Blaenavon Ironworks began production in 1789 and is now the best preserved ironworks of its period in the world it is a Scheduled Ancient Monument. The site is the main focus of the Blaenavon Industrial Landscape which was inscribed by UNESCO in December 2000 as a World Heritage Site. In the early 19th century Blaenavon Ironworks became the second largest in the world and after a period of prosperity in the early and mid – 19th century, fell into decline with the coming of large scale steel production. Visitors can still trace the entire process of iron production, from the charging at furnace top’ with coal, iron ore and limestone to the casting of the molten metal in the yard below. On-site exhibitions show how the workers and their families lived and a large scale re-construction model of the ironworks shows the layout of the original site. Visitors can look around the cottages of Stack Square built between 1789 and 1792 for key workers and their families. The ironworks was the reason for the growth of Blaenavon as one of Wales’ early iron towns.