The Japanning industry was one of Pontypool’s most outstanding eighteenth century achievements. The industry started in Pontypool because of the great ironmaster family of the Hanburys’ exploitation of local iron and coal resources within the Torfaen valley.

Today, products that have survived from these local factories represent the domestic life of the period: teapots, coffeepots, cheese and bread trays, snuffers and waiters. Initially made to order, Japanned goods soon became mass-produced as demand and popularity grew.