30/11/2024
𝗣𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗱𝘄𝘆𝗶𝗲𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗴/𝗕𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁
Heddiw, rydym yn parhau â'n cyfres "Wales on This Day" a gyflwynwyd i chi gan y rhagorol The History of Wales ac awduron Cymru ar y Diwrnod hwn!
Daeth tirwedd ddiwydiannol Blaenafon yn Safle Treftadaeth y Byd ar 30 Tachwedd 2000, y 'dirwedd ddiwylliannol' gyntaf i gael ei chydnabod yn y Deyrnas Unedig. Mae'r dirwedd yn cynnwys Gwaith Haearn Blaenafon, pwll glo Big Pit, mwyngloddiau a chwareli cyfagos, isadeiledd trafnidiaeth, tai'r gweithwyr ac agweddau eraill ar ddiwydiannu cynnar.
Mae Blaenafon yn gorwedd ym mhen uchaf dyffryn Afon Lwyd ac mae ar ymyl ogledd-ddwyreiniol Maes Glo De Cymru. Mewn cyfnod cyn-ddiwydiannol, dim ond ffermydd gwasgaredig oedd yn yr ardal. Deilliodd ei thwf yn gymuned ddiwydiannol gan fod y fro yn gyforiog a mwynau haearn, glo a chalchfaen. Seiliwyd y Chwyldro Diwydiannol ym Mhrydain ar haearn, dur a glo a ddefnyddiwyd i adeiladu a thanio rheilffyrdd, ffatrïoedd ac injans ledled y byd. Mae tystiolaeth o gloddio ar raddfa fach yn ardal Elgam, Blaenafon yn 1325. O 1565, cloddiwyd mwyn haearn yma gan y teulu Hanbury, a oedd yn haearnfeistri ac yn wneuthurwyr alcam ym Mhont-y-pŵl.
Yn 1787, cymerwyd prydles ar y tir a elwid yn lleol yn Fryniau Arglwydd y Fenni gan dri dyn busnes o Ganolbarth Lloegr – Thomas Hill, Benjamin Pratt a brawd-yng-nghyfraith Hill, Thomas Hopkins – ac fe wnaethant agor gwaith haearn yn y flwyddyn ganlynol. Roedd y fenter yn llwyddiant ar unwaith a daeth Blaenafon yn gynhyrchle pwysig o gynnyrch haearn. Rhoddwyd hwb i hyn gan y galw am fagnelau ac arfau eraill oherwydd bod Prydain yn rhan o wahanol wrthdrawiadau llyngesol ar y pryd. Erbyn 1821, roedd mab Hill, hefyd o'r enw Thomas, wedi adeiladu tramffordd i gysylltu gweithfeydd Blaenafon â Chamlas Brycheiniog a'r Fenni ac felly â Dociau Casnewydd, y chwareli calchfaen ym Mhwll-Du a Tyla, a'r efail yng Nghwm Llanwenarth ar ochr orllewinol mynydd y Blorenge. Daeth gweithwyr medrus i Flaenafon o bob cwr o Brydain ac Iwerddon a chododd ei phoblogaeth o tua 1,000 yn 1800 i 5,115 yn 1840.
Ym 1836, prynwyd y gweithfeydd gan Gwmni Haearn a Glo Blaenafon a chwaraeodd rhan wedyn mewn adeiladu a rhedeg Eglwys Sant Pedr, neuadd y dref ac ysbyty'r dref.
Cwblhawyd y rheilffordd o Flaenafon i Frynmawr yn 1869, gan gysylltu'r ardal â Chanolbarth Lloegr trwy linell Blaenau'r Cymoedd. Yn 1877 fe'i hymestynnwyd i gwrdd â lein Rheilffordd y Great Western i Bont-y-pŵl a Dociau Casnewydd. Yn 1870, aeth y cwmni ati igynhyrchu dur hefyd. Roedd hyn yn llwyddiannus iawn ac fe'i cynorthwywyd gan y dull chwyldroadol o ddileu ffosfforws o haearn a ddyfeisiwyd gan Sidney Gilchrist Thomas a'i gefnder Percy Gilchrist.
Yn 1880, roedd cyflenwadau lleol o fwyn haearn wedi pallu ac agorodd y cwmni bwll glo Big Pit. Daeth cyfnod ffyniant arall i'r dref yn sgil hyn a chododd y boblogaeth i dros 20,000. Caewyd y rheilffordd i deithwyr ym 1941. Defnyddiwyd y lein o Flaenafon i Bont-y-pŵl ar gyfer trenau glo o Big Pit nes i'r pwll glo gau yn 1980.
Ewch i Waith Haearn Blaenafon i ail-fyw'r hanes y tu ôl i'r stori. Am ragor o ddyddiadau hanesyddol diddorol cliciwch ar y ddolen i Gymru ar y Diwrnod hwn a gyhoeddwyd gan Calon Books, University of Wales Press
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Today we continue our series “Wales on This Day” brought to you by the fantastic The History of Wales and the writers of Wales on This Day!
The Blaenavon industrial landscape became a World Heritage Site on 30 November 2000, the first ‘cultural landscape’ to be recognised in the United Kingdom. The landscape includes the Blaenavon Ironworks, the Big Pit coal mine, surrounding mines and quarries, transport infrastructure, workers’ housing and other aspects of early industrialisation.
Blaenavon lies at the upper end of the Afon Lwyd valley and is on the north-eastern rim of the South Wales Coalfield. In pre-industrial times, the area only consisted of scattered farmsteads. Its growth into an industrial community resulted from the area’s rich deposits of iron ore, coal and limestone. The Industrial Revolution in Britain was based on iron, steel and coal which was used to build and fuel railways, factories and engines all over the world. There is evidence of small-scale mining in the Elgam area of Blaenavon in 1325. From 1565, iron ore was extracted here by the Hanbury family, who were ironmasters and tinplate manufacturers in Pontypool.
In 1787, the lease of the land that was known locally as Lord Abergavenny’s Hills was taken out by three businessmen from the Midlands – Thomas Hill, Benjamin Pratt and Hill’s brother-in-law, Thomas Hopkins – and they opened an ironworks the following year. The venture was an immediate success and Blaenavon became an important producer of iron products. This was boosted by the demand for cannon and other weapons due to Britain’s involvement in various naval conflicts at the time. By 1821, Hill’s son, also named Thomas, had built a tramroad to connect the Blaenavon works to the Brecknock and Abergavenny Canal and therefore to the Newport Docks, the limestone quarries at Pwll-Du and Tyla, and the forge in Cwm Llanwenarth on the west flank of the Blorenge mountain. Skilled workers came to Blaenavon from all over Britain and Ireland and its population rose from approximately 1,000 in 1800 to 5,115 in 1840.
In 1836, the works were bought by the Blaenavon Iron and Coal Company which was subsequently involved in the building and the running of St Peter’s Church, the town hall and a hospital in the town.
The railway line from Blaenavon to Brynmawr was completed in 1869 and connected the area to the English Midlands via the Heads of the Valleys line. In 1877 it was extended to meet the Great Western Railway line to Pontypool and Newport Docks. In 1870, the company added steel production to its activities. This proved very successful and was aided by the revolutionary method of eliminating phosphorus from iron introduced by Sidney Gilchrist Thomas and his cousin Percy Gilchrist.
In 1880, local supplies of iron ore were becoming exhausted and the company opened Big Pit coal mine. Another boom period for the town followed and the population rose to over 20,000. The railway line was closed to passengers in 1941. The line from Blaenavon to Pontypool was used for coal trains from Big Pit until the colliery closed in 1980.
Visit Blaenafon Iron Works to relive the history behind the story. For more fascinating historic dates click the link to Wales on This Day published by Calon Books, University of Wales Press
https://www.cadwmembership.service.gov.wales/products/wales-on-this-day/
