Neilson's Monument

Today's the day ……………………….. for hot air

A lovely Sunday morning walk up to Neilson's Monument at Barstobrick.

The obelisk-shaped monument stands 10m high and commemorates James Beaumont Neilson (1792-1865).  In 1828, he invented the hot-blast  process in the smelting of iron.  The idea was that introducing a stream of air into the furnace at a high temperature rather than a low temperature would greatly improve the efficiency of this process.  Indeed, the discovery revolutionised the whole iron industry.

Neilson purchased the Queenshill estate which includes Barstobrick Hill in 1851 and retired there.  It was his son - Walter Montgomerie Neilson - who erected the monument in 1883 ……………………..