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The 'Dowlais Ironworks' was a major 19th-century ironworks and steelworks located at Dowlais near Merthyr Tydfil, in Wales.
In 1759 the Dowlais Ironworks was opened by the partnership of Thomas Lewis and Isaac Wilkinson. It was established on the hillside above Merthyr. It was not an ideal place, but the rent was small so ore could be obtained very cheaply. John Guest was appointed manager of the Ironworks in the 1760s and became a partner in the firm in 1782 with Thomas Lewis and William Tait.
John Guest died in 1785 and was succeeded as a partner in the firm by his son Thomas Guest, from 1787 the firm became known as the Dowlais Iron Company. Thomas Guest died in 1807. Thomas Guest's son John Josiah Guest became sole owner of the Dowlais Iron Company in 1815. During his time as owner Dowlais Ironworks gained the reputation of being the largest ironworks in then world.
The works owed much of its success to an 1821 contract for iron rail, as rail was needed in ever greater quantities to build the rapidly expanding railroads. At its peak in 1844, the works operated 18 blast furnaces and employed 7,300 people, and by 1857 had constructed the world's most powerful rolling mill.
In 1845, the Ironworks employed 7,300 people and its 18 furnaces produced 89,000 tonnes of iron each year. Dowlais had many foreign orders for railways in 1835-36 such as the Berlin and Leipzig Railway and the St.Petersburg to Pauloffsky railway. This was during the period when there was a boom in demand for iron bars and railways.
John Josiah Guest died in 1852 and is buried at St. John's church in Dowlais.
Unlike the Cyfarthfa Ironworks, the Dowlais works converted to steel production early (becoming the first licensee of the Bessemer process in the 1850's), allowing it to survive into the 1930's.
In 1912, King George V of the United Kingdom and Queen Mary made an official visit to the ironworks as part of a tour of south Wales. They entered through a specially-constructed arch of coal, and left through an arch of steel.
By a process of amalgamation, the company became a part of a large engineering combine, Guest Keen and Nettlefolds (GKN). The main works ceased production in 1936, the company having built a new iron and steel works at East Moors, adjacent to the docks at Cardiff in the late nineteenth century.
The iron foundry and engineering works in Dowlais, still known locally as the "Ivor Works" after Ivor Bertie Guest, 1st Baron Wimborne, son of John Josiah Guest, continued to operate and new facilities were built after World War 2. It continued for some years under the name of ''Dowlais Foundry and Engineering Company'', but was later sold to British Steel. It closed in 1987.
Dowlais Ironworks was one of the four main ironworks in Merthyr, the other three were Cyfarthfa Ironworks, Plymouth and Penydarren Ironworks.

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★ James, B. Ll. (2004) "Clark, George Thomas (1809–1898)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, accessed 21 August 2007

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★ Lewis, M. J. (1983) "G. T. Clark and the Dowlais Iron Company: an entrepreneurial study", MSc Econ diss., U. Wales

★ John, A. V. (2004) "Guest, Sir (Josiah) John, first baronet (1785–1852)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, accessed 25 August 2007

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★ Williams, J. (2004) "Menelaus, William (1818–1882)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, accessed 3 September 2007

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