On 17 Jan 2004 at 9:51, Tony Oldham wrote:

> IRON! by J Barry Davies and John G Owen.  [pub as] The Garth Domain. (a
> series describing local places and people as they were) (20) June 2003  44
> pp, 50 illus.  Published by the Pentyrch and District Local History Society
> / Cymdeithas Hanes Lleol Pentyrch a’r Cylch, c/o Elmdale, Mountain Road,
> Pentyrch, Cardiff, CF15 9QP at £2.00 plus postage  (inland  60 p)
>

As Chris has commented, the book has many errors in its
description of early ironmaking technology, but I have talked about
this at length with Barry and he hopes to make some changes for a
similar volume in a different series in the near future.

However, the value of this little volume lies elsewhere. The
description of the the technology is merely a background. The
strength of Barry's work in his meticulous studies of local history,
and it the discussion of changing land ownership, and the
arguments that this creates for the location of the early industry, that
makes this book important.

Amongst the matters with which I take issue in this book (and the
most relevant to this list) is the idea that the Lesser Garth iron oxide
ores were not employed until very late. This is not so. Mass balance
calculations show that it was the ore from the Lesser Garth area that
was being smelted in central Cardiff in Roman times. Similarly, the
accounts of the Sidney blast furnace smelting operations in the
1560s show conclusively that they were using oxide ores (almost
certainly from the Lesser Garth) too. The location of the 1560s
works here was precisely because the ores were LOW phosphorus
- and therefore particularly suitable for steel-making. After this
period the focus turned away from steel, and the low phosphorus
ores were less of an issue.

It was during the early industrial period that the mines on Lesser
Garth had become so deep that ore extraction was problematic.
More of the ore came from the Coalfield and the Cumbrian ore was
needed. Ore output from the Lesser Garth increased again once a
major adit was dug through into the base of the old mine in the 19th
century, allowing both easier access and drainage.

Finally, I think that this book is certainly not to be taken as the last
word on the location of the 1560s operations. That detailed
discussion is perhaps not appropriate here, so I won't start!
However, it has started some new hares running and we are
following up some interesting new lines of evidence.

Tim

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Dr Tim Young
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