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Blast furnace plant - Zabytek.pl

Blast furnace plant


factory Kuźniaki

Address
Kuźniaki

Location
woj. świętokrzyskie, pow. kielecki, gm. Strawczyn

An example of the 19th-century industrial complex in Poland with a blast furnace of a distinctive, pyramid-shape shaft.

History

The area of today’s Świętokrzyskie, abounding in ore, wood and water, has been known for its steel industry for ages. The industry began to flourished in the 1st half of the 19th century, mainly due to the investment of the government of the then Congress Kingdom of Poland. Besides larger plants, also smaller private initiatives were developing, among them the first furnaces in Kuźniaki. Already in the 2nd half of the 18th century, Kużniaki was home to, first quarter- and then half-furnace integrated with a water hammery (perhaps at the beginning of the 19th century in the possession of the Kołłątaj family). In 1844 there were three metallurgical plants active in addition to the blast furnace. In the years 1860-1870, a new blast furnace was constructed operated the Jewish entrepreneur, Szlama Orner. Modified ca. 1890, the furnace was operated until 1897. The products were pipes, grids, sheet, crosses, and railings. After the decommissioning of the blast furnace, a wheel-driven mill was installed in the adjacent building, using the existing water system. later it was powered by a turbine and operated until 1955. The plant was closed down in the following years and the buildings fell into disrepair. In the years 1967-1968, the blast furnace was secured against collapse. By the 1980s, the water system had been considerably transformed: the spillway was disintegrated, the causeway was converted into a road, the canal was destroyed and the pond turned weedy. The condition of the production building (later the mill) without the equipment dramatically deteriorated. Only the blast furnace structure has endured the test of time as a clear, permanent ruin (in the 1960s it was secured by the personnel of Zawiercie Steelworks). It has remained so ever since. Today, the area around the blast furnace is a private property; it is fenced and clear although no specific information about its historical value is provided. Visible are also the remnants of the former water system, especially the old spillway, overflow and outlet duct.

Description

The remains of the plant are to be found between a small river (part of the watercourse of the Wierna River) and the municipal road Kielce-Mniów. Of the former blast furnace plant, only the ruins of the furnace are left along with the traces of the water system (an outline of the pond and causeway, the outlet duct under the road, parts of the underground canal, partly filled up with stone debris). The area of the plant is in private hands; next to the remains of the furnace, there are meadows, an orchard and garden, and residential and farm buildings. The blast furnace has survived as a permanent, yet visible ruin in the shape of a truncated, narrowing pyramid, square in plan with a circular interior; at the base of the furnace, there are four arched openings. The structure was built of quarry stone (local reddish sandstone) with the wedge elements in the openings and corner elements at the sides; the wall is partly covered with vegetation.

The area around the blast furnace is fenced; the structure is visible but beyond reach (private property); other elements of the water system are generally accessible

Compiled by Włodzimierz Pedrycz, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Kielce, 07.11.2014.

Bibliography

  • Karta ewidencyjna. Zakład wielkopiecowy, oprac. B. Paprocki, Kielce 1980 [Archiwum Świętokrzyskiego Wojewódzkiego Konserwatora Zabytków w Kielcach i Archiwum Narodowego Instytutu Dziedzictwa w Warszawie].
  • Guldon Z., Kaczor J., Górnictwo i hutnictwo w Staropolskim Okręgu Przemysłowym w drugiej połowie XVIII wieku, Kielce 1994.
  • Koźminski K., Zagłębie Staropolskie w Kieleckiem, Warszawa 1955.
  • Krygier E., Katalog Zabytków Budownictwa Przemysłowego w Polsce, Wrocław-Warszawa 1959, t.II, z.2, powiat Kielce.
  • Radwan M., Wielkopiecownictwo w Zagłębiu Staropolskim w połowie XIX wieku, Stalinogród 1954.
  • Suliga. I., Rozwój technologii hutniczych na przestrzeni wieków w Staropolskim Zagłębiu Przemysłowym - referat na Sesji Naukowej - 200 lat Huty w Ostrowcu Świętokrzyskim - 17.05.2013 [www.200lathutywostrowcu.pl].
  • Wojewódzki R., Najcenniejsze zabytki techniki - Kuźniaki; w miesięczniku IKAR, nr 3 (43) z 1997r.

Category: factory

Protection: Register of monuments

Inspire id: PL.1.9.ZIPOZ.NID_N_26_ZE.24413