The Blaenavon Railroad was a horse drawn tramroad built to link Blaenavon Ironworks with the Monmouthshire Canal in south east Wales.[1]

Background

In 1789 most of the building of Blaenavon Ironworks had been completed and the lease for the land was signed in November.[2] At this time transport of goods between Blaenavon and Newport was by teams of packhorses and mules using hillside tracks and parish roads.[3]

A more efficient method of transport was needed and Thomas Hill I, the leading partner behind the ironworks, became one of the promoters of the Monmouthshire Canal.[4] In 1791 a parliamentary bill proposed the canal and was given assent in 1792. The Canal Act also allowed for the building of tramroads to nearby collieries, quarries, and mines.[3]

Construction

The newly formed Monmouthshire Canal Company appointed Thomas Dadford, Jr. as engineer for both the canal and tramroad.[5] Construction started in 1793 and the tramroad/canal link to the port of Newport opened in February 1796.[6][7]

The tramroad was originally built with a 3 ft 4 in (1,016 mm) gauge. The route to the canal at Pontnewynydd was 5 miles (8.0 km) and descended 600 feet (180 m).[6]

Closure

In 1845 the Monmouthshire Canal Company obtained an Act of Parliament to improve the Blaenavon Railroad and connect it to a new railway to Newport under the control of a new company, the Newport and Pontypool Railway.[8] The completed 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) gauge line opened in 1854, replacing the tramroad.[9]

Remains

Very little evidence of the tramroad is visible but an iron milepost exists on the road that was once the route of the tramroad.[10]

References

  1. ↑ Rattenbury, Gordon (1977). "The Cwm Ffrwd Rail Road". Gwent Local History (42): 12. Retrieved 15 April 2016 – via Welsh Journals Online at the National Library of Wales.
  2. ↑ Wakelin, Peter (2011) [2006]. Blaenavon Ironworks and World Heritage Landscape. Design by Ceri Staziker, Photography by Paul Highman (2nd ed.). Cardiff: Cadw. p. 7. ISBN 978-1-85760-293-7. OCLC 858824245.
  3. 1 2 Barber, Chris (1999). Eastern Valley - The Story of Torfaen (1st ed.). Abergavenny: Blorenge Books. p. 193. ISBN 1 872730 23 X. OCLC 43459623.
  4. ↑ Wakelin 2011, pp. 5, 8.
  5. ↑ Barber 1999, pp. 194–5.
  6. 1 2 Barber 1999, p. 195.
  7. ↑ Wakelin 2011, p. 8.
  8. ↑ Barber 1999, p. 201.
  9. ↑ Cwmavon Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Plan (PDF) (Report). Torfaen County Borough Council. April 2011. p. 35. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
  10. ↑ "Milepost, Abersychan". Historic Environment Record (HER). Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust (GGAT). PRN 03192g. Retrieved 15 April 2016 – via archwilio.org.uk (online database of the four Welsh Archaeological Trusts).
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