Govan Iron Works

The excavation by HAPCA of parts of the Govan Iron Works took place between October 2007 and March 2008.  Two parts of the ironworks were excavated: the Lower English Buildings workers' housing, and the Iron Foundry.

History
Govan Iron Works on Cathcart Road was founded in 1837 by William Dixon and was the first ironworks to be established in Glasgow. The blast furnaces, which required vast quantities of coal, were constructed close to his Govan Colliery. The ironworks was popularly known as ‘Dixon’s Blazes’, as the fires from the blast furnaces lit up the Glasgow skyline day and night. The ironworks originally produced ‘pig iron’, which is raw iron with a very high carbon content making it brittle. It soon moved into the production of bar iron and iron castings for steam engines and general engineering products needed for the nearby coal pits.

Dixon's No 5 Coal Pit (click on above image for larger version)

Simpson's View of Dixon's Ironworks, 1850 (click on above image for larger version)

At one time Dixon employed about 1,000 men. Some of them lived in houses within the grounds of the ironworks. The ironworks was known as William Dixon Ltd from the early 1870s. It continued in production until 1958. The ironworks complex included the last blast furnace plant to operate within the city boundary. The office and one engine house were the last elements of the complex to be demolished in 1966

Products
The Govan Iron Works did not produce many products for sale.  It was mainly concerned with producing cast-iron parts and repairs for William Dixon’s nearby coal pits.  William Dixon Ltd had its own railway, and parts were needed for the tracks and engines.  Cogs and parts were also needed for winding gear at the pits.  The ironworks produced pig iron, the raw material that can be melted down to make cast-iron products. The works also sold pig iron to other firms. Some iron foundries in Scotland used pig iron to make cooking ranges, fireplaces, stoves and architectural ironwork. 

Historic maps
The Govan Iron Works site comprises two areas: the ‘Iron Foundry’ and the ‘Lower English Buildings’.  The first edition Ordnance Survey map (1857) of the area shows the Iron Foundry complex next to the Caledonian Railway, in the bottom right hand corner of the map. At this time the foundry complex consisted of boilers, an engine house, a turning shop, a fitting shop, a moulding shop, a pattern shop, a boiler shop, a smithy, a bank of coke kilns and tanks.

First edition Ordnance Survey map, 1857 (click on above image for larger version)

The 1857 Ordnance Survey map also shows two ranges of domestic buildings to the west of the foundry.  These buildings were later known as the ‘Lower English Buildings’, however they are not named on this map.

The second edition Ordnance Survey map (1892-94) shows vast changes to the Govan Iron Works have taken place.  The Iron Foundry has been demolished and is no longer visible on the map.  This indicates that it went out of use at some point in the later 19th century.  The complex of buildings to the north of the Lower English Buildings has also been demolished.  This was formerly the ‘Malleable Department’, consisting of a forge and finishing shop.  The Malleable Department was connected to the Iron Foundry by a series of waggonways or train lines.  These lines are still visible on the 1892-94 map.

The Lower English Buildings are still visible on the 1892-94 map and are named.  They appear to have been subdivided to create more houses.

Second edition Ordnance Survey map, 1892-94 (click on above image for larger version)

Lower English Buildings
The Lower English Buildings were built in the early nineteenth century to house workers from the Govan Iron Works. The name of the buildings may relate to the many English workers employed by the foundry.

The buildings were built to the south of the ironworks. They consisted of two rows of single-storey houses – a terraced northern range and a southern range divided into three. The southern range is the best preserved. Its semi-detached housing suggests a higher status, and was probably used by more senior workers. The buildings had circular, communal washhouses for laundry and a drying green. What archaeologists have uncovered at the site suggests that during the later nineteenth century the dwellings in both ranges were subdivided to double the accommodation. What was initially interpreted as staircase structures are now thought to be box-beds. The buildings continue to be shown on Ordnance Survey maps until the late twentieth century.

Lower English Buildings, 1857 (click on above image for larger version)

Lower English Buildings, 1892-94 (click on above image for larger version)

Lower English Buildings, 1901 (click on above image for larger version)

Evidence for sanitation has been uncovered at the Lower English Buildings.  Pumps for fresh water and drains for wastewater have been excavated.  Three circular brick-built washhouses existed on the site.  These can be seen on historic maps.  The wash houses contained a central water tank surrounded by small booths, where residents could stand to wash clothes.

Circular washhouse (click on above image for larger version)

The Iron Foundry buildings have been excavated.  Archaeologists found the outlines of the foundry buildings and underground flues, used for removing waste gases produced as a result of the smelting process.  More information on the Iron Foundry can be found in the online dig diaries.