The Ilfracombe Iron Company (I.I.C.) was an iron mining and smelting company that operated in Northern Tasmania in 1873 and 1874. The company's operations included a blast furnace, ore mine, water wheel, village, and jetty. The I.I.C. rebuilt a disused timber-haulage tramway, terminating at Ilfracombe—now the southern part of modern-day Beauty Point—which it extended at both ends to reach its iron ore mine and its jetty. The ruin of its blast furnace is significant, as one of the only three such ruins of 19th-Century iron-smelting blast furnaces in Australia and the only one in Tasmania. It is the only remaining ruin—in Australia—of a 19th-Century blast furnace that had an iron shell. Iron ore from the company's mine was smelted at a foundry in Melbourne in 1873. Two bells were cast from this iron; the smaller one was exhibited at the Victorian Exhibition (1872–73) in Melbourne and the larger bell at the Vienna Exposition of 1873. The company constructed a blast furnace alongside a tributary of Middle Arm Creek. It originally intended to power the blast machinery from a large water wheel, which was erected but not used. Despite several design iterations, the steam-powered blast machinery was severely under-sized. Before this situation could be rectified, by raising more capital, the Oriental Bank foreclosed. The assets were sold cheaply; possibly, the new owner intended to restart operations. However, a large fall in the price of iron seems to have ended that possibility. It remains questionable that the blast furnace actually produced any pig iron, although the company announced in an ambiguous telegram that it had.
Historical context Soon after the first settlement in Northern Tasmania, at York Town in 1804, colonial settlers found that there were extensive deposits of iron ore in the hills to the west of the Tamar estuary. Interest in the area was aroused again by the report in 1866 of the Government Geologist, Charles Gould. There was an increase in pig-iron prices in the early 1870s, which led to the formation of a number of colonial era iron-making ventures in Australia. The price of imported pig-iron increased, from £4 10s per ton in 1870 to £9 per ton in 1873 greatly advantaging locally manufactured iron. However, this high price did not last long, as iron-making capacity increased and pig-iron was once again imported cheaply as ballast in sailing ships returning from England to Australia. The Ilfracombe Iron Company was one of four ventures that smelted iron from local iron ore, in Tasmania during the 1870s; the others were, the British and Tasmanian Charcoal Iron Company, the Tamar Hematite Iron Company—both nearby on the Tamar estuary—and the Derwent Iron Company. A fifth venture, the Swedish Charcoal Iron Company never went beyond issuing a prospectus. There were also three commercial iron-smelting operations in mainland Australia during the 1870s, the Fitzroy Iron Works, the Lal Lal Iron Company, and the Lithgow Valley Iron Works.
Smelting materials The ore deposit was the first of the deposits in the West Tamar area that were mentioned by Charles Gould in his report of 1866. It was located on private property at on a tributary of Middle Arm Creek, on the western flank of Peaked Hill, about 5 km south of the modern-day town of Beaconsfield. The company later located its smelting site adjacent to this deposit. A sample, consisting of "hematite and brown ore", had the following analysis: "Iron ......... 60.6 [%] Silica ........ 2.4 [%] Sulphur and phosphorus, though carefully sought for were not detected." Limestone was obtained from deposits nearby. The fuel used was charcoal, burnt from local timber.
History of operations
Foundation of the company The force behind the new company was Captain Duncan Longden. The other major shareholders were Ayde Douglas (a Tasmanian lawyer and politician, who was also an owner of a previous, then dormant timber venture in the same area), James Major (of the Melbourne engineering firm Doyne, Major and Willet), James Bickerton, John Robb, David Spence, and two others. The company was at work for some time before it was officially registered. During this period, it was mainly Longden and Major who were active. The two secured a 3,000 acre leasehold in 1872. The Ilfracombe Iron Company was registered on 28 January 1873. It had an authorised capital of £50,000 in 10,000 £5 shares. 2000 of the shares were issued as fully paid, probably in exchange for properties, assets and services that the new company needed. The remaining shares were partly paid, to £4.
Trial smelting and exhibition castings Before the Ilfracombe Iron Company was even registered, it had sent iron ore to Melbourne for a trial smelting, at the Railway Foundry, owned by Drysdale and Fraser. In November 1872, the iron ore was smelted with coke and limestone in a furnace—probably a cupola furnace—and various castings were made, including two bells, seven 'pigs' weighing 2-stone (12.7 kg) and one pig weighing 3-hundredweight (152 kg), and "half-a-dozen 18lb. [8.2 kg] cannon balls". It seems that a total of around 400 kg of iron was made, the first time that Tasmanian iron ore had been smelted in a significant quantity in Australia. The smaller bell—weighing about 9 kg—was exhibited at the Victorian Exposition of 1872-1873. The larger bell—about 2 feet high, 18 inches wide at mouth, and weighing 210 lbs (95 kg)—was exhibited at the Vienna Exposition of 1873, where it was inspected in September 1873 by Emperor Franz Joseph. It had the coat of arms of Melbourne on one side and, along the rim on the other side, the words "Ilfracombe Iron Company". The ability to cast bells directly from the pig-iron demonstrated its quality.
Construction The on-site manager was a civil engineer, Benjamin Hawkins Dodds, who had experience in the Scottish iron industry. The construction of the furnace was the responsibility of a Swedish furnaceman, Karl Haine, with the advice of James Baird Thorneycroft from Scotland. The foundation stone of the furnace was laid on 12 May 1873, by David Spence, a Melbourne merchant, who was a shareholder. Progress was rapid, with a visitor to the site, in September 1873, reporting extensive progress, with about 100 men working at the site and the work nearly completed.
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