Timeline |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Brymbo's story begins with John Wilkinson in 1792. From 1792 onwards there was iron production up to 1978 and steel production up to 1990. The main events in Brymbo's industrial past are shown below:
| 1400s | First records of mining in Brymbo area |
| 1792 | John Wilkinson purchases Brymbo Estate for £14,000 |
| 1794 | Brymbo bottle chimney completed |
| 1796 | Construction of first blast furnace (Old Number 1) |
| 1798 | Wilkinson opens lead smelting plant at Buckley |
| 1804 | Second blast furnace installed at Brymbo |
| 1808 | Wilkinson’s Death |
| 1813 | Trustees appoint William Rowe as their agent. |
| 1818 | John Thompson leases Iron Works from trustees |
| 1828 | Iron Works closes |
| 1829 | Wilkinson’s son attempts to restart the plant but is not successful |
| 1829 | Brymbo Hall sold |
| 1838 | Alexander Reid, Darrien MacDougall and Major Campbell take over ironworks and commence iron making. |
| 1838 | Alexander Reid, Darrien MacDougall and Major Campbell sink Wonder Colliery |
| 1838 | Wilkinson’s son leaves for America, ending Wilkinson family’s association with Brymbo. |
| 1838 | First church in Brymbo, St John’s, is consecrated |
| 1841 | Ironworks in financial difficulty – Brymbo Estate bought by Robert Roy |
| 1842 | Henry Robertson commissioned to report on Brymbo’s viability |
| 1842 | Brymbo Mineral Railway Co formed |
| 1842 | Robertson sinks the Blast Colliery |
| 1845 | W.H. Darby appointed manager of Brymbo estate along with Henry Robertson and Robert Roy |
| 1846 | C.E Darby becomes resident manager |
| 1846 | Wrexham to Chester railway line opened with Robert Roy as secretary and Henry Robertson as engineer |
| 1848 | Company invests £200 to build schools in Brymbo and £50 towards school in Minera |
| 1850 | First Brymbo school opens |
| 1852 | 13 tonne cobble of coal brought to the surface from the Blast Colliery for exhibition at Crystal Palace |
| 1860 | Black Lane school opens |
| 1870 | Caello colliery sunk (operated by the steel company) |
| 1872 | St Mary’s Church built |
| 1880 | Robertson returns to Brymbo to plan installation of steel plant |
| 1883 | First steelmaking trials undertaken |
| 1884 | Brymbo Steel Company formed |
| 1885 | First steel produced using open-hearth furnaces – Derby brothers responsible for daily running of the steelworks |
| 1886 | 2nd hand rolling mill (28”mill) purchased second-hand from Barrow Hematite Co- mill was in use until 1989. |
| 1892 | Top Brymbo pool enlarged to five acres |
| 1894 | C.E. Derby installs 33 coke ovens at Brymbo |
| 1910 | Pump house built in Ffrith to supply Top Brymbo pool. |
| 1914 | Blast Colliery closes |
| 1930s | Steelworks closes but reopens for WW2 |
| 1936 | Derby’s coke ovens decommissioned |
| 1938 | Last deep mine in Brymbo area closed (Plas Power). |
| 1940 | Electric arc furnaces installed at Brymbo |
| 1940 | 10” mill installed at Brymbo |
| 1946 | 10” mill ceases production |
| 1948 | GKN become interested in Brymbo site |
| 1955 | Esmond Morse (Managing Director) initiates expansion plan |
| 1957 | “Brymbo Man” discovered when building Cheshire View |
| 1958 | Top Brymbo pool enlarged to eight acres to provide water for steelworks |
| 1959 | Open hearth furnaces decommissoned |
| 1959 | New melting shop (EMS2) comes on line |
| 1961 | New cogging mill installed to allow larger ingots to be rolled |
| 1962 | Brymbo bottle chimney partially demolished |
| 1964 | New inspection department built |
| 1972 | Electric Melting Shop 1 (EMS1) closes |
| 1976 | Work starts on the Billet and Bar mill. |
| 1978 | Last blast furnace decomissioned, ending iron manufacture at Brymbo |
| 1980 | 28” mill decommissioned after 109 years of service |
| 1980 | Billet and Bar Mill commissioned |
| 14/05/1990 | Complete closure announced |
| 27/09/1990 | Last steel produced at Brymbo |
| Oct-90 | Last steel passes through cogging mill. |
| Nov-90 | Last steel passes through Billet and Bar mill |
| Feb-91 | Inspection departments closed, ending 193 years of iron and steel manufacture |
| Apr-05 | Inaugural meeting of Brymbo Heritage Group |
Home | The Group | Brymbo Heritage| News | Help! Q&A | Contact Us | Join Us | Links
©2008 Brymbo Heritage Group
