Furnace, Argyll And Bute

Furnace is a village in Argyll and Bute, on the west coast of Scotland, on the north shore of Loch Fyne, the longest sea loch in the United Kingdom. Furnace is around eight miles southwest of Inveraray on the A83 road. It is unusual for a West Highland village in having an industrial past in addition to the usual focus on agriculture and fishing. Industrial activity was led by three main businesses: the iron furnace, the powdermills and the quarry. Iron furnaceThis was the first to arrive, built in 1755 by the Duddon Company of Cumbria, drawn by the local forest capable of supplying the charcoal needed in smelting iron. The village, then called Inverleacainn (the mouth of the River Leacainn) gradually took on the shorthand name of ‘the furnace’ and finally, simply ‘Furnace’. The furnace itself shut down in 1813, made redundant by the coal-fired steam engine. The Duddon Company was bought by Harrison Ainslie in 1828. Loch Fyne PowderworksThe same charcoal resource that fed the furnace supported the development of the next industry to arrive - the manufacture of gunpowder using charcoal, sulphur and saltpetre. The Loch Fyne Powderworks, one of four in Argyll, was built in 1841 and was criticised for its safety standards after the Explosives Act 1875. The company had sited an 80-ton storage magazine 80 metres from the village school. 1883 saw the end of ‘The Powdermills’ when it blew up with a stove-house explosion. The only casualty was the manager, William Robinson, who was not even on site at the time but at home for lunch 230 metres away and killed by flying rocks. The explosion was the subject of a Government enquiry, with concerns (which were never substantiated) about industrial sabotage by rival firms.

Furnace is a village in Argyll and Bute, on the west coast of Scotland, on the north shore of Loch Fyne, the longest sea loch in the United Kingdom. Furnace is around eight miles southwest of Inveraray on the A83 road. It is unusual for a West Highland village in having an industrial past in addition to the usual focus on agriculture and fishing. Industrial activity was led by three main businesses: the iron furnace, the powdermills and the quarry. Iron furnaceThis was the first to arrive, built in 1755 by the Duddon Company of Cumbria, drawn by the local forest capable of supplying the charcoal needed in smelting iron. The village, then called Inverleacainn (the mouth of the River Leacainn) gradually took on the shorthand name of ‘the furnace’ and finally, simply ‘Furnace’. The furnace itself shut down in 1813, made redundant by the coal-fired steam engine. The Duddon Company was bought by Harrison Ainslie in 1828. Loch Fyne PowderworksThe same charcoal resource that fed the furnace supported the development of the next industry to arrive - the manufacture of gunpowder using charcoal, sulphur and saltpetre. The Loch Fyne Powderworks, one of four in Argyll, was built in 1841 and was criticised for its safety standards after the Explosives Act 1875. The company had sited an 80-ton storage magazine 80 metres from the village school. 1883 saw the end of ‘The Powdermills’ when it blew up with a stove-house explosion. The only casualty was the manager, William Robinson, who was not even on site at the time but at home for lunch 230 metres away and killed by flying rocks. The explosion was the subject of a Government enquiry, with concerns (which were never substantiated) about industrial sabotage by rival firms.