Balance Tower is a Grade I listed building in the Torfaen local planning authority area, Wales. First listed on 9 February 1995. House.
Balance Tower
- WRENN ID
- small-flint-saffron
- Grade
- I
- Local Planning Authority
- Torfaen
- Constituency
- Torfaen MP: Nick Thomas-Symonds (Lab)
- Country
- Wales
- Date first listed
- 9 February 1995
- Type
- House
- Address
- Balance Tower, Blaenafon Ironworks, Blaenavon
- OS grid reference
- SO 249 092
- Coordinates
- 51.77728, -3.08854
- Source
- Cadw listing
Description
Balance Tower is a monumental stone structure built on a T-shaped plan, located adjacent to high ground. The facade tapers towards its ruined top and features remains of an iron hoist. The rusticated ashlar facade has three large vertical openings, each with three centered arches at the top and bottom, flanked by two huge pilasters. The lowest opening serves as an arched entrance for trams, with a pit behind it to accommodate water tanks. The quoins and openings are made of dressed stone. The north-west corner of the tower includes a ruined structure, while to the south-east, it adjoins a retaining wall. A large, single span stone bridge with dressed voussoirs connects the top of the tower to the bank at the rear. This site is part of Scheduled Ancient Monument Mm 200.
Local climate
Balance Tower sits in a wetter-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 1,040 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 83% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 75% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 48 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 89% of listed buildings. Of these, 24 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
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- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- No related consent applications matched
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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