Description

The monument consists of the remains of an iron works founded in 1836.

The main features of the monument are the remains of three blast furnaces, with their associated hot-blast stoves, the blowing engine houses with the linked boiler settings and bases of chimneys, together with the furnace bank, pig-casting beds and canal wharf area associated with the working of the furnaces. These features are preserved as part of the Summerlee Heritage Park.

The area to be scheduled is irregular, including all of the aforementioned features but excluding the boatbuilding shed and the modern adaptations of the furnace bank, as marked in red on the accompanying map.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance because it is the most unambiguously complete ironworks site in Old Monkland parish, the core of the Scottish iron-smelting industry in its most influential period between the early 1830s and 1860s. Excavation of part of the remains has revealed the bases of three blast furnaces and Cowper stoves dating from the reconstruction of the works in the 1890s, and a sequence of blowing engine houses dating from the foundation of the works in 1836. Though similar remains may exist at other ironworks in the area their survival has not been proved. The furnace bank, pig-casting area and canal wharf are included for their direct relevance to the working of the furnaces. In its present form it illustrates the original concept of a canal-side works together with the enlargements and adaptation necessary to enable the enterprise to survive into the early 20th century. The monument is now in the Summerlee Heritage Park, and is thus effectively a site museum.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the monument as NS76NW 14.0.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland