Industrial Development
The Industrial Revolution brought factories such as the Albion Steel Works, the English Crown Spelter Works and the Baglan Bay Tinplate Works were built on land close to the River Neath and the new South Wales Railway, built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. In 1840 an area of about 750 acres (3.0 km2) of land in Cwmafan was leased for 99 years to John Vigurs and subsequently passed to Wright, Butler & Co. Ltd, then to Baldwins Ltd. The terraces of houses built on this land were sublet for the remainder of the term of this lease in 1897 and 1898 - but many were declared unfit for habitation in the 1930s and resultantly demolished.
The industrial development and industrialisation attracted other railways, including the Neath and Brecon Railway, the Rhondda and Swansea Bay Railway, and the South Wales Mineral Railway with its cable powered incline.
Read more about this topic: Briton Ferry
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