The Roquer copper forge\u2014farga meaning forge\u2014was built by Lambert de Roquer between 1846 and 1848 and remained in operation until 1873. The mechanism consisted of a forge hammer driven by a water-powered paddle wheel. It specialised in the hammering of copper sheets that were used to make sheathing for the hulls of wooden ships, and also in the fabrication of copper boilers reusing the metal from old copper items.<\/p>\n
Over the years, the water usage and the building and its machinery were adapted to different industrial purposes, such as a leather tannery, a woodturning lathe, and a sawmill. The latter was driven by means of layshafts and a transmission shaft powered by a hydraulic turbine. Later, the Beulas i Gelada carriage factory was established in the adjoining building, and also made use of the power of the waterwheel and the turbine to drive its different mechanisms.<\/p>\n
The Roquer forge can be considered one of the best examples of industrial heritage in the municipality, and a reflection of the economic dynamism of Arb\u00facies and the Montseny from the mid 19th to the mid 20th century.<\/p>\n
Inside the building there is an interpretation centre, explaining how the forge worked and screening an interesting audiovisual piece entitled La memoria del agua (The memory of water), which shows the uses of water in the Arb\u00facies valley throughout its history.<\/p>\n
La Farga pond<\/p>\n
A large millpond was constructed here, next to the forge building, which held water from the Roquer mill irrigation channel and was used as a reservoir supplying water to operate first the paddle wheel and later the mechanical turbine. At the end of the 20th century, the pond became a naturalised space which now plays host to a great diversity of flora and fauna, such as barbels and a wide variety of birds. Some of these are seen all year round, like the mallard duck, great tit, northern wren and common blackbird, while others come and go sporadically, including the grey heron, grey wagtail, white wagtail and hooded warbler.<\/p>\n
The pond also features an artificial island with herbaceous plants, such as reeds, bulrush and yellow iris, which provide shelter for the birds.<\/p>\n
A very rare mollusc<\/p>\n
During the process of dredging the pond, a species of protected mollusc was found, thought to have been extinct in the Tordera basin for more than fifteen years. Identified as Anadonta cygnea, or the swan mussel, it is a naiad or bivalve mollusc with an oval shell of a greenish-brown colour.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Roquer copper forge\u2014farga meaning forge\u2014was built by Lambert de Roquer between 1846 and 1848 and remained in operation until 1873. The mechanism consisted of a forge hammer driven by a water-powered paddle wheel. It specialised in the hammering of copper sheets that were used to make sheathing for the hulls of wooden ships, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16667,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categoria":[],"categoria-de-patrimoni":[293],"multi":[317],"tipus-de-museu":[],"tipus-de-patrimoni":[389],"class_list":["post-16468","patrimoni","type-patrimoni","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","categoria-de-patrimoni-industrial-heritage","multi-plans","tipus-de-patrimoni-heritage-sites"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n