Was Wales industrialized during the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries?

Answer 1

Depends which part. In the South Wales valleys, yes, from the time coal was mined in any quantity. From that grew other industries (steel, shipping, making ships) and so on, and the rise of Cardiff, Newport Bridgend as major population and commercial centres.. In the rest of Wales, no, except for small scale industry such as slate quarrying, bits of mineral excavation, hence the population shifts.

Answer 2

merthyr tydfil was the first important industrialised town in south wales (and arguably in the world). the presence of coal, wood, limestone, iron-ore and water all in close proximity meant that smelting houses (and later blast-furnaces) could be built there.

the first ironworks was built in 1759, but by 1784 there were already four large factories and the town was well on the way to shifting from agricultural production / marketing to manufacture as its primary economic function.

after 1784 merthyr continued to industrialise until 1874 when there was a significant check as the cyfarthfa works closed for major refurbishment. industrial decline set in in 1910 when the works closed for the first time (they were briefly reopened during wwi).

other parts of the south wales valleys followed the general pattern of merthyr tydfil. the tawe valley (around swansea) also had copper. it followed a slightly different but similar pattern.

south wales was almost a paradigm of industrialisation during the late eighteenth / nineteenth centuries. sparsely populated rural valleys filled up with mainly immigrant labourers come to work in the new ironworks, factories and mines.

north wales had more patchy industrialisation (mainly through the development of slate quarries) and remained an industrial / agrarian mix (as it does today).

hardly anybody lives in mid-wales, due to most of it being both poor farmland and devoid of mineral interest. (mid-wales is often referred to as 'the green desert').

Answer 3

Yes, this is the period in which South Wales (not North) became industrialised. Remember the first ever steam locomotive was built for the Pen-y-Darren ironworks in Merthyr Tydfil in 1802. The area became known for coal-mining - throughout the valleys - and for iron works - as far west as Port Talbot, Swansea and Llanelli. Vast amounts of coal was exported from docks in Newport, Cardiff and Swansea again, as well as from smaller harbours like that at Burry Port. To service these industries 100s of miles of railway were laid.

Answer 4

In the sense of primary industries - mines, quarries and so on - then yes.