Iron Worker

Art UK description

One of the original 25 prints of this edition.

‘Iron Worker’ depicts a solitary figure from Merthyr Tydfil’s industrial revolution, when the town stood as the iron capital of the world, producing 40% of Britain’s iron by the 1820s. The central figure is drawn from a blend of historical images and imagination, representing the countless workers who endured horrific poverty and appalling living conditions in what was once described as ‘hell on earth’, while the ironmasters profited from their labour in the luxury of Cyfarthfa Castle.

The print incorporates local landmarks surrounding the Cyfarthfa ironworks: the Cefn Coed viaduct, the skeletal remains of the world’s oldest surviving iron railway bridge, terraced houses, chapels, and the Pandy Clock that is rumoured to have one face left blank ‘so that the riff-raff couldn’t see the time’. This is an acknowledgment of the human cost and class contempt behind Merthyr’s industrial dominance.

Awarded Best Print for the ‘Juxtaposed’ 2025 exhibition at Cyfarthfa Castle, it shares a deep empathy for the working-class figure and the physical toll of industrial labour. It now hangs in Cyfarthfa Castle, the very home of the ironmasters who would have employed this figure.

Print Details

• Size: 29 x 21cm on 40 x 30cm paper
• Paper: 300gsm
• Edition size: 25