Following the downturn in the economy that set in 1825 the price of iron then fell, funds became tight, and investors who had made an initial payment for shares were either unable or unwilling to meet further calls.

[2] Following a number of ill-tempered meetings of the subscribers, Taylor and Shears resigned as directors in October 1826 and a new board was elected.

Under the new board the company's prospects improved; even so, over the fifteen years 1826-40 it made a cumulative net profit of only £129,116 on a paid-up capital of £955,205, or 0.09 per cent per annum.

[3] It was hampered by heavy royalties and other charges, especially at Abersychan and Corngreaves, from agreements that had been entered into by the company in its formative years.

The company secretary, Harry Scrivenor, a professional ironworks manager, had had little success in this area and is best remembered for his writing.

Dissension developed between a faction of shareholders and the directors, with subscribers resisting the payment of further calls on their shares and urging that the company be dissolved in order to release them from future financial liability.

After several angry meetings it was finally resolved in September 1841 that the company should be dissolved after the liquidation of all its liabilities.

A contributory factor was the policy of divesting the company of its less profitable properties and concentrating activities on a few core sites.

At about the same time Plas Issa in north Wales was sold to Samuel Giller and Netherton to Noah Hingley & Sons.

Plans were then prepared for a reconstruction of the company and the modernisation of the works at Corngreaves, but when the necessary additional capital was not forthcoming the debenture holders petitioned for the appointment of a receiver.

Its purpose was to exploit two patents granted to Harper and his fellow coalowner, John Christie (also owner of the Brecon Forest Tramroad) in 1823 (no 4848) and 1824 (no 4909) for the use of the local anthracite coal in smelting.

The British Iron Company bought the works in 1825 for £19,541 and at the same time leased minerals on the nearby mountain, Cribarth.

The venture soon proved unsuccessful and the furnaces were blown out in 1826 after it was discovered that production costs greatly exceeded the selling price.

Coal continued to be worked from the taking; it was still in production in 1841 when the local agent gave a statement to the Children's Employment Commission.

The original intention was to erect ironworks but this plan was abandoned and the company concentrated on producing coal and ironstone for sale.

The company spent £15,975 in 1825 on freehold lands in the parish of Aberystruth in the valley of the Ebwy Fach in Monmouthshire but no further information has been found.

The company also had collieries in the area, including Acrefair, Plas Benion and Wynnstay (or the Green Pit).

The British Iron Company owned five ironworks in England all of which lay within a few miles of each other to the south of the town of Dudley in the West Midlands.

However, by this time the market in iron had collapsed and the company started legal proceedings to have the contract set aside.

Even before completion the directors instituted proceedings to recover the down payment of £238,525 on the grounds that they had been misled by Attwood as to the true value and prospects of the estate.

The British Iron Company acquired the ironworks (with four furnaces, forges and rolling mills) from Attwood in 1825.

Three contemporary pamphlets by Richard Cort contain much information on the early years of the Company, although by a not entirely disinterested author: A Letter to the shareholders of the British Iron Company, showing the past and present losses of the speculation : with suggestions to realize the future profit of the concern (London : 1826) A second letter to the shareholders of the British Iron Company : introductory to evidence and proofs to relieve the proprietors from the ruinous contract for Corngreaves (London : 1829) A third letter to the shareholders of the British Iron Company introductory to evidence and proofs to relieve the proprietors from the ruinous contract for Corngreaves ; also various documents and information shewing the critical state of the company's affairs and how to obtain a remedy for the past and security for the future (London : 1829) The protracted legal proceedings regarding the Corngreaves estate were reported at length in the contemporary press, including The Times and the Morning Chronicle, as were the controversial meetings of shareholders held during the crises of 1826 and 1841.

The fullest modern account of the Company, although with a distinct bias towards its activities in north Wales, is by Ifor Edwards, 'The British Iron Company', Denbighshire Historical Society Transactions, 31 (1982), pp 109–48; 32 (1983), pp 98–124 For the dates of operation of the various sites, the number of furnaces at each and the number in blast on a year by year basis, see Philip Riden and John G. Owen, British blast furnace statistics, 1790-1980 (Cardiff : Merton Priory Press, 1995)