Patch girls statue in Tredegar town centre
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Patch girls statue in Tredegar town centre by Jaggery as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
Patch girls statue in Tredegar town centre
Image: © Jaggery Taken: 1 Jun 2017
Located on a green near Commercial Street post office on the left. The text records that sisters Margaret (aged 18) and Rebecca Lewis (aged 10) from number 2 Plummer's Row in Tredegar worked on the patches above Tredegar gathering iron ore in 1861. Patch girls had been described 20 years earlier by the Commissioners inquiring into the condition of children employed in mines. They stated that in working the mines of iron-ore in patches, that is to say, where the ore is found within a few feet from the surface, and the opening is made from the surface, girls are very frequently employed in wheeling and otherwise assisting the workmen. They are called patch girls, or girls who work in the patches. They lead a sort of half-savage life. Hardy, and exposed to all kinds of weather, they work as hard as the men, from whom they differ but little in dress, and quite equal in grossness.
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Image Location
Latitude
51.775489
Longitude
-3.245855