Cinderford Iron Works

It could be said that Cinderford Iron Works caused the building of Tyler's Terrace. Not directly, maybe, but if the works hadn't been built, then it's unlikely the terrace would have been.

Iron smelting had taken place in the area for centuries and gives Cinderford it's name from the slag left from early workings and the ford across Cinderford brook at, what we now call, Cinderford Bridge. Although Cinderford, as a town, didn't develop until much later, the name has been in use from at least the 13th century with the earliest known mention in the Calendar of Charter Rolls dated May 28, 1258(1) where the 'ford at Sinderford' is mentioned as being one point on the boundary of land granted to the monks of Flaxley.

It all started with the geology. The Forest rests on three distinct layers of rock all forming a saucer shape due to folding and erosion. The lowest layer is of Old Red Sandstone which can be found exposed in the west in the Wye valley and in the east in Littledean and other areas around the periphery of the Forest. It can be seen in the many reddish brown buildings that exist in these areas. The middle layer is of limestones and it is this layer that contains most of the iron ore. The Top layer consists of sandstones interbedded with coal seams. This arrangement and the saucer shape which causes the lower layers to crop out around the edge of the Forest is responsible for the location of the various mines and quarries from which the coal and iron ore was excavated. It would also have been an influence on the location chosen for building Cinderford Iron Works. The iron works required water, coal and iron ore and all these were available within a short distance of the chosen location about half a mile north of Cinderford Bridge – where Forest View Residential Park is now.

Cinderford Iron Works was built at the end of the 18th century. All existing iron works in the Forest at the time used charcoal to generate the high temperatures necessary to extract the iron from the ore but, it's said, the coal mine owners wanted to introduce the use of coke as this would increase their sales of coal. The use of coke in the smelting process was not well understood but, nevertheless, in or about 1796 the construction of a coke fired blast furnace was started. There was some mystery around the construction of the furnace. The construction was, apparently, being undertaken by a partnership of Thomas Teague, George Teague and Thomas Martin but, it is thought, they were not the real proprietors of the project. Also, the purpose of the construction was kept secret as to build a furnace on Crown land would have been considered encroachment and would be subject to removal. So the construction was initially described as a water pumping engine to drain some coal works – something that would have been allowed as it would have been connected to mining.

Details of exactly how or when the furnace was completed is unclear but it appears it was completed and working by 1801 but it was a commercial failure and closed soon after in 1806. The failure was due, in part, to the use of coke but also to competition.

Around 1820, Moses Teague discovered how to make good iron using coke and, as a result of this, he reopened Cinderford Iron Works in 1829 but closed it again in 1832 due to an economic slump. But in 1835, with financial help from William Crawshay, the works were once again started under the control of William Allaway who also ran the tin plate works at Lydbrook. A dispute between Crawshay and Allaway resulted in Stephen Allaway being made manager and the works then continued to be succesful for several years. After Moses Teague sold his shares to William Crawshay, Crawshay and William Allaway became the only owners with each owning a 50% share. Crawshay eventually passed his share to his son Henry and Stephen Allaway inherited his father's share but Henry bought out Stephen in 1862 and became the sole owner of the business.

The iron works continued to expand and two new furnaces were added in 1880 but by 1890 the works were in decline. It finally closed in 1894 and was demolished by 1901.

The eventual success of Cinderford Iron Works meant it needed men (and boys) to operate it. By 1841 it was employing around a 100 of them. The employees needed housing and the works built rows of cottages establishing the area that became known as the Furnaces. The rows still exist around the bottom of Victoria Street today. One row, still known as Office Row, was actually once offices for the works and only became houses after the works was closed and demolished. Another row of houses now on Valley Road just south of the residential park was also part of the ironworks and is the only part of the main works that still exists.

The influx of people to the area also meant various amenities were also required. Pubs, schools and churches etc. were soon built. Near Cinderford Bridge, a school opened in 1840 and St John's Church opened in 1844. At the Furnaces, the Forgehammer pub was opened by 1832 and across the road from the pub, the Victoria Hotel was built sometime after 1834.

(1) https://archive.org/details/calendarcharter01cunngoog/page/11/mode/1up

Further reading on Forest of Dean Industry can be found at https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/glos/vol5/pp326-354

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