Editing Neath Abbey (section)

==Industrial use==
By 1730, some of the buildings were being used for [[copper smelting]], and the rest were abandoned. In the late 18th century, an [[iron foundry]] was opened near the abbey ruins by a company owned by the Price, Fox and Tregelles families.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Neath Abbey Iron Co |url=https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Neath_Abbey_Iron_Co |access-date=26 September 2024 |website=Grace's Guide To British Industrial History}}</ref> The ruined walls of both the Abbey and later mansion were gradually engulfed in quantities of industrial waste. The ownership of the site passed to the Rice family, [[Baron Dynevor|Barons Dynevor]], and it was in the 1920s, under [[Walter FitzUryan Rice, 7th Baron Dynevor]] that a local group of amateur archaeologists began the process of uncovering the medieval ruins.<ref name=nas/>