

  • Abbey Tintern Furnace, Monmouthshire, Wales  -  May 31, 2019

    Abbey Tintern Furnace, Monmouthshire, Wales - May 31, 2019

    Waterwheel pit which supplied power to teh bellows.

  • Abbey Tintern Furnace, Monmouthshire, Wales  -  May 31, 2019

    Abbey Tintern Furnace, Monmouthshire, Wales - May 31, 2019

    General view of the site

  • Abbey Tintern Furnace, Monmouthshire, Wales  -  April 16, 2015

    Abbey Tintern Furnace, Monmouthshire, Wales - April 16, 2015

    General view of the site

  • Abbey Tintern Furnace, Monmouthshire, Wales  -  April 16, 2015

    Abbey Tintern Furnace, Monmouthshire, Wales - April 16, 2015

    Waterwheel pit which supplied power to teh bellows.

  • Abbey Tintern Furnace, Monmouthshire, Wales  -  April 16, 2015

    Abbey Tintern Furnace, Monmouthshire, Wales - April 16, 2015

    Waterwheel pit which supplied power to teh bellows.

  • Abbey Tintern Furnace, Monmouthshire, Wales  -  April 16, 2015

    Abbey Tintern Furnace, Monmouthshire, Wales - April 16, 2015

    Iron ore store

  • Abbey Tintern Furnace, Monmouthshire, Wales  -  April 16, 2015

    Abbey Tintern Furnace, Monmouthshire, Wales - April 16, 2015

    View to the waterwheel pit

  • Abbey Tintern Furnace, Monmouthshire, Wales  -  April 16, 2015

    Abbey Tintern Furnace, Monmouthshire, Wales - April 16, 2015

  • Abbey Tintern Furnace, Monmouthshire, Wales  -  April 16, 2015

    Abbey Tintern Furnace, Monmouthshire, Wales - April 16, 2015

  • Abbey Tintern Furnace, Monmouthshire, Wales  -  April 16, 2015

    Abbey Tintern Furnace, Monmouthshire, Wales - April 16, 2015

    Map showing the industrial sites of the Angiddy Valley at Tintern.

  • Abbey Tintern Furnace, Monmouthshire, Wales  -  April 16, 2015

    Abbey Tintern Furnace, Monmouthshire, Wales - April 16, 2015

    General view of the furnace site.

  • Abbey Tintern Furnace, Monmouthshire, Wales  -  April 16, 2015

    Abbey Tintern Furnace, Monmouthshire, Wales - April 16, 2015

    General view of the furnace site.

  • Abbey Tintern Furnace, Monmouthshire, Wales  -  April 16, 2015

    Abbey Tintern Furnace, Monmouthshire, Wales - April 16, 2015

    General view of the furnace site.

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