Oakfield and its surrounding area was home to a fascinating group of inter-connecting industries that used tramways, inclines, railways and
the canal for transport. They included brickworks, ironworks, collieries and quarries.
Oakfield Wireworks
The hub of the system situated at the heart of Oakfield village, owned by Whitehead, Hill and Co Ltd from 1925. The wireworks was opened in
1857 by J.C.Hill with connections to both the MRCC's canal and railway. The railway link closed in December 1966 when the contract to supply coal to
the white brickworks ended. The works passed to BSC in 1968 and closed in 1971. The railway system connected to the MRCC just south of Cwmbran goods yard,
opposite the Vitriol Works. From the internal system, one spur crossed Hill Street to a wharf on the canal and the other left the wireworks by a fine set of iron gates, crossed
Llandowlais Street and immediately forked to the red and white brickworks. The railway system was operated by two locos, 'Whitehead' and 'Hill', either being known locally
as 'Puffing Billy' when being watched through the iron fence round the white brickworks. 'Hill' was used to keep 'Whitehead' running and was finally scrapped when the line
closed. 'Whitehead' was preserved and is usually to be found at the Midland railway Centre, Butterley, Derbyshire. The site is now occupied by the TA headquarters.
The 'white' brickworks, Oakfield
The original brickworks at Ty-coch specialising in refractory or fire bricks, dated from before 1840 and is now a housing estate. The site was originally the canal
basin at the lower end of the incline from Henllys Colliery, probably dating from around 1814. It was described as a 'coalworks' and owned by Joshua Hanson in 1840,
the six bottle-shaped kilns of the 'firebrick' works being opened in 1842/43 by Joshua's son Cyrus. It seems one of the kilns had collapsed by 1882 but not replaced.
The 'red' brickworks, Llandowlais
A 'new' brickworks making ordinary house bricks, opened shortly after the second world war, c1950, at Llandowlais. It quarried its clay from claypits to the
south of the works, east of Ty-coch Lane and the canal. A trial pit was dug on the west side of Ty-coch Lane in the early 1960s, reached by a concrete culvert over the canal,
but not developed.The red brickworks was disused by 1966, the sidings containing one solitary boxvan, and probably closed when the railway closed at the
end of the year. The brickworks site is now occupied by the Ty-coch Industrial Estate.
The Incline
The Incline began at the 'white' brickworks canal basin and ran for around two miles to Henllys Colliery, rising over 600ft (210m) in the process.
There were two main sections to the incline plus an extension to the large upper quarry. The main section rose steadily, running virtually due West, from the end of the
brickworks yard at ST 282941 to Machine Cottage at ST 266941, the 'machine' being a weighing machine. The upper section carried on steeply to the colliery at ST 259943.
There was also a short incline up to the small upper quarry, coming off the tramway from the colliery yard to the upcast shaft.
Henllys Colliery
This was the closest Eastern Valley colliery to Newport, at 900ft (300m) high on the hillside above Cwmbran. It was opened around 1814 by Joshua
Hanson along with the incline and tramway down to the canal basin at Ty-coch. The colliery and incline closed around 1926 but the engine house, other buildings
and open adit were still there in 1959-60, the adit being full of tiny frogs! The mine area consisted of the main or downcast adit, the upcast adit or shaft about 1/2 mile
to the north, three quarries, two reservoirs and a double limekiln. There were other small workings to the north and south.
The area today
The Oakfield wireworks has been completely re-developed as the TA headquarters. Modern Hill Street roughly follows the Western wall of the yard. This
is marked particularly by the electricity sub-station which was inset into the wall. It is now a modern unit but until the early 2000's it was a brick-built building inscribed
'Cwmbran Urban District Council 1937' if I remember correctly. The area around the railway spur to the canal bank has been replaced with industrial units. From the
roundabout, the branch to the Llandowlais 'red' brickworks followed the outside line of the car park of the older 'Printpac' factory on the left. The red brickworks itself lies
under the ex-Ferranti factory on the Ty-coch Industrial Estate. Its clay pits have been levelled and are now offices and housing. There is nothing to use as a reference point.
The branch to the 'white' brickworks went from the roundabout to the right behind the 'Waterloo' pub and the builders / timber yard, the trackbed can just be made out as far
as the canal bridge. Beyond the bridge a housing estate occupies the site of the white brickworks and there are no reference points. From the Hollybush roundabout, looking
back towards the brickworks, the tramway from the brickworks to the colliery followed the access lane to the house and garage. The tramway crossed the road and passed
behind the Mill Tavern to cross Coed Eva Lane. From here on the route up to the colliery is a public footpath.
Photo Gallery
Click here for a selection of photos of the Henllys and Oakfield area
Many other photos of Henllys and Oakfield are on my photo gallery :- 'Transport and Industry - The Leftovers'
at http://philjenkins.fotopic.net/c1683981.html
Surviving Locations
A comprehensive sortable 'Excel' spreadsheet of all known sites is on the Home page.
ST 292942 Oakfield wireworks
ST 291943 Electricity sub-staton in Hill Street wall of wireworks
ST 290944 Canal wharf for wireworks
ST 293937 Llandowlais 'red' brickworks
ST 291937 Llandowlais claypits
ST 290938 Test claypit to the north of Ty-coch
ST 289937 Ty-coch 'white' brickworks
ST 287939 Double lime kiln behind white brickworks
ST 282941 Bottom of lower incline
ST 266941 Lower incline head and machine cottage
ST 259944 Henllys Colliery main adit
ST 260944 Main colliery quarry and drainage adit and limekilns
ST 258942 Lower reservoir (difficult to trace now)
ST 256944 Large upper quarry above main adit
ST 257946 Small upper quarry
ST 259949 Upper reservoir with leat to main adit
ST 260951 Minor workings linked to small upper quarry
ST 260950 Henllys Colliery upcast adit
ST 254938 Three small levels about 0.5 mile SW of main adit
