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caused the works to go bankrupt in 1931. The plant was saved, and production restarted, by Henry
Robertson's son, Sir Henry Beyer Robertson (1862–1948). Robertson formed a new company and put Emrys Davies and Thomas Roberts in charge of production, as well as negotiating a lucrative contract to
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on the site, east of the Hall, 884 tons of iron being produced in this first year. This initial furnace ("No. 1") worked continuously until 1894 when it was finally 'blown out', and continued in use afterwards as a sand hopper. From 1805 a second furnace was brought into production.
233:. From 1956 onwards the works were hugely expanded, new electric furnaces being sited on an artificial hill made from furnace waste. A further expansion in the early 1970s resulted in the construction of a large, modern rolling mill south of the main steelworks site.
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A new major road has been built recently to connect the village of Brymbo to the new
Mountain View houses on the former steelworks site. The road was opened in June 2021 and now opens up plans for more development such as a school, retail areas and business options.
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Panoramic view, taken from the old blast furnace charging bank, of a small part of the former steelworks site. At the centre is
Wilkinson's original No. 1 blast furnace, later used as a sand hopper. The plateau in the distance was later the site of the main melting
196:, to manage the works. The works gradually expanded, and in 1854 he bought out Roy's share of the business, local tradition stating that the transaction was decided by a horse race which the steelworks employees, favouring Robertson, ensured he won.
259:. During its history the steelworks was involved with or supported a number of other industrial sites in the immediate area, including collieries (with the Blast Pit being located within the works itself) and a brickworks at Cae-llo which produced
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In 1992, the site was purchased by
Parkhill Estates and land remediated. The site is now being developed to support large amounts of housing. It is currently planned to keep the long-standing Machine Shop and No 1 blast furnace, both original
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After the deaths of
William and Charles Darby in 1882 and 1884 respectively, the business was incorporated as Brymbo Steel Co. Ltd. Robertson encouraged John Henry Darby, the son of William, and Peter Williams (father of the MP
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After
Wilkinson's death, his estate was contested between his natural children, who he had fathered with the Brymbo Hall housekeeper Ann Lewis, and his nephew Thomas Jones. The cost of the actions in the
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were to bankrupt Jones and to absorb much of the inheritance of
Wilkinson's children. The ironworks lay idle for some years, with a few attempts at restarting production, one of which was made by the
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151:. The estate was rich in coal and ironstone deposits, several small coal pits having existed even before Wilkinson purchased the estate. By 1796 Wilkinson had erected the first
208:. The first tap was recorded by Robertson in December 1883 and by January 1885 Brymbo had produced its first commercial steel in a plant which was the first of its kind in the
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114:. In operation between 1796 and 1990, it was significant on account of its founder, one of whose original blast furnace stacks remains on the site.
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In 1841, the works and estate were to be bought by Robert Roy (one of the Brymbo estate's trustees) and in 1842 were handed to
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and its 500-acre estate from the
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aero engines. The business changed company name again in 1948, on the latter occasion becoming a part of
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to develop. Robertson engaged
William Henry Darby and Charles Edward Darby, grandsons of
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Steel production lasted until 1990, when the steelworks was closed by its then owners,
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Freight train with the steelworks' Melting Shop in the background, 1962
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495:"Developer to build 70 homes on former industrial site in North Wales"
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with the rest of the steel industry in 1967, becoming a division of
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Former buildings and structures in
Wrexham County Borough
204:, who was born at Brymbo) to trial steelmaking using the
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135:The works was founded by the pioneer industrialist
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527:Aerial photo of Brymbo and steelworks site, 1993
102:was a former large steelworks in the village of
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806:Tourist attractions in Wrexham County Borough
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791:Metallurgical industry of the United Kingdom
143:jointly with his brother William, purchased
375:Brymbo Steelworks - the Scottish connection
349:(Merton Priory Press, Cardiff 1995), 49-50.
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432:Brymbo Steelworks - Making steel 1960-1990
347:British Blast Furnace Statistics 1790-1980
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328:John Wilkinson - Ironmaster Extraordinary
362:, University of Wales Press, 1971, p.147
360:The Industrial Revolution in North Wales
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522:Brymbo Steelworks Open day photos
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493:Hughes, Owen (19 October 2021).
455:, Wrexham County Borough Council
453:Brymbo Steelworks - The last tap
434:, Wrexham County Borough Council
422:, Wrexham County Borough Council
384:, Wrexham County Borough Council
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41:Part of the works in April 1962
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180:Development by Henry Robertson
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587:Barrow Hematite Steel Company
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247:The works were served by the
225:supply engineering steel for
395:Coalbrookdale and the Darbys
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216:Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds
19:For the football club, see
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345:P. Riden and J. G. Owen,
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242:British Steel Corporation
137:John 'Iron Mad' Wilkinson
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300:Brymbo Steelworks had a
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202:Christmas Price Williams
632:Skinningrove Steelworks
733:Port Talbot Steelworks
682:Ravenscraig steelworks
677:Clydebridge Steelworks
622:Sheffield Forgemasters
333:2 January 2011 at the
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126:The steelworks in 1990
21:Brymbo Steelworks F.C.
612:Scunthorpe Steelworks
469:"A Vision for Brymbo"
304:that won a number of
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607:Round Oak Steelworks
380:3 April 2018 at the
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723:Llanwern steelworks
703:Blaenavon Ironworks
647:Teesside Steelworks
592:Brown Bayley Steels
227:Rolls-Royce Limited
220:The effects of the
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728:Panteg Steel Works
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602:Firth Brown Steels
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504:25 December
478:25 December
473:Brymbo Park
393:E. Thomas,
255:, later of
236:Brymbo was
145:Brymbo Hall
785:Categories
755:53°04′16″N
326:Davis, R.
312:References
279:buildings.
261:firebricks
174:ironmaster
73:Steel mill
758:3°03′07″W
665:Scotland
378:Archived
331:Archived
79:Products
69:Industry
59:Location
580:England
251:of the
118:History
108:Wrexham
89:Defunct
104:Brymbo
63:Brymbo
696:Wales
597:Corby
296:Sport
274:Today
112:Wales
106:near
83:Steel
51:Built
506:2022
480:2022
287:shop
98:The
92:1990
54:1796
231:GKN
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
_of_Brymbo_(GC)_Station_by_Brymbo_Steelworks_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1928452.jpg)
