Ystradgynlais: Craig-y-nos castle
Craig-y-nos after Madame Patti's building works
The first phase of the building came in 1840 when Captain Rice Davies Powell returned to the area of his ancestral home to build an early Victorian neo-gothic castle alongside the River Tawe. Powell settled into the life of a member of the local gentry being a magistrate and then Sheriff of Breconshire. The castle passed through other hands until opera star Adelina Patti bought it for £3500 in 1878. It became her much loved home where she entertained the rich and powerful. She undertook a long programme of alteration and extension at Craig-y-nos famously adding a small theatre which could hold 150 people. The house had its own small gasworks and was one of the very first private houses to be wired for electricity, producing its own supply by gas-powered generator.
One other major addition to the site was that of the massive conservatory or “winter garden” which was built on the Southern end of the mansion at the end of the 19th century. It was filled with exotic plants and birds and had two iron fountains fashioned as cranes with multi-coloured plumage. In 1918 Madame Patti donated her winter gardens to the city of Swansea. It now stands on the coast road near Victoria Park and is known as the Patti Pavilion.
Craig-y-nos was used as a children’s TB hospital for many years and is now a country hotel.
One other major addition to the site was that of the massive conservatory or “winter garden” which was built on the Southern end of the mansion at the end of the 19th century. It was filled with exotic plants and birds and had two iron fountains fashioned as cranes with multi-coloured plumage. In 1918 Madame Patti donated her winter gardens to the city of Swansea. It now stands on the coast road near Victoria Park and is known as the Patti Pavilion.
Craig-y-nos was used as a children’s TB hospital for many years and is now a country hotel.
Ystradgynlais: Gough's buildings
The exploitation of iron ore, limestone and coal and the building of the Swansea canal turned Ystradgynlais from a small rural valley community into an industrial centre in a relatively short period. To the right is a map showing Ystradgynlais around 1877 based on a large scale Ordnance Survey map. Clearly visible are the rows of houses marked Gough's Buildings on the "island" between the river and the canal. These two rows were just the first in a network that would spread out across this "island". The Gough family were major landowners in the area, owning the Ynyscedwin Ironworks (see below) and other property along the upper Swansea valley. The houses were built for the miners and iron workers of the area. During the Victorian period chapels, schools and a police station were built here also.
Ystradgynlais: Ynyscedwyn Iron Works
The eighteenth century find of an iron pig marked 1612 on the site is an indication of long term mineral exploitation at Ynyscedwyn. The earliest documented iron works is that built by Ambrose Crowley and John Hanbury in 1711. This enterprise was on a very modest scale and was described by Hanbury as a “lame proceeding” in 1714. Under a series of different owners iron working continued throughout the century however, using charcoal brought in by packhorse.
Iron working on the site entered a new and more intensive stage when the furnace was converted from charcoal to coal-blast, annual production rising to 800 tons of pig iron in 1796. In 1828 architect John Brunton built a new multi-furnace, water-powered works and a tramroad was developed. This network brought in lime from local limekilns and the finished product was exported down the Swansea valley canal. In 1830 works superintendent David Thomas began experimenting with Nielson’s hot-blast process. His development of the system allowed the use of local anthracite. By 1837 owner George Crane had patented the process. The Ynyscedwyn Iron Company further expanded to exploit the process using six blast furnaces by 1853 developing its own Ynyscedwyn Colliery and taking over Marryatt’s colliery in 1866.
As demand for steel outstripped iron so production declined, finally ceasing in 1877 leaving the grand new works begun in 1872 unfinished. Such an inland site was considered uneconomic for steel production, so in 1889 a tinplate works opened on the site. Production continued until 1941.
[B 1961; Poole; Haslam]
Iron working on the site entered a new and more intensive stage when the furnace was converted from charcoal to coal-blast, annual production rising to 800 tons of pig iron in 1796. In 1828 architect John Brunton built a new multi-furnace, water-powered works and a tramroad was developed. This network brought in lime from local limekilns and the finished product was exported down the Swansea valley canal. In 1830 works superintendent David Thomas began experimenting with Nielson’s hot-blast process. His development of the system allowed the use of local anthracite. By 1837 owner George Crane had patented the process. The Ynyscedwyn Iron Company further expanded to exploit the process using six blast furnaces by 1853 developing its own Ynyscedwyn Colliery and taking over Marryatt’s colliery in 1866.
As demand for steel outstripped iron so production declined, finally ceasing in 1877 leaving the grand new works begun in 1872 unfinished. Such an inland site was considered uneconomic for steel production, so in 1889 a tinplate works opened on the site. Production continued until 1941.
[B 1961; Poole; Haslam]