The Clydach Gorge (also known as Cwm Clydach) is a steep-sided valley in south-east
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
down which the
River Clydach flows to the
River Usk. It runs for from the vicinity of
Brynmawr in
Blaenau Gwent eastwards and northeastwards to
Gilwern in Monmouthshire. The Gorge was one of the first locations in the region to be
industrialised though it still retains its natural environment. It has long been an important transport corridor between
Abergavenny and the lowlands of Monmouthshire and the northeastern quarter of the
South Wales Coalfield
The South Wales Coalfield ( cy, Maes glo De Cymru) extends across Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, Bridgend, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Merthyr Tydfil, Caerphilly, Blaenau Gwent and Torfaen. It is rich in coal deposits, espe ...
. It is now exploited by the
A465
The A465 is a trunk road that runs from Bromyard in Herefordshire, England to Llandarcy near Swansea in South Wales. The western half is known officially as the Neath to Abergavenny Trunk Road, but the section from Abergavenny to the Vale of N ...
Heads of the Valleys trunk road which runs between Abergavenny and
Swansea and which serves the Heads of the Valleys sub-region.
The Gorge is included within the
Brecon Beacons National Park
The Brecon Beacons National Park ( cy, Parc Cenedlaethol Bannau Brycheiniog) is one of three national parks in Wales, and is centred on the Brecon Beacons range of hills in southern Wales. It includes the Black Mountain ( cy, Y Mynydd Du) i ...
and is a tourist destination in its own right, with facilities including a picnic site, waymarked footpaths, the National Cycle Network and car parking alongside the
River Clydach, easily reached from the Heads of the Valleys Road. It includes
Smart's Bridge, a
cast iron
Cast iron is a class of iron– carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impur ...
bridge and the remains of a late 18th-century
ironworks which are now a
Scheduled Ancient Monument
In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change.
The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...
. There are also limeworks.
Settlements
The industrial town of Brynmawr sits at the head of the gorge and the large village of Gilwern sits at its foot in the Usk valley. Although development along the gorge and its sides are semi-continuous, the linear settlements of Clydach (now
Clydach South), Blackrock, Cheltenham (now
Clydach North) and Maesygwartha can be distinguished along the roads between Brynmawr and Gilwern, mainly to the north of the river. The settlement of Llanelly Hill occupies the northwest hilltop of the gorge.
Industrial heritage sites
Ironworks
Llanelly Furnace and Forge
The Hanbury family of
Pontypool established a furnace and forge here (OS grid ref SO 236140) in the sixteenth century though nothing now remains of them other than parts of the masonry dam of a pool connected with the water power used for the forge. Wrought iron was made at the furnace from cast iron using charcoal. A tinworks also operated at this site at one time.
Clydach Ironworks
The Clydach
Ironworks was the most significant ironworks developed in the Cwm Gorge. The Ironworks were constructed around 1793–95 after
coke had been introduced as a fuel for
blast furnaces. By 1841 the works was responsible for the employment of more than 1350 people though many of this number were associated with obtaining iron ore, limestone and coal further up the valley. These ironworks had a great influence on the industrial and social developments of the surrounding area. Due to this, building began on buildings for settling the workers at the end of the 18th century, increasing house production during the 2nd quarter of the 19th century. The works could be approached over a
cast iron
Cast iron is a class of iron– carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impur ...
bridge,
Smart's Bridge (built in 1824). Production continued up until around 1860, where it was the main point of activity within the gorge.
The works were associated with the Frere family (which included
Sir Bartle Frere, born in Clydach House in 1815).
The remains of two large masonry
furnaces
A furnace is a structure in which heat is produced with the help of combustion.
Furnace may also refer to:
Appliances Buildings
* Furnace (central heating): a furnace , or a heater or boiler , used to generate heat for buildings
* Boiler, used t ...
from the 1790s and the base of a later furnace can still be seen together with other structures thanks to an excavation carried out in 1986.
Limeworks
Blackrock Limeworks
These limeworks were the first established in the gorge, having started production in 1794/95. From Blackrock, the quarry extends along the contours of the gorge above Clydach North (also referred to as Cheltenham). They continued to work until 1908 and the masonry limekilns remain today.
Clydach Limeworks
The limeworks at Clydach (OS grid ref SO 233127) were built in 1877 to provide lime for the construction of the nearby Nant Dyar railway viaduct. Two pairs of limekilns remain against an impressive quarried backdrop.
Llanelly Limeworks
Llanelly Quarry supplied the Clydach Ironworks with limestone, and subsequently lime for farming and building mortars. It closed finally in 1962. Two pairs of limekilns remain alongside the
Merthyr, Tredegar and Abergavenny Railway
The Merthyr, Tredegar and Abergavenny Railway, also known as the ''Heads of the Valleys line'', was a railway line which operated between 1860 and 1958 between the Monmouthshire town of Abergavenny and the Glamorgan town of Merthyr Tydfil in Sou ...
and National Cycle Route.
Transport
Tramroads and railways
Clydach Railroad
This early railroad was constructed during 1793–4 by the engineer
John Dadford
John Dadford was an England, English canal engineer, as were his father Thomas Dadford and brothers Thomas Dadford, Jr. and James Dadford. He lived from approximately 1769 to 1800, although neither date is known for certain.
Biography
John Dadfor ...
. It linked Wain Dew colliery at
Beaufort with Glangrwyne Forge on the banks of the River Usk. An important surviving feature of the railroad is the single-arched bridge of coarse rubble-stone near Maesygwartha which is impressively set above a waterfall (at OS grid ref SO 230138). A tramroad linked into the Clydach Ironworks from the Clydach Railroad by means of a cast-iron bridge. Constructed by Smart in 1824, it is one of the earliest in the world.
Llam-march Tramroad
Engineered by Thomas Dadford in 1793-4, this tramroad (also sometimes referred to as the Llam-march Railroad) to link the Clydach ironworks with the coal mines and iron ore deposits at Gellifelen and Llam-march. There is a single-arched stone bridge at SO 233137 and SO 255176, the latter being the Llam-march Tramroad and Aqueduct Bridge of 1811 which also carried water from the Clydach to the Clydach Ironworks Rolling Mill via a leat.
Govilon Tramroad
Engineered by
Crawshay Bailey
Crawshay Bailey (1789 – 9 January 1872) was an English industrialist who became one of the great iron-masters of Wales.
Early life
Bailey was born in 1789 in Great Wenham, Suffolk, the son of John Bailey, of Wakefield and his wife Susannah ...
in 1821, this tramroad (sometimes also referred to as Bailey's Tramroad) traverses the southeastern slopes of the gorge below and parallel to the Llam-march Tramroad. It connected the Bailey's ironworks at Nantyglo with the
Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal
The Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal ( cy, Camlas Sir Fynwy a Brycheiniog) is a small network of canals in South Wales. For most of its currently (2018) navigable length it runs through the Brecon Beacons National Park, and its present rural ch ...
at Govilon, in the Usk Valley.
Merthyr Tredegar and Abergavenny Railway
:''See
main article on Merthyr, Tredegar and Abergavenny Railway''
The railway was constructed in 1862 as a single line, following in part, the line of an earlier tramroad. Four years later it became a part of the London and North Western Railway network and in 1877 the line was doubled along its entire length. The routing of the line through the gorge was a considerable engineering challenge requiring the digging of several tunnels and the construction of an impressive curving viaduct across the ravine of the Nant Dyar. The line continued in operation until the 1950s when British Rail decided to close it as being uneconomical to run. The last trains ran along it in June 1958. The larger part of the track-bed has now been converted to a cycleway, forming part of route 46 of the
National Cycle Network
The National Cycle Network (NCN) is the national cycling route network of the United Kingdom, which was established to encourage cycling and walking throughout Britain, as well as for the purposes of bicycle touring. It was created by the cha ...
.
Roads
Merthyr Tydfil to Govilon Turnpike
The Merthyr Tydfil to Govilon Turnpike was authorised by Act of Parliament and laid through the valley in 1812–13. This formed the main road through the gorge until the modern road was built.
Heads of the Valleys Road
:''See
main article on A465 road''
The A465 was
dualled through the gorge between 2013 and 2021. The previous alignment of this major trunk road through the gorge was constructed in the 1960s by John Morgan (Construction) Ltd of Cardiff. Achieving a consistent gradient of 1 in 20 for a distance of it climbs from Gilwern to Brynmawr. Its construction involved considerable cutting and embanking and some sections were built out over the gorge on concrete pillars. Work began in March 1960 and it was opened to traffic in 1962. It was a single-carriageway route with two west-bound lanes running up the gorge. Work to construct a dual carriageway through the gorge began in January 2015.
Environmental protection
The entire Clydach Gorge falls within the
Brecon Beacons National Park
The Brecon Beacons National Park ( cy, Parc Cenedlaethol Bannau Brycheiniog) is one of three national parks in Wales, and is centred on the Brecon Beacons range of hills in southern Wales. It includes the Black Mountain ( cy, Y Mynydd Du) i ...
designated in 1957 in order that its landscapes be protected and for the quiet enjoyment of them by the public. Subsequently, considerable parts of the gorge have also been protected for their wildlife and habitats, including the Cwm Clydach
SSSI,
Cwm Clydach National Nature Reserve
Cwm Clydach National Nature Reserve is a area of steeply sloping valley-side on Clydach Gorge, east of Brynmawr, southeast Wales. It is protected for its ancient semi-natural beech woods, designated by the Nature Conservancy Council (now manage ...
, the Cwm Clydach Woodlands
SAC and the Usk Bat Sites SAC, which also extends across much of the neighbouring
Mynydd Llangatwg
Mynydd Llangatwg or Llangattock Mountain is a hill in the Brecon Beacons National Park in the county of Powys, south Wales. It is named from the village of Llangatwg (or ' Llangattock') which sits in the valley of the River Usk to the north of it. ...
.
There are, in addition, numerous
scheduled ancient monument
In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change.
The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...
s within the gorge, representing a history of human occupation from the
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...
to the
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
. Though the gorge is not included within it, the
Blaenavon Industrial Landscape
Blaenavon Industrial Landscape, in and around Blaenavon, Torfaen, Wales, was inscribed a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2000.
The Blaenavon Ironworks, now a museum, was a major centre of iron production using locally mined or quarried iron ...
, a
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
, adjoins the area. The current (2010)
Forgotten Landscapes Project includes both the WHS and the Gorge within a wider area. The Project seeks to conserve and restore the built features of an area which was key to the Industrial Revolution.
[ ]
References
External links
Caves in the Clydach Gorge areaSustrans Routes2Ride: Cycling in the Clydach Gorge AreaPhotograph of Clydach Gorge : Rhaeadr Isaf waterfall in spatePhotograph of the ironworks : the cast iron bridge of 1824Photograph of the ironworks : employing over 1,350 workers by 1841Photograph of the ironworks : the 1824 date cast on the bridgePhotograph of the limeworks : extensive quarries and lime kilns
{{coord, 51.812, -3.122, dim:3000_region:GB, display=title
Brecon Beacons
Canyons and gorges of Blaenau Gwent
Canyons and gorges of Monmouthshire
Canyons and gorges of the Brecon Beacons National Park