Wilsontown Ironworks

The ruins of the Wilsontown Ironworks are located near the village of Forth in Lanarkshire in Scotland, approximately 23 miles (37 km) to the south east of Glasgow. The works were founded by the three Wilson brothers in 1779, and operated until 1842. The works had two blast furnaces, and in 1790 a forge was added. Later a rolling and slitting mill and additional forging hammers were installed. This increased the capacity of the works to 40 long tons (41 t) of manufactured iron per week. In its heyday the works employed 2,000 people. The village later had a railway branch line from Wilsontown to Auchengray railway station on the Caledonian Railway. This remained open for some years after the demise of the iron works and served several collieries in the area.