Welsh Journals

who knows a good deal about the theological and religious controversies of the eighteenth century and a good deal of it will be beyond the comprehension of the average student.] E. D. EVANS Caerdydd MINES, MILLS AND FURNACES: AN INTRODUCTION TO INDUSTRIAL ARCHAEOLOGY IN WALES. By D. Morgan Rees. H.M.S.O., 1969. Pp. xiv, 117. 30s. The study of industrial archaeology is still working its passage towards academic respectability. There is a tendency to dismiss it as something of an extra-mural frolic which need not be taken very seriously by the established disciplines. Whereas historical geography and local history have won acceptance, at least in some universities, as worthwhile fields of study in their own right, industrial archaeology has still to find a suitable academic niche for itself. Part of the trouble is that it is so inter- disciplinary in content, involving the skills of the engineer, the architect, and the archaeologist as well as those of the historian, that it is not easy to see where it fits in the academic spectrum. A more serious problem, however, is the piecemeal and parochial nature of so much of the work which has so far been done on the subject. This is the work of local enthusiasts, labouring in their own back gardens: it is, almost literally, the industrial archaeology of the parish pump. Very fine parish pumps some of them are, indeed, but minute examinations of their virtues do not contribute much to the task of presenting industrial archaeology as an organic, systematic field of enquiry. This book by Morgan Rees illustrates the strength and the weakness of the sort of approach which has just been described. Attractively produced by the Stationery Office at the extremely modest price of 30s., with an excellent selection of plates and several pull-out maps and diagrams, this provides an invaluable handbook for anybody interested in visiting the specific sites with which it deals. Industrial archaeologists studying, for example, the gold mines of Merioneth or the lead mines of Carmarthenshire will find this book an indispensable part of their equipment if they hope to make any sense out of the physical remains which will confront them. It may be argued that this is as much as a regional study of industrial archaeology can attempt to do, and Mr. Rees certainly deserves congratulations for the amount of practical information which he has managed to pack into a mere 98 pages of text. Yet something more is required of a work with the sub-title 'An Introduction to Industrial Archaeology in Wales', for however important