Coke-hearth furnaces, Esk Bank Ironworks, Lithgow

At the centre of this image we can see the blast furnace which was undergoing repairs, while on to the left is the smoke stack of the work’s engine room. The piles we can see scattered around the rail tracks are actually ‘coke-hearth’ furnaces. You can just see their brick chimney’s sticking out of the centre of some of these coke piles.

‘Coke-hearth’ furnaces were an early nineteenth century technology but were used in the 1870s at the Esk Valley Ironworks to convert local coal into coke ready to be used in the furnace.

This is one of three significant early views of the Esk Bank Ironworks in Lithgow donated to the Powerhouse Museum by the Royal Australian Historical Society.

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References
Bob McKillop, Furnace Fire and Forge, 2006