Bonawe Iron Furnace
12 minute walk from Taynuilt station · Highlands and Argyll
Bonawe Iron Furnace is a historic industrial complex established in 1753 to produce pig iron. Central to this scheduled monument is a charcoal-fired blast furnace built by the Newland Company. The site used local wood for fuel and river water to power its essential machinery.
This location is significant as a remarkably complete example of eighteenth-century industry. At its peak, the site employed 600 people to manufacture charcoal and produce thousands of kilograms of iron daily. Interestingly, the furnace ran continuously for nine months at a time, even producing simple objects like cannonballs.
Visitors can explore the remains of the charging house, the blowing house, and the casting house where molten iron was once poured. You can see the large storehouses built into the banks and the aqueduct that fed the water wheel. It is a fascinating place to discover how raw ore and limestone were transformed into iron bars.
Visitor information
- Place type
- Industrial heritage site
- Good for
- Architecture, Industrial heritage, Military history
- Characteristics
- Georgian, Riverside, Ruin, Scheduled Monument
- Admission
- Paid admission
- Region
- Highlands and Argyll
Stations within walking distance
- Taynuilt station — 12 min walk, 1.0 km
Other places near Taynuilt
- Inverawe and Loch Etive from Bonawe Furnace, Taynuilt — 14 min walk from the station