Pump House, Semtex Plant, Brynmawr

Pump House, Semtex Plant, Brynmawr: building recording survey

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Contents PageSummary ............................................................................................................................. 2 Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................. 2 Copyright notice.................................................................................................................. 2

1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 3 1.1 Project background and commission............................................................................ 3 1.2 Location and geology................................................................................................... 3 1.3 Historical and architectural background ...................................................................... 3

2. Methodology ....................................................................................................................... 4 3. Building description (see Figure 3 and Plates 2 – 18) ..................................................... 5 4. Survey results ..................................................................................................................... 8 5. Conclusions ....................................................................................................................... 17

Bibliography ..................................................................................................................... 18

Figures Figure 1: Location plan showing area of development. ........................................................................................6 Figure 2: Ordnance Survey map 1967 showing the site location and the former Semtex factory. ...................6 Figure 3: Plan and elevation of the Pump House ..................................................................................................7

Plates Plate 1: View of the Pump House and its surroundings from the northern reservoir bank, where the

original Rubber Factory was located, looking south .........................................................................................8 Plate 2: View of the Pump House with the Pond Road to the left and the reservoir to the right, looking

southwest ...............................................................................................................................................................8 Plate 3: View of the Pump House with access door, surrounding walkway and railing, looking west .............9 Plate 4: View of the easternmost of the two windows from the walkway, looking southwest............................9 Plate 5: View of the outside valves and the western window, looking west from the concrete walkway........10 Plate 6: View of the interior of the Pump House with the two windows in the background, and the

central and eastern pumps, looking north........................................................................................................10 Plate 7: View of the interior of the Pump House with the western window in the background, and the

central and western pumps, looking northwest ...............................................................................................11 Plate 8: View of the central Lancashire Dynamo & Crypto Ltd. induction motor, looking southeast...........11 Plate 9: View of the manufacturer’s plate on the central induction machine...................................................12 Plate 10: View of the pipe leading to the central pump, looking west ...............................................................12 Plate 11: View of the access to the basement, looking west ................................................................................13 Plate 12: View of the mezzanine from the ground floor, with access ladder, looking south............................13 Plate 13: View of the steel I-beams and the channel column supporting the mezzanine, with the

remains of electrical ducting, looking west from the ground floor.................................................................14 Plate 14: View of bolts fastening the I-beams and the metallic floor of the mezzanine, from the ground

floor ..............................................................................................................................................................14 Plate 15: View from the mezzanine, with railings and access ladder, looking west..........................................15 Plate 16: View of the trolley, hoist mechanism, and rail of the overhead crane, fitted under the

concrete beam, looking north from the mezzanine..........................................................................................15 Plate 17: View of the trolley hoist mechanism and rail of the overhead crane, with the concrete beam;

the clerestory and thin-shell concrete dome in the background, looking northwest from the mezzanine ............................................................................................................................................................16

Plate 18: View of the domed roof with radiating ribs and central oculus, from the mezzanine......................16


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Summary

Friends of Lakeside are planning the refurbishment of the Listed Grade II Pump House (LB 22383) belonging to the former Semtex factory, Brynmawr, Blaenau Gwent, into a coffee shop, heritage centre, and bird watching facility. Following a brief supplied by the Heritage Officer for Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council Heritage Section, the Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust, Projects Division, was commissioned by Friends of Lakeside to undertake a Level 2 standing building recording of the Pump House prior to the commencement of its refurbishment.

Acknowledgements

The project was managed by Richard Lewis BA MIFA and the fieldwork was undertaken by Sven Egloff MPhil of GGAT Projects.

The report and illustrations were prepared by Sven Egloff.

Copyright notice

The copyright of this report is held by the Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust Ltd, which has granted an exclusive licence to the Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council and their agents to use and reproduce material it contains. Ordnance Survey maps are reproduced under licence (AL 10005976). Annotations are GGAT copyright.


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1. Introduction

1.1 Project background and commission

The Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust, Projects Division, was commissioned by Friends of Lakeside to undertake a Level 2 standing building recording of the Listed Grade II Pump House (LB 22383), Semtex Plant, Brynmawr, Blaenau Gwent, as part of a wider Historic Environment Management Plan for the Ebbw Vale Slopes. The Pump House is one of the few remaining structures associated with the former Brynmawr Rubber Factory, demolished in June 2001. Friends of Lakeside propose a conversion of the Pump House to a coffee shop, heritage centre, and bird watching facility. The survey was undertaken to a brief supplied by the Heritage Officer for Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council Heritage Section.

A site visit was arranged, and the Pump House was surveyed on 25th November 2008.

1.2 Location and geology

The Pump House is located along Pond Road, linking Brynmawr with Winchestown and the West Monmouthshire Golf Club, on the southeastern bank of a disused reservoir for the former Nant-y-glo Ironworks, circa 200m to the south of the former Brynmawr Rubber Factory complex, Blaina Road (see Figure 1). The Pump House lies at 341m OD.

The area is listed as ‘un-surveyed’ on the Soil Survey of England and Wales (SSEW 1983), but it is bordered by drift from Palaeozoic sandstone, mudstone, and shale (Wilcocks 1) to the north, and Palaeozoic sandstone (Withnell 1) to the south. The Coal Measures extend over the greater part of this area of the Blaenau Gwent uplands, mainly comprising sandstones but with more limited exposures of coarser grits and conglomerates.

1.3 Historical and architectural background

The Pump House was built 1946-8 as the pump house for the contemporary Brynmawr Rubber Factory (see Figure 2). The complex was designed by the Architects’ Co-operative Partnership, in conjunction with the structural engineers Ove Arup and Partners. The factory was initiated by Lord Forrester, Director of Brimsdown Rubber Company, who aimed to provide large-scale employment in the economically depressed valleys. The structural ingenuity of the factory was renowned, particularly the use of thin-shell concrete vaults and domes, covering a vast open production area. The factory converted raw rubber into a variety of manufactured goods, including floor tiles, shoe soles, and industrial products. The building cost £800,000, the contractors being Holland, Hannen and Cubitt of London. It was taken over by Dunlop Semtex in 1956, who made synthetic flooring for hospitals and public buildings. Cheaper manufactured goods and improvements in industrial floor coverings led to closure in 1982.

Listed as part of a renowned and constructionally pioneering industrial complex, it is the first work to be designed by the prolific Architects’ Co-operative Partnership in conjunction with one of Britain’s leading structural engineers, Sir Ove Arup. The main factory complex was demolished in June 2001, but the Pump House was left untouched.

Local tradition states that the circular stone-faced pump-house was inspired by the nearby roundhouses, built circa 1822 by Joseph Bailey to protect himself and his family against rebellion at the Nant-y-glo Ironworks.


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2. Methodology The building survey was carried out to the requirement of the Institute of Field archaeologists Standard and Guidance for the archaeological investigation and recording of standing buildings or structures 1996 (revised 1999) and the methodology generally followed, where appropriate, those set out by English Heritage (2006) to Level 2 standard.

A written, drawn, and photographic record was made of all structures in accordance with the GGAT Manual of Excavation Recording Techniques. All significant features were photographed using a digital camera (with a resolution of 9mp).

The project archive will be deposited with an appropriate receiving organisation, in accordance with the UKIC and IFA Guidelines (Archaeological Archives: a guide to best practice in creation, compilation, transfer and curation (2007). Copies of the report and archive index will be deposited with the regional Historic Environment Record, curated by the Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust, Swansea; the National Monuments Record, Royal Commission on the Archaeological and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW), Aberystwyth; and with the Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council Heritage Section.


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3. Building description (see Figure 3 and Plates 2 – 18) The Pump House is a tall, circular building, of concrete construction, faced with Pennant stone. It has an external diameter of 6.40m, and a height of 7.11m from the base of the building to the soffit (or cornice). It is topped by a continuous low clerestory of two-light windows below a concrete saucer domed roof, which has a bitumen covering and appears to be supported by the piers of the clerestory. The doorway faces Pond Road in a southeastern direction, and has a cambered stone voussoired head. It is 1.18m wide and 2.15m high from floor to key-stone. Two square windows are cut in the northern façade, with window-seals built 1.25m above the building base. The windows measure 0.93m x 0.93m, and are each topped with a concrete beam, covered on the outside with a course of thin Pennant stone. Around the base of the building is a continuous pre-cast concrete walkway with metal rail.

The inner façade of the Pump House is faced with bricks (0.22m x 0.12m x 0.07m) with a lime surfacing. The internal diameter is 5.48m. The floor consists of two semi-circular concrete slabs joined with a low step, the northern slab standing 70mm above the southern slab. In the latter, an access to a basement room is cut in the southwest.

Three A.C. induction motors from Lancashire Dynamo & Crypto Ltd. powered the pumps, and were found in situ on the ground floor. They were not in a functional state, and were heavily corroded. All other electric equipment had been taken down and placed helter-skelter on the floor. The pumps are roughly aligned along an east-west line, on the slightly raised northern semi-circle of the ground floor. Each of the three pumps is connected to a pipe that links on their southern side. The pipes are fitted with one mechanical water valve each (only the valve on the western pipe was still complete, and was still fitted with a hand wheel).

A semi-circular, structural steel mezzanine, accessible through a steel ladder, overhangs the machines at a height of 2.70m above floor level. The mezzanine consists of three north-south steel I-beams fastened onto a principal east-west steel I-beam using steel bolts, with four intermediary, aligned, east-west oriented steel I-beams bolted perpendicularly onto the three north-south I-beams. The principal I-beam rests on a central steel channel column. The flooring of the mezzanine consists of square, embossed, steel sheets bolted onto the steel I-beam structure. A railing runs along the open sides of the mezzanine.

Fastened into a concrete ring at the base of the clerestory, underneath the lights, is a concrete beam fitted with a steel rail and an overhead crane. The trolley with hoist, pulley, load-chain, and hook were still in place, but the driving unit and the electrics had been removed.

Topping the building, the thin-shell concrete saucer dome has twelve radiating ribs and a central oculus. The oculus sits 8.20m above the floor level.


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4. Survey results A written and photographic record was made of the Pump House.

Plate 1: View of the Pump House and its surroundings from the northern

reservoir bank, where the original Rubber Factory was located, looking south

Plate 2: View of the Pump House with the Pond Road to the left and the

reservoir to the right, looking southwest


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Plate 3: View of the Pump House with access door, surrounding walkway and

railing, looking west

Plate 4: View of the easternmost of the two windows from the walkway, looking southwest


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Plate 5: View of the outside valves and the western window, looking west from

the concrete walkway

Plate 6: View of the interior of the Pump House with the two windows in the

background, and the central and eastern pumps, looking north


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Plate 7: View of the interior of the Pump House with the western window in

the background, and the central and western pumps, looking northwest

Plate 8: View of the central Lancashire Dynamo & Crypto Ltd. induction

motor, looking southeast


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Plate 9: View of the manufacturer’s plate on the central induction machine

Plate 10: View of the pipe leading to the central pump, looking west


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Plate 11: View of the access to the basement, looking west

Plate 12: View of the mezzanine from the ground floor, with access ladder,

looking south


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Plate 13: View of the steel I-beams and the channel column supporting the

mezzanine, with the remains of electrical ducting, looking west from the ground floor

Plate 14: View of bolts fastening the I-beams and the metallic floor of the

mezzanine, from the ground floor


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Plate 15: View from the mezzanine, with railings and access ladder, looking

west

Plate 16: View of the trolley, hoist mechanism, and rail of the overhead crane,

fitted under the concrete beam, looking north from the mezzanine


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Plate 17: View of the trolley hoist mechanism and rail of the overhead crane,

with the concrete beam; the clerestory and thin-shell concrete dome in the background, looking northwest from the mezzanine

Plate 18: View of the domed roof with radiating ribs and central oculus, from

the mezzanine


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5. Conclusions The Pump House is in good structural condition. At present, it does not have any function and, therefore, is exposed to natural deterioration. The reconditioning of the building and its transformation as a coffee shop, heritage centre, and bird watching facility is seen as being potentially of great benefit to the community, due to the resulting recreational, cultural, and educational input this will bring. Furthermore, it is felt that the building will also benefit from the project, as it will be restored and re-inserted into public life.

The machinery has deteriorated with time, and it is doubtful that the induction motors and pumps could be restored to a working condition. The equipment is omitted from the listing, and is therefore not subjected to any condition and can be disposed of at will. However, due to the historical and cultural value of the machinery, it is felt that the preservation and exhibition of some of it would be a valuable addition to the project, and is therefore, as far as practical, highly encouraged.


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Bibliography

SSEW, 1983, 1:250,000 Soil Map of England and Wales and Legend, Soil Survey of England and Wales

Newman, J, 2000, The Buildings of Wales: Gwent / Monmouthshire

English Heritage, 2006, Understanding Historic Buildings: a guide to good recording practice, English Heritage

http://www.concretecentre.com/pdf/brynmawr.pdf

Pump House, Semtex Plant, Brynmawr

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