Interactive Guide to the Clydach Gorge
This interactive guide is being built be study groups visiting Ty'r
Morwydd. It is planned to complete the guide over 3 years from
Autumn 2008. Individuals will identify interesting sites, plants,
animals etc. and prepare a guide entry. These will gradually build
up to a rich and multi-layered guide to this fascinating valley.
Enter the Guide
Please note
that the wealth of material collected by the study groups means that
some of the files are large and may take a few moments to down load -
they are worth the wait!
The guide
is being updated - we apologise for any missing/broken links
Guide Categories
It will be possible to search
the guide for a variety of links
| Animals |
Plants |
Geology |
Local Tales |
History |
Industrial Archaeology |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
A brief history of the Clydach Gorge
Eight kilometres west of Abergavenny, the Afon Clydach carves
the Clydach Gorge through rocks that are between 400 and 300
million years old. The rocks found range from Old Red Sandstone,
through Carboniferous Limestone, to Millstone Grit and the Coal
Measures. This geology gives the gorge its special character.
Being on the Coalfield edge this area was exploited for its
mineral resources throughout history, due to the relative ease
with which those resources could be won.
Earliest evidence suggests that iron production was started in
the gorge in the Iron Age, but it was the Stuarts and the
Georgians that really got things going, building Llanelly
Furnace and Forge at the Gilwern end of the gorge. The main
development however, was the construction of Clydach Ironworks
in the 1790s, enabled by the use of coke instead of charcoal. At
the height of the industrial revolution, more than 1350 people,
including women and children were involved in some way in the
production of iron at the gorge.
The resulting scenery is dominated by quarries and mines; old
inclines, tramways, railways and canals; spoil and slag tips;
derelict ironworks, lime kilns and other industrial buildings;
old workers cottages and community buildings. That said, the
natural world is also an important aspect of the gorge’s appeal.
As heavy industry declined, and the workings were abandoned,
nature has been allowed to reclaim large parts of the landscape.
The old industrial structures are now home to a wide
range of flora and fauna, as the walls, tramways, waterways and
cliff faces have been colonised.
The gorge is particularly special for the beech woodland, which
is the on the north-western limit for this type of habitat; part
of the gorge has been designated a National Nature Reserve for
this very reason (that and the rare whitebeam tree found there).
The gorge is also home to 400 species of fungi (at last count!),
countless wildflowers (including orchids), birds, bugs and maybe
even bats!
The Moving Mountains project aims to make everyone aware
of just what is to be found here, whilst providing inspirational
and innovative educational experiences for those directly
involved.
