Cordell's Blaenavon

Alexander Cordell (1914-97) the famous novelist, made Blaenavon’s rich industrial history famous through his bestselling novel, Rape of the Fair Country (1959)

• Visit the Cordell Museum in the centre of the town, where you will find the contents of the author’s study and information on his many books. Pick up the Cordell Country Tour leaflets. 
• Retrace the footsteps of Cordell’s unforgettable characters by visiting the Blaenavon Ironworks or the ruins of the Garnddyrys forge and village. 
• Let your imagination be guided back to the mid 19th century and the hard times experienced on this remote mountainside during the Industrial Revolution. 
• Visit Llanfoist Churchyard and find the gravestone of Crawshay Bailey, the notorious ironmaster who featured in Cordell’s novel. 
• Return to Big Pit and take the opportunity to descend 300ft down the mine to experience the conditions in which men, women and children worked, described so vividly and poignantly in Cordell’s work.