The end of the 18th century saw the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution, and the presence of iron ore, limestone and large coal deposits in south-east Wales meant that this area soon saw the establishment of ironworks and coal mines, notably the Cyfarthfa Ironworks and the Dowlais Ironworks at Merthyr Tydfil.

In 1786, Richard Crawshay and partners took over the lease of the Cyfarthfa Ironworks, and soon engaged the canal engineer Thomas Dadford to survey a route for a canal to Cardiff.

An extension from Merthyr to Crawshay's Cyfarthfa Ironworks was also built, although payment for it resulted in a dispute which was eventually resolved by arbitration ; but a plan to build a branch to the Dowlais and Penydarren Ironworks, which would have risen in only was dropped, and was replaced by two tramroads, one from each works.

In December of that year he married Charlotte the daughter of Ironmaster Richard Crawshay, becoming a partner in the Cyfarthfa Ironworks and owner of Hensol Castle and the Abercarn estate.

James had worked at Merthyr Tydfil as a partner of William Crawshay in the Cyfarthfa Ironworks and when he returned to Wortley in 1791 after the dissolution of their partnership, he introduced puddling to Wortley, the tinmill probably being altered to roll blooms into bars of iron.

Merthyr Tydfil, at the northern end of the Taff valley became Wales's largest town thanks to its growing iron works at Dowlais and Cyfarthfa Ironworks.

* Cyfarthfa Ironworks at Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorgan, south Wales

Cyfarthfa Ironworks Interior at Night ', by Penry Williams, ( 1825 )

During this time, the Cyfarthfa works lost its position as the leading ironworks in Merthyr Tydfil to its longtime rival, the Dowlais Ironworks.

The abandoned Cyfarthfa Ironworks.

Crawshay Brothers, Cyfarthfa, Limited continued the business until 1902, when the works were sold to Guest Keen and Nettlefolds Limited, the proprietors of the Dowlais Ironworks.

* Old Merthyr Tydfil: Cyfarthfa Ironworks-Historical Photographs of Cyfarthfa Ironworks.

fr: Cyfarthfa Ironworks

The other three were Cyfarthfa, Plymouth, and Penydarren Ironworks.

Unlike the Cyfarthfa Ironworks, the Dowlais Works ' early conversion to steel production allowed it to survive into the 1930s.

Four major ironworks, Dowlais, Plymouth, Cyfarthfa and Penydarren, began production between 1759 and 1784, but transport of the finished iron was difficult.

Water for the top of the canal was obtained from the tail races from Cyfarthfa ironworks, which had previously been fed back into the River Taff, so that it could be reused by the Plymouth ironworks.

Sir Glanmor was born in Dowlais, into a working-class family, and was educated at Cyfarthfa Castle School.

Madoc was born Phillip Jones near Merthyr Tydfil and attended Cyfarthfa Castle Grammar School where he was a member of the cricket and rugby teams and displayed talent as a linguist.

The ironworks was in already existence during the late 18th century and passed through a succession of owners before being purchased in 1819 by William Crawshay of Cyfarthfa, in whose family it remained until closure in 1859.

It was also during this period that Crawshay had built a home, which became known as Cyfarthfa Castle.

Robert Thompson Crawshay was the last of the great Crawshay Ironmasters, as foreign competition and the rising cost of iron ore ( much of which had to be imported as local supplies were exhausted ) exacted a heavy toll on the Cyfarthfa works.

The availability of coal, iron ore and limestone at the heads of the South Wales valleys led to a number of ironworks being founded there between 1750 and 1800, including the Cyfarthfa, Plymouth and Dowlais works in the Merthyr Tydfil area.

The Cyfarthfa works were begun in 1765 by Anthony Bacon ( by then a merchant in London ), who in that year with William Brownrigg, his fellow native of Whitehaven, Cumberland leased the right to mine in a tract of land on the west side of the river Taff at Merthyr Tydfil.

The school acts as a feeder school to Afon Taf High School, Cyfarthfa High School and Bishop Hedley High School.

Bacon had previously subcontracted cannon-founding to John Wilkinson, but henceforth made them at Cyfarthfa, as is indicated by his asking for ships carrying them to be convoyed from Penarth.

Under Richard Crawshay, the Cyfarthfa works rapidly became an important producer of iron products.

The Cyfarthfa works became critical to the success of the war effort, so much so that Admiral Nelson paid a personal visit to the works in 1802.

Portions of the enormous complex that formed the Cyfarthfa works remain intact today, including six of the original blast furnaces.

A fourth partner was Michael Longridge of Bedlington Ironworks.

The first telegram in the United States was sent by Morse on 11 January 1838, across two miles ( 3 km ) of wire at Speedwell Ironworks near Morristown, New Jersey.

By 1700, Moss had become a hub for both ship and land traffic between Copenhagen and Christiania, and in 1704 Moss Jernverk ( Moss Ironworks ) was established just north of the city center.

The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United.

The earliest generally accepted incarnation of West Ham United was founded in 1895 as the Thames Ironworks team by foreman and local league referee Dave Taylor and owner Arnold Hills and was announced in the Thames Ironworks Gazette of June 1895.

In 1795, Bejamin Outram opened the Little Eaton Gangway upon which coal was carried in wagons built at his Butterley Ironworks.

By making them in longer lengths, a reduction was effected in the number of joints, always the weakest part of the line ; and another advance consisted in the substitution of wrought iron for cast iron, though that material did not gain wide adoption until after the patent for an improved method of rolling rails granted in 1820 to John Birkinshaw, of the Bedlington Ironworks, Northumberland.

Cleveland Bridge was built in 1826 by William Hazledine, owner of the Coalbrookdale Ironworks, with Henry Goodridge as the architect, on the site of a Roman ferry crossing.

This was not the original meeting point of the Grand Junction and Oxford Canals: the junction was moved in the course of improvements to the Oxford Canal in the 1830s, prior to which the junction was near where the marina is today, and where a third Horseley Ironworks bridge can be seen.

It was not until the last decade of the 18th century that coke-fired furnaces began to make an appearance in the Forest, with Cinderford, Whitecliff and Parkend Ironworks being built almost simultaneously.

On March 17, 2009 it was announced that Slipgate Ironworks is part of Gazillion Entertainment.

Maxmilian Mannaburg came to Frodingham Ironworks in 1889 to help build and run the steelmaking plant and on the night of 21 March 1890 the first steel was tapped.

Pélissier was a political supporter of the American cause who operated the St. Maurice Ironworks.