The development of the coal and ironstone mines in East Bierley and Hunsworth played an important part in the history of this area in the 19th Century. Even today there is evidence of this once thriving industry. The coal and ironstone were extracted by Bowling Iron Company and made into cast iron. This iron had a world wide reputation and played an important part in shaping the Industrial Revolution. The Bowling Ironworks were situated some three miles away. This required the development of a complex system of narrow gauge mineral railways. Very little evidence is available as to how the system worked. This area though was surveyed in 1848 in the very first OS Survey. The maps were published in 1852 and provide a valuable source of information.
This present Website acts as a portal to a much larger website which gives a comprehensive history of the Bradford Victorian Iron Industry. The mines, the tramways and the ironworks. The accounts on the site have been written by experts and give a comprehensive history of the subject. There is also a large amount of material on the Lowmoor Ironworks.
www.ironworks.talktalk.net