REVIT Heritage Report.pdf

Torfaen County Borough Council
REVIT: A Review of the Conservation of Industrial Heritage Assets on Brownfield Sites
4.2.18 The coke ovens were built in the late 1840’s of red fire-bricks laid on a stone
rubble foundation to replace the earlier open coke heaps. The coke ovens
north-west of the ironworks were partly exposed and damaged by water action.
4.2.19 The impressive Big Arch bridge, which was built in 1879 of yellow brick with
stone voussoirs, dominates the entrance to the site. It carried the Great
Western Railway line over works entrance. A railway shed, which was
constructed in 1926 as a railway wagon repair shop, still survives on the site.
On the outskirts of the site is the Old Castle Farm (SO 2577 0417), an early
post-medieval farmhouse, located to the north of the ironworks.
Blaenavon Industrial Landscape World Heritage Site
4.2.20 The Blaenavon Ironworks forms the centre of the World Heritage Site
encompassing over 33,000 square hectares. The landscape is a Registered
Landscape of Outstanding Historic Interest (HLW (Gt) 1 and the historic sites
are extensively protected by a number of statutory measures including listed
building and Scheduled Monument status. There are also other ecological and
landscape constraints, including four Sites of Special Scientific Interest
(SSSIs), which affect the area’s potential re-use.
4.2.21 The site, which is located adjacent to the Brecon Beacons National Park, is
protected and managed by the Blaenavon Partnership, both as a historic
landscape and as a series of individual sites which encompass the historic
town. Blaenavon's historic landscape features have been actively conserved
and interpreted by the Partnership which was formed from representatives
from the main public bodies. These partners include Torfaen County Borough
Council, Monmouthshire County Council, the Brecon Beacons National Park,
Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council, Blaenavon Town Council, the
Countryside Council for Wales, the Welsh Development Agency, the Welsh
Tourist Board, British Waterways, the National Trust and Cadw. By involving
many partners the Trust aims to provide effective stewardship and
conservation of the landscape and its sensitive regeneration in close
consultation with local people.
4.2.22 The conservation approach to Blaenavon has largely been one of “museum
process” which aims to retain the landscape in its current form as much as
possible. This approach is regarded as the purest form of conservation and
involves preservation and repair of sites like the Blaenavon Ironworks for
interpretation, education and display. This approach is partly a function of the
historic importance of the area and the number of sites and monuments which
have statutory protection.
4.2.23 In total the Blaenavon WHS retains 17 Scheduled Ancient Monuments and 82
Listed Buildings. The main sites include:
• Blaenavon, iron tramroad bridge ['Aaron Brute's Bridge’];
• Blaenavon Iron Works;
• Blorenge Tunnel, Hill's Tramroad;
• Big Pit Colliery;
• Cwmbran Tunnel, M&B Canal;
• Dyne Steel Incline Plane, BWHS;
• Brake Engine on Hill's Pits tramroad incline;
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