Worktown: The Drawings of Falcon Hildred

The Oakeley Gash, 1974
A panorama of the terraced working of the Oakeley slate quarries, seen as one enters Blaenau Ffestiniog from the north over the Crimea Pass. To the left are the terraced houses of Tal-y-Waenydd, and beyond them are the Llechwedd quarries and slate mill.
© Crown: Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales, Falcon Hildred Collection,
FHA 01/08/02, NPRN 404307

A team of curators, volunteers and archivists from the Royal Commission and the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust have been working together in preparation for a remarkable new exhibition of the work of artist Falcon Hildred which will open at the Coalbrookdale Gallery in the heart of the Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site on the 5th October.

Falcon Hildred is a highly accomplished artist who has dedicated his working life to recording the buildings and landscapes of nineteenth-and twentieth-century industry, producing works of high aesthetic, historic and social value. He has recorded in detail technological and engineering change and a rapidly disappearing way of life. The Commission, working in partnership with the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust and with support from the Heritage Lottery Fund, acquired his unique collection of over 600 original drawings of industrial buildings and landscapes earlier this year. The upcoming exhibition makes this iconic collection available for the first time.

Our Secretary, Peter Wakelin explains that “Falcon Hildred’s lifetime’s work amounts to a unique record of working-class culture and industrial landscapes. The collection is a superb resource for anyone interested in this heritage, much of which has disappeared since Falcon documented it. This first exhibition and the book accompanying it will make lots more people aware of his work and the fascinating history it stands for.”

Jennifer Stewart, Head of the Heritage Lottery Fund in Wales said, “Wales is renowned worldwide for its industrial heritage and the acquisition of this collection has meant that this past can be shared in a unique way.  We are really pleased that so many volunteers have been involved in the project and that these very special drawings and watercolours are now going to be seen by so many people”.

The free to enter exhibition will be located in the Coalbrookdale Gallery at Ironbridge Gorge Museum, and will be open 10am – 5pm, Monday to Friday from 5th October 2012 to 20 April 2013. Please call 01952 433424 or visit www.ironbridge.org.uk for more details.

Cardiff Prison, 1986
Cardiff was commissioned after the earlier Cardiff Gaol was deemed insufficient to cope with the likely prison needs of the rapidly expanding industrial town. It was opened at the end of 1832 with room to house eighty prisoners and twenty debtors
© Crown: Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales, Falcon Hildred Collection,
FHA 02/66, NPRN 3072

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A Return Visit to Maenofferen Slate Quarry

Members of Plas Tan y Bwlch Industrial Archaeology Group. NPRN 400427

The long established Plas Tan y Bwlch Industrial Archaeology Group has recently finished their annual field school in Snowdonia. The focus of this year’s work was MaenofferenSlate Quarry in Blaenau Ffestiniog, where the Royal Commission has been undertaking survey and investigation as part of its Slate Quarries Project.  Royal Commission Investigator Louise Barker spent two days working alongside the group who spent their time enhancing the Commission’s survey with valuable additional information on specific aspects of the site such as the machinery and underground remains.

The combined work will produce a valuable record of the quarry and will also be featured in the Commission’s forthcoming publication on the Archaeology of the Slate Industry, written by the Plas Tan y Bwlch course leader Dafydd Gwyn and due out in 2014.

Aerial view of Maenofferen Slate Quarry, Blaenau Ffestiniog. NPRN 400427

Also see:

Survey at the Maenofferen Slate Quarry | Heritage of Wales News

05 Oct 2010

As part of both the Commission's new Slate Quarries project and the Atlanterra project, RCAHMW Investigators have just completed their first week of survey at Maenofferen, part of the extensive quarrying complex at Blaenau ...

A Fine Week At The Maenofferen Slate Quarry | Heritage of Wales ...

11 Oct 2010

Survey at Maenofferen is nearly completed with an overall site plan encompassing the whole quarry complex including the original workers housing, the inclines for carrying away the processed slate and the tramways for ...

Saw Mill Maenofferen Slate Quarry Complex | Heritage of Wales News

20 Oct 2010

The saw mill, which developed over four separate phases, is the largest building in the Maeofferen complex. A waterwheel in the centre of the left hand bay was fed by a launder carried on stone piers which can still be seen to ...

Maenofferen Slate Quarry Winding House Complex | Heritage of ...

13 Oct 2010

The winding house complex at the top of the underground incline. A series of three winding drums in the centre section serve the rails, with a boiler house, engine house and possible compressor house making up the rest of ...

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Recent Work at Frongoch Metal Mine in Ceredigion

Excavation of a buddle.  The stone floor of this structure is rare; most were floored with timber.
Crown Copyright. RCAHMW

The Welsh Mines Preservation Trust and the Royal Commission’s Metal Links team have recently been working at Frongoch mine in Ceredigion. Frongoch was an extensive and important lead and zinc mine complex, first recorded in 1759 and operating until the turn of the 20th century.  A number of structures and features survive at the site including shafts, engine houses and powder magazines; a crusher house, stamps mill, winding house and dressing mill, together with numerous watercourses, structures and earthworks associated with the various ore preparation processes.

In 1984, the Royal Commission carried out a detailed survey of the remains here, the results of which were subsequently featured in a book ‘Frongoch Lead and Zinc Mine’ written by David Bick and published by the Northern Mine Research Society.

Recent work at the mine has concentrated on the lower dressing floors, where the fine particles of metal ore were retrieved.  In this area additional information, uncovered since 1984, has been added to the original Royal Commission survey and a series of buddles – a machine which washed and separated the metal ore - excavated.  This work was carried out in advance of planned Environment Agency work at the site, the first stage of which has now been carried out under the archaeological supervision of Dyfed Archaeological Trust.

An aerial view of Frongoch taken in February 2012.
Crown Copyright. RCAHMW AP_2012_1389

Find out more about the Frongoch Mine on coflein http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/302/details/FRONGOCH+LEAD+MINE/

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Drysau Agored: Teithiau i Ddarganfod Tafarnau Hanesyddol Dinbych

Golden Lion, Back Row, Denbigh.
DS2009_127_001   NPRN 26774

Dyddiad y digwyddiad: 15 Medi 2012
Lleoliad: Llyfrgell Dinbych, Dinbych
Math o ddigwyddiad: Taith dywys
Ymwelydd arbennig: Geoff Ward

Manylion pellach:
Fel rhan o ddigwyddiad mis Medi Drysau Agored, ac mewn partneriaeth â Menter Treftadaeth Treflun (MTT) Dinbych, bydd Geoff Ward, ymchwilwyr gyda’r Comisiwn Brenhinol, yn arwain nifer o deithiau ar Ddydd Sadwrn, 15 Medi i ddarganfod tafarnau hanesyddol Dinbych. Bydd y teithiau’n dechrau am 11.15, 13.30 a 15.00 ac yn para am tua 1 awr 15 munud. Byddwch cystal â chyfarfod y tu allan i lyfrgell Dinbych. Mae croeso i bawb ond rhaid trefnu ymlaen llaw. I gael mwy o fanylion ac i drefnu’ch lle, cysylltwch â Llyfrgell Dinbych, ffôn: 01745 816313 neu e-bostiwch heritageinitiative@debighshire.gov.uk I gael mwy o wybodaeth am ddigwyddiadau Drysau Agored yn Sir Ddinbych, ewch i www.opendoorsdenbighshire.org.uk

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Open Doors: Historical Tours of Denbigh’s Pubs

Golden Lion, Back Row, Denbigh.
DS2009_127_001   NPRN 26774

Event Date: 15 September 2012
Location: Denbigh Library, Denbigh
Type of Event: Guided walk
Special Guest: Geoff Ward and Susan Fielding

Further details:
As part of the Open Doors September event, and in partnership with Denbigh’s THI, on Saturday, 15 September, Royal Commission investigators Geoff Ward will be leading a number of historical tours of Denbigh’s pubs. Tours will commence at 11.15, 13.30 and 15.00, and will last about 1 hour 15 minutes. Please meet outside Denbigh Library. Everyone is welcome but pre-booking is required. For further details and booking, please contact Denbigh Library, Tel: 01745 816313 or email heritageinitiative@debighshire.gov.uk For more information about Open Doors events in Denbighshire, please visit www.opendoorsdenbighshire.org.uk

• Invite your friends and/or post the Event on your Profile.

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Big Pit, Blaenavon, Recreated by the Mad Mountain Stitchers

Big Pit, Blaenavon, tapestry. Copyright: Mad Mountain Stitchers

Using the rich and freely-available resources of the National Monuments Record of Wales, a group of highly-creative, textile artists based in the Brecon Beacons have recently created an incredible tapestry of Big Pit, Blaenavon (NPRN:433).  Working under the collective name of the Mad Mountain Stitchers, Margitta Davis, Ann Notley, Penny Turnbull, Milli Stein and Jan Winstanley, have ingeniously woven their own distinct individual styles cleverly together to produce this wonderful tapestry based on images from the Royal Commission’s archive.

A spokeswoman from the group explained:

“Working on Bit Pit, in various media, was a fun challenge especially as the site is not far from our work place. We were, therefore, able to visit many times to get a feel of the place. There were so many ideas; they just kept coming so we went for it!

Amongst the materials used were felt, organza, calico, cottons, dyed and painted leather, beads, silk tops, voiles, embroidery wire, various threads, some space dyed and variegated etc. Techniques used were appliqué, stumpwork, embellishing, hand and machine embroidery, needlelace, stencilling etc.
We would like to acknowledge the support given by everyone at Big Pit, especially Kathryn Stowers. Images supplied by the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales were invaluable”.

The National Monuments Record of Wales (NMRW) holds the national collection of information about the historic environment of Wales from the earliest times to the present day. It includes almost 2, 000,000 photographs, over 125,000 drawings, over 32,000 archived maps, and over 530,000 pages of text and reports. An increasing amount of this material is available on Coflein, our on-line database. In addition the Royal Commission welcomes enquiries about its collections and offers a free public enquiry service.


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Ar Eich Marciau! Parod! EWCH! ― Fields of Play: The Sporting Heritage of Wales

Fields of Play: The Sporting Heritage of Wales
(ISBN 978-1-87118-445-7)

Bu disgwyl mawr am gyhoeddiad diweddaraf y Comisiwn Brenhinol, Fields of Play: The Sporting Heritage of Wales, a gyrhaeddodd heddiw. Cyhoeddwyd y llyfr i nodi’r flwyddyn Olympaidd 2012 ac mae’n llawn lluniau gwych gan gynnwys llawer o ddelweddau o Gofnod Henebion Cenedlaethol Cymru nad ydynt wedi cael eu cyhoeddi o’r blaen. Drwy astudio’r amrywiaeth o gyfleusterau chwaraeon o barciau cyhoeddus a phyllau nofio awyr agored i feysydd chwarae a stadia, a rôl cefn gwlad fel iard chwarae genedlaethol, mae’r llyfr hwn yn sicr o feithrin dealltwriaeth ddyfnach o leoedd chwaraeon yng Nghymru

Bydd y llyfr ar gael i bawb yn gynnar yr wythnos nesaf am bris o £14.95 yn unig gan gynnwys cludiant (y DU yn unig). Ffoniwch y Comisiwn Brenhinol ar 01970 621200 neu ewch i’n gwefan www.cbhc.gov.uk i archebu copi. Gall Cyfeillion brynu copi o’r llyfr am y pris arbennig o £13.50 yn unig gan gynnwys cludiant (y DU yn unig). Byddwch cystal â dyfynnu Cyfeillion y Comisiwn Brenhinol wrth roi eich archeb.

Fields of Play: The Sporting Heritage of Wales
(ISBN 978-1-87118-445-7)

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On Your Marks, Get Set, GO! - Fields of Play: The Sporting Heritage of Wales

Fields of Play: The Sporting Heritage of Wales
(ISBN 978-1-87118-445-7)

The Royal Commission’s latest and eagerly-awaited publication, Fields of Play: The Sporting Heritage of Wales arrived today. Published to mark the 2012 Olympic year, this book is superbly illustrated with numerous previously unpublished images from the National Monuments Record of Wales. Exploring the diversity of sporting facilities from public parks and open-air swimming baths to welfare grounds, stadiums, and the role of the countryside as a national playground, this book will undoubtedly encourage a greater appreciation of sporting places in the Welsh landscape.

This book will be available to all from early next week at only £14.95 with free p&p (UK only) from the Royal Commission on 01970 621200 or via our website www.rcahmw.gov.uk. Friends can buy a copy of this book at the special discounted price of only £13.50 including p&p (UK only). Please quote ‘Friends of the Royal Commission’ with your order.

Fields of Play: The Sporting Heritage of Wales
(ISBN 978-1-87118-445-7)

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Enillydd Gwobr Diwrnod Agored y Comisiwn Brenhinol

Mr Mike Buzzard yn derbyn ei wobr yn llyfrgell y Comisiwn Brenhinol.

Yn dilyn llwyddiant Diwrnod Agored y Comisiwn Brenhinol a gynhaliwyd y mis diwethaf, daeth enillydd lwcus y gystadleuaeth tynnu enw o het i nôl ei wobr heddiw. Roedd Mr Mike Buzzard o Bontrhydfendigaid yn hynod falch o dderbyn copi o Hidden Histories, llyfr canmlwyddiant llawn lluniau y Comisiwn Brenhinol, a dywedodd wrth y staff gymaint yr oedd ef wedi mwynhau digwyddiadau’r Diwrnod Agored poblogaidd. I gael rhagor o fanylion am ddigwyddiadau a drefnir gan y Comisiwn Brenhinol, beth am ymuno â’n Rhwydwaith Cyfeillion di-dâl a chael gwybod am newyddion a gweithgareddau diweddaraf y Comisiwn Brenhinol a mwynhau gostyngiad o 10% ar ein llyfrau?

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