- Joined
- Mar 12, 2010
- Messages
- 230
- Reaction score
- 548
this place i wasnt expecting much however it seemed that there was more to explore than planned
most of the site has been demolished but the remains are still a bloody good mooch i came for shots of the terex truck which was the main reason i went but after exploring the buildings up top (the blast furnace foremans house) and the pattern store there was a few things i couldnt get to as at the bottom was active with a few people lights on inside one building and cctv on the corner but on closer inspection from round the back it seemed like a security jeep parked inside so i didnt venture any further
so ill name this thread part 1 for now and hopefully at a much less busy time go back and explore the other parts i didnt get to including the blast furnace/foundry and machine shop although by the looks of it they appear to be locked but im sure closer inspection will reveal all
well worth a look if your in the area
explored solo
bit of history first..
The Brymbo Steelworks was a former large steelworks in the village of Brymbo near Wrexham, Wales. For much of its life it was a rather ordinary ironworks and later steelworks, but is significant on account of its founder, and as having one of a modest number of surviving blast furnace stacks.
The works was founded by John 'Iron Mad' Wilkinson who built a blast furnace on the site in 1793, just after he bought Brymbo Hall. The reasons for his move from the nearby Bersham Ironworks are thought to be on account of the nearby westminster colliery in Moss Valley, Wrexham.
A second furnace was built by 1805 and a third about 1869, but from 1892 no more than two were used, and from 1912 only one.
After Wilkinson's death, his estate was contested between his natural children and legitimate heirs.and the works passed through various hands. By 1841, it passed to the Brymbo Iron Co., which was managed from 1846 by William Henry Darby and Charles Edward Darby, grandsons of Abraham Darby III of Coalbrookdale. After their deaths in 1882 and 1884 respectively, the business was incorporated as Brymbo Steel Co. Ltd.The business changed company name in 1934 and 1948, on the latter occasion becoming Brymbo Steel Works Ltd in 1948, having become part of GKN, being a branch of GKN Steel Co. Ltd in the early 1960s. It was nationalised with the rest of the steel industry in 1967, becoming a division of British Steel Corporation.
The works were served by the Wrexham and Minera Branch of the Great Western Railway, later of British Railways.
The steelworks lasted until 1990, when it was closed. 1,100 jobs were lost and Brymbo village went into a depression and many residents into the negative equity trap.
ARP stands for Air Raid Precautions team. The demand for precision steel rose as rearmament occurred in the late 1930s. This led to the reopening of Brymbo Steelworks, after its closure during the Great Depression. The Steelworks was part of the war effort and the ARP team had a vital role to play during air raids.
looking across from top of blast furnace (Cupola Stack in background)
The Main Site as it stands today..
just around the corner your greeted with this...
the formans house...
only managed one little room at the end as it was locked with a heritage sign on the door
staff rota board
then onto the pattern shop
rows and rows of patterns...
Cupola Stacks 1+2 machine shop in front of them and foundry
Railway Wagons and ladles used for carrying the steel..
ladle wagon
this is what i came to originally photgraph...
and inside...
part 2 coming soon...
most of the site has been demolished but the remains are still a bloody good mooch i came for shots of the terex truck which was the main reason i went but after exploring the buildings up top (the blast furnace foremans house) and the pattern store there was a few things i couldnt get to as at the bottom was active with a few people lights on inside one building and cctv on the corner but on closer inspection from round the back it seemed like a security jeep parked inside so i didnt venture any further
so ill name this thread part 1 for now and hopefully at a much less busy time go back and explore the other parts i didnt get to including the blast furnace/foundry and machine shop although by the looks of it they appear to be locked but im sure closer inspection will reveal all
well worth a look if your in the area
explored solo
bit of history first..
The Brymbo Steelworks was a former large steelworks in the village of Brymbo near Wrexham, Wales. For much of its life it was a rather ordinary ironworks and later steelworks, but is significant on account of its founder, and as having one of a modest number of surviving blast furnace stacks.
The works was founded by John 'Iron Mad' Wilkinson who built a blast furnace on the site in 1793, just after he bought Brymbo Hall. The reasons for his move from the nearby Bersham Ironworks are thought to be on account of the nearby westminster colliery in Moss Valley, Wrexham.
A second furnace was built by 1805 and a third about 1869, but from 1892 no more than two were used, and from 1912 only one.
After Wilkinson's death, his estate was contested between his natural children and legitimate heirs.and the works passed through various hands. By 1841, it passed to the Brymbo Iron Co., which was managed from 1846 by William Henry Darby and Charles Edward Darby, grandsons of Abraham Darby III of Coalbrookdale. After their deaths in 1882 and 1884 respectively, the business was incorporated as Brymbo Steel Co. Ltd.The business changed company name in 1934 and 1948, on the latter occasion becoming Brymbo Steel Works Ltd in 1948, having become part of GKN, being a branch of GKN Steel Co. Ltd in the early 1960s. It was nationalised with the rest of the steel industry in 1967, becoming a division of British Steel Corporation.
The works were served by the Wrexham and Minera Branch of the Great Western Railway, later of British Railways.
The steelworks lasted until 1990, when it was closed. 1,100 jobs were lost and Brymbo village went into a depression and many residents into the negative equity trap.
ARP stands for Air Raid Precautions team. The demand for precision steel rose as rearmament occurred in the late 1930s. This led to the reopening of Brymbo Steelworks, after its closure during the Great Depression. The Steelworks was part of the war effort and the ARP team had a vital role to play during air raids.
looking across from top of blast furnace (Cupola Stack in background)
The Main Site as it stands today..
just around the corner your greeted with this...
the formans house...
only managed one little room at the end as it was locked with a heritage sign on the door
staff rota board
then onto the pattern shop
rows and rows of patterns...
Cupola Stacks 1+2 machine shop in front of them and foundry
Railway Wagons and ladles used for carrying the steel..
ladle wagon
this is what i came to originally photgraph...
and inside...
part 2 coming soon...
