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ABSTRACT
The history and development of the early 19th-century Bryn Oer Tramroad in South-East Wales has been considered previously by Gordon Rattenbury and John van Laun, but archaeological monitoring and walkover surveys carried out during conservation works to the tramroad in spring 2022 have yielded new data. In particular, fresh evidence for the tramroad’s drainage system, turnouts and gateways has allowed a reassessment of the earlier studies, enabling a more complete narrative of the tramroad to be presented. The article is divided into four parts. The first part outlines the history of the canals to which the Bryn Oer Tramroad was connected, and the second discusses the historical context of the tramroad. The third part provides an archaeological evaluation of the tramroad, whilst the final part discusses the comparative importance of the tramroad within the context of late 18th- and early 19th-century transport networks in South-East Wales.
Acknowledgements
The author would like to acknowledge several individuals whose contributions aided greatly in the writing of this article. Firstly, a debt of gratitude goes to Alice Thorne of the Brecon Beacons National Park Authority, who commissioned the archaeological watching brief on the Bryn Oer Tramroad. Her discussions of, and guided tours along, the tramroad also helped formulate an in-depth picture of its archaeological integrity. Secondly, gratitude must go to the wardens of the Brecon Beacons National Park Authority — Rhys, Gareth and Sam — whose cooperation and company throughout the watching brief was much appreciated. Thirdly, special thanks go to Richard Lewis of Black Mountains Archaeology Ltd, who helped ingrain in the author a fascination of Welsh tramroads and industrial archaeology more generally. Thanks are also expressed to the editors of Industrial Archaeology Review (Ian Miller and Ian West) and the anonymous reviewers, whose comments and expertise were invaluable. Finally, the role of the Richard Hankinson and Nigel Jones of the Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust needs to be mentioned for their survey work of the Bryn Oer Tramroad in the early 2000s, which kickstarted interest in the culverts and other small-scale features along the tramroad.
Disclosure Statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 A full account of the survey data is presented in Rhys Morgan, Bryn Oer Tramroad, Talybont-on-Usk, Brecon Beacons National Park: Archaeological Watching Brief and Survey, Black Mountains Archaeology Report No. 257 (2022).
2 Gordon Rattenbury, ‘Survivals of the Brinore Tramroad in Brecknockshire’, Journal of Industrial Archaeology 1 (1964): 173–83; Gordon Rattenbury, Tramroads of the Brecknock and Abergavenny Canal (Oakham: Railway and Canal Historical Society, 1980), 99–127; John van Laun, Early Limestone Railways: How Railways Developed to Feed the Furnaces of the Industrial Revolution in South East Wales (London: Newcomen Society, 2001), ch. 9.
3 Philip John Greer Ransom, The Archaeology of Canals (Tadworth: World’s Work, 1979), 40.
4 For reasons of simplification and clarity, the term ‘tramroad’ is used herein to refer to railed roads that facilitated horse-drawn carriages, either in the form of plateways or edgeways. This term is used in the broadest possible sense and should not be confused other historic and more specific uses of the term.
5 Joseph Priestley, A Historical Account of the Navigable Rivers, Canals, and Railways of Great Britain (London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown and Green, 1831), 487.
6 David D. Gladwin and Joyce Marian Gladwin, The Canals of the Welsh Valleys and their Tramroads, 2nd ed. (Oxford: Oakwood Press, 1991), 76.
7 John Robert Ward, The Finance of Canal Building in Eighteenth-Century England (London: Oxford University Press, 1974), 144.
8 Anne Wilson, ‘The Excavation of the Clydach Ironworks’, Industrial Archaeology Review 11, no. 1 (1988): 16.
9 Aubrey Byles, The History of the Monmouthshire Railway and Canal Company (Tunbridge Wells: Village Publishing, 1982).
10 R.A. Mott, ‘Tramroads of the Eighteenth Century and their Originator: John Curr’, Transactions of the Newcomen Society 42 (1969–70): 1–23.
11 Michael Lewis, ‘Bar to Fish-belly: The Evolution of the Cast-iron Edge Rail’, in Early Railways 2: Papers from the Second International Railway Conference, ed. Michael Lewis (London: Newcomen Society, 2003), 102–17.
12 David Gwyn, ‘Transitional Technology: The Nantlle Railway’, in Early Railways: A Selection of Papers from the Fourth International Railway Conference, ed. Andy Guy and Jim Rees (London: Newcomen Society), 46–62; Michael Lewis, Steam on the Sirhowy Tramroad and its Neighbours (Market Drayton: Railway and Canal Historical Society, 2020), 19.
13 John van Laun and David Bick, ‘South Wales Plateways 1788–1860’, Antiquaries Journal 80, no. 1 (2000): 321–31.
14 Van Laun, Early Limestone Railways, 22.
15 Phillip Riden, ‘The Butterley Company and Railway Construction, 1790–1830’, in The Civil Engineering of Canals and Railways before 1850, ed. Michael Chrimes (London: Routledge, 1997), 283.
16 William W. Tasker, Railways in the Sirhowy Valley (Oxford: Oakwood Press, 1992), 6.
17 Benjamin Hall was made a partner in the Union Ironworks by his father-in-law Richard Crawshay. After the death of Crawshay in June 1810, Hall was the sole proprietor of the ironworks.
18 Rattenbury, Tramroads of the Brecknock and Abergavenny Canal, 100–1.
19 The Bryn Oer Tramroad was also known by the alternative, Anglicised name of ‘Brinore’.
20 Eg, Rattenbury, ‘Survivals of the Brinore Tramroad’, 99–127.
21 Lewis, Steam on the Sirhowy Tramroad, 27.
22 Derek Stiven Barrie, A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain, Volume 12, South Wales (Newton Abbot: David and Charles, 1980), 87–8.
23 John Hodge, Railways and Industry in the Sirhowy Valley: Newport to Tredegar and Nantybwch, Including Hall’s Road (Barnsley: Pen and Sword, 2020), 219.
24 David Morgan Rees, The Industrial Archaeology of Wales (London: David and Charles, 1975), 172.
25 Stephen Hughes, The Archaeology of an Early Railway System: The Brecon Forest Tramroads (Aberystwyth: RCAHMW, 1990), 338.
26 Hughes, The Archaeology of an Early Railway System, 332.
27 Stephen Hughes, ‘The Characteristics of Extractive and Smelting Landscapes of the Industrial Revolution at Swansea and Blaenavon’, Landscape History 30, no. 1 (2008): 338.
28 Map of the Parish of Llanthetty in the County of Brecon, surveyed by Thomas Bates, 1839 (The National Library of Wales).
29 Construction of the Talybont Reservoir began in 1931, several decades after the abandonment of the Bryn Oer Tramroad.
30 Rattenbury, ‘Survivals of the Brinore Tramroad’, 179.
31 ‘Difficulties of Railway Engineering’, Quarterly Review 103 (1858): 1–16.
32 Rattenbury, ‘Survivals of the Brinore Tramroad’, 180.
33 Van Laun, Early Limestone Railways, 61.
34 Rattenbury, ‘Survivals of the Brinore Tramroad’, 180–2.
35 Van Laun, Early Limestone Railways, 25.
36 T.G. Cumming, Illustrations of the Origin and Progress of Rail and Tram Roads, and Steam Carriages, or Loco-motive Engines (Denbigh: T.G. Cumming, 1824), 12–27.
37 Reginald B. Schofield, Benjamin Outram, 1764–1805: An Engineering Biography (Cardiff: Merton Priory Press, 2000), 72.
38 Map of the Parish of Llanthetty in the County of Brecon, surveyed by Thomas Bates, 1839 (The National Library of Wales).
39 Also found along the tramroad during the walkover surveys were several modern culverts and grip drains, both aligned perpendicular to the tramroad. The former comprised excavations through the tramroad substrate to receive HDPE pipes, while the latter comprised shallow channels excavated into the top of the substrate. These have not been discussed as they add little to the historical narrative of the Bryn Oer Tramroad.
40 Andy Guy and Jim Rees, Early Railways: A Selection of Papers from the First International Early Railways Conference (London: Newcomen Society, 2001); Michael Lewis, Early Railways 2: A Selection of Papers from the Second International Early Railways Conference (London: Newcomen Society, 2003); Michael Bailey, Early Railways 3: A Selection of Papers from the Third International Early Railways Conference (Sudbury: Six Martlets, 2006); Graham Boyes, Early Railways 4: A Selection of Papers from the Fourth International Early Railways Conference (Sudbury: Six Martlets, 2010); see also Andy Guy and Jim Rees, Early Railways: 1569–1830 (Oxford: Shire, 2011).
41 Lewis, Steam on the Sirhowy Tramroad.
42 Stephen Hughes, ‘The Emergence of the Public Railway in Wales’, in Early Railways 4: A Selection of Papers from the Fourth International Railway Conference, ed. Graham Boyes (Sudbury: Six Martlets, 2010), 107–24.
43 Stephen Hughes, Copperopolis: Landscapes of the Early Industrial Period in Swansea (Aberystwyth: RCAHMW, 2000), 82.
44 Hughes, Copperopolis, 92.
45 Lewis, Steam on the Sirhowy Tramroad, 19.
46 Gladwin and Gladwin, The Canals of the Welsh Valleys, 60.
47 Hughes, The Archaeology of an Early Railway System, 208–57.
48 Stephen Hughes and Paul Reynolds, A Guide to the Industrial Archaeology of the Swansea Region (Swansea: RCAHMW, 1988), 38.
49 The remains of the Brecon Forest Tramroad, for example, include at least 17 bridges.
50 Hughes, The Archaeology of an Early Railway System, 159.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Rhys Morgan
Rhys Morgan works as project officer for Black Mountains Archaeology Ltd and is based in Ebbw Vale, South Wales. Rhys began working at Black Mountains Archaeology Ltd after completing his PhD in archaeology at the University of Southampton, under the supervision of Andrew Meirion Jones. Over the past few years, Rhys has been involved in the archaeological investigation of several significant industrial sites and has gained a keen interest in the topics of post-medieval transport, metallurgy, mineral extraction and pottery production. Email: [email protected].