Dyfi Furnace

Image: © Nigel Mykura Taken: 4 Jun 2009

This building housed a smelting furnace for iron. The fuel used was charcoal from the local woods and the water of the local stream alongside was used to turn the water wheel which powered the bellows that blew a blast of air into the furnace. Without the blast of air, the temperature in the furnace would not have been high enough to smelt iron ore. The furnace was built about 1755 but was only used for about 50 years until 1810. It is one of the best preserved charcoal iron smelting furnace in Britain. The furnace is located in the left hand end of the building and the charcoal and iron ore were charged into the top of the furnace with limestone from the top floor of the building. The water wheel drove the huge bellows on the groundfloor on the right and the molten iron was tapped from the base of the furnace and ran across the sand floor in channels to ingot pigs located in a casting shed that would have been at the side of the existing building, where it solidified. The iron produced would have been high carbon cast iron which would have been very brittle and would have to have been reworked by various methods to produce softer and tougher iron or steel.

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