The characteristics of extractive and smelting landscapes of the Industrial Revolution at Swansea and Blaenavon

Abstract

ABSTRACT In the following article detailed work on the internationally significant eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century landscapes at Blaenavon and Swansea are examined to see what the determinants of extractive, smelting and indeed of human landscapes might be. The availability of minerals was the primary determinant of location but linear features of transport and water power formed the framework upon which these landscapes developed. Initially, at least, open common land allowed the easy and cheap construction of smelting works, mines, transport and key workers' dwellings. As works prospered, and allowed capital to be accumulated, owners purchased adjacent land to expand over, building more and larger workers' townships. Owners were part of the Anglican Establishment and were persuaded to construct gothic churches at the core of their workers' settlements, but workers, often led by managers, expressed their independence, culture and language by constructing Italianate Nonconformist chapels that eventually dominated worker townscapes. Schools, for workers' children, were increasingly seen as an essential part of the institutional core of worker settlements.