In 1840 Henry Hills established a factory at LLam Carw near Amlwch port to make Sulphuric acid via the direct pyritic process. Henry Hills was the 4th son of Thomas Hills of London who had been declared bankrupt in 1827. He was born 1819 in Bromley, Middlesex, moved from London to Amlwch in 1842, likely drawn by the availability of the chemical manufacturing infrastructure left behind after the death of the acid-works proprietor James Webster in 1840.
Henry Hills and his wife, Charlotte (originally from Lyme Regis), settled at Frondeg, a residence built in 1828 1. The 1851 census records the family at this location with children George Albert, Charles Henry, Emily Julia, Augusta, and Ellen Clair, supported by a governess for their education 1, 2. Charles Henry Hills, Henry’s son, eventually took over the Amlwch works and resided at Bryntirion with his first wife, Elizabeth, and later with his second wife, Martha
By September 1860 Hills was trying to form an agreement with Evan Evans of the Mona mine to calcine their ores to make sulphuric acid. By 1861 a plant was built which produced 15,000 lbs of 15.5 % sulphuric acid per week. Over the following years the amount of sulpur made from mine ore began to decrease and Hill was forced to import sulphur from as far a way as Spain.
He also imported ground phosphate rock. The phosphate rock was reacted on by sulphuric acid to make range of fertilizers as was described in a 1889 advertisement.:-
“The firm has produced nitro phosphates for the last 36 years, and as a general fertilizer for all kinds of root and grain crops, particularly turnip growing, it has given utmost satisfaction. Their bone manure has also proved to be made of the best ingredients and is used by hundreds of farmers. The company’s corn and grass manure,contain more Nitrogen and Ammonia than the NitroPhosphate. The Potato Fertilizer … contains more essential elements than other products. The all-purpose Phosphor Guano is in great demand for Corn and grass.”
The last of these materials explains why Guano was being imported from South America to Amlwch Port.
By the mid-1860s, responsibility for the works devolved to Charles Henry Hills. Under the family’s management, the business expanded to include 11 agents across North Wales and was a significant local employer.
In 1871, a telegraph linked Gwaith Hills to the outside world, and the works took on the unique responsibility of informing Amlwch of Greenwich Mean Time
When Charles Henry Hills left Amlwch in 1878, the community held a large meeting at the Dinorben Hotel to present him with an illuminated address in recognition of his contributions to the town.Even after leaving the town, the family distributed gifts of food and toys to the poor every Christmas
In 1881 Mr Lewis Hughes was listed as manager of the Chemical and Manure works. He was a “man of many parts” and a firebrand Liberal politician who managed the works for thirty years.
In May 1893 an enormous fire swept through the works. This was caused by one of the hot furnaces cracking and the material inside flowing onto coal. The fire took hold in the roof and 50 roof trusses had to be replaced. . In the early months of 1898 additional men were employed to work 24 hours per day. In February alone 6 ships delivered raw material to the port.
Following the death of Charles Henry in 1907, his son Charles Harold Hills took over, but the works finally closed in August 1910.
