SO0306 : Finds on display at Cyfarthfa Ironworks excavation open day
taken 11 years ago, near to Merthyr Tydfil/Merthyr Tudful, Wales
Bordering the east side of the A470 in Merthyr Tydfil, Cyfarthfa Retail Park is expanding from its existing site immediately south of the A4102 Swansea Road to a disused area immediately north of the road.
From 1947 to 1993 this was the site of a lighting factory built by Thorn Electrical industries see Link and Link
Prior to the new construction the Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust is being allowed to excavate the area.
In its day the Ironworks was a world leader and much of what it did was a trade secret. This means that there is little in the way of detailed maps or description of the site. The excavated area is the part of the works that was used to roast the impurities out of coal, turning it into coke for use in the furnaces. Visible at the site are the remains of rectangular building walls and curved brickwork channels. It is thought that the various channels were used to keep away ground water, route hot air into the ovens, provide quenching water and remove the exhaust impurities. Waste heat was probably recycled by heating water for boilers powering other parts of the site.
Eventually, the excavation will be protected with topsoil and a layer of concrete before becoming a car park for the growing retail park.
On September 7th 2013 the trust organised an open day where the public could walk along the edge of the site and talk to some of the trust members present.