Torre Vella de Cal Pons

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Lluís Casals
Fons Fotogràfic Lluís Casals / Arxiu Històric del COAC
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Built at the same time as the Pons lime factory and the flats of the colony, the architect is unknown. It has 225 m² distributed over two floors, attic and basement. The building has a square ground plan with a projecting body on the elevation and ground plan. The main façade faces south and has a double staircase leading to the entrance, while to the west is the entrance at street level. The exterior is entirely plastered and the only decorative elements are the door and window frames, which are made of brick. The heads of the beams of the barbican are spherical-shaped finials, reminiscent of the Gothic style. Inside, the walls are decorated with geometric borders, while the ceilings are decorated with a series of plaster vegetal themes.

The promoter of Cal Pons - one of the most interesting industrial colonies in Catalonia in terms of urban planning and architecture - was Josep Pons i Enrich, born in Manresa in 1811, descendant of a Manresa family linked to the silk industry during the 18th century. Alongside the industrial space, construction also began on the dwellings where the workers of Cal Pons were to live. These dwellings, built in two different stages (1875 and 1890), form Carrer d’Orient, the most emblematic street in the colony. The stewards and foremen lived in flats attached to the factory, while the dwellings on Carrer de la Baixada and Plaça del Centre, where the shop, café, inn, bread oven and other services were located, were occupied by families linked to the colony's services.
One of the most important buildings in Cal Pons, due to the services it housed, was the one built next to the church in 1893. This space included the school, the nuns‘ convent, the girls’ residence and the theatre. However, the most emblematic buildings - due to their spectacular nature - of the colony were and still are others: the church and the owners' towers. The church, inaugurated in 1887, was described by the press of the time as the ‘Cathedral of the Alt Llobregat’. The two towers, located around a garden, were built before 1885 (the old one) and in 1897 (the new one). The whole of the colony under construction was surrounded by a wall about two metres high with three gates and two doors. The gatekeepers and the watchman ensured that no worker entered or left the perimeter of the colony after 20.00 or 21.00 (depending on the time of year). This wall was demolished during the Spanish Civil War and was never rebuilt. The 1880s, while the colony was growing and the factory was already working at full capacity, were very conflictive years. The workers of Cal Pons - and of all the Catalan textile colonies and factories of the time - had to endure very hard working conditions: twelve hours a day, or more, in a factory full of dangers and discomforts and constantly having to listen to the noise of the looms and machinery. The workers of Cal Pons rebelled against this daily reality on several occasions. The most important mobilisation was the strike of 1890, which affected most of the factories and colonies of Llobregat. As a result of this strike, 150 Cal Pons workers were dismissed and expelled from the colony.
In 1893, Josep Pons i Enrich died and three years later his heir, Ignasi Pons, too. From then until 1921, Lluís G. Pons, brother of the colony's founder, became the strong man of the family and the owner of Cal Pons. The situation of the colony - already built and consolidated - and the figure of the director of the factory - who controlled the economic functioning of the company and the maintenance of order and ‘social peace’ and who had his own villa from 1900 onwards - allowed Mr. Pons to focus on his political activity. It was during these years when Lluís Pons became the owner of Cal Pons that the paternalistic relationship with the workers was consolidated. Paternalism was based on an unwritten pact whereby the owner offered work, a flat, food, services, stability and security to his workers in exchange for them limiting themselves to work, obey and not break the ‘social peace’.

(Continuation of Story): Like most of the colonies in Berguedà, Cal Pons remained full of life until the 1960s. From then on, things began to evolve rapidly. The factory continued to operate until 1992, but from the 1970s, and especially during the 1980s, the signs of the crisis in the textile sector were felt and the colony model also went into decline: many people left Cal Pons and the services were closing. With the closure of the factory, the whole of the colony - except for the turbine - was repossessed. When it was put up for sale - by public auction at the end of the 1990s – the Puig-reig Town Council acquired a large part of the colony's spaces.

Source: Mapes de Patrimoni Cultural. Diputació de Barcelona (diba)

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Torre Vella de Cal Pons

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Built at the same time as the Pons lime factory and the flats of the colony, the architect is unknown. It has 225 m² distributed over two floors, attic and basement. The building has a square ground plan with a projecting body on the elevation and ground plan. The main façade faces south and has a double staircase leading to the entrance, while to the west is the entrance at street level. The exterior is entirely plastered and the only decorative elements are the door and window frames, which are made of brick. The heads of the beams of the barbican are spherical-shaped finials, reminiscent of the Gothic style. Inside, the walls are decorated with geometric borders, while the ceilings are decorated with a series of plaster vegetal themes. The promoter of Cal Pons - one of the most interesting industrial colonies in Catalonia in terms of urban planning and architecture - was Josep Pons i Enrich, born in Manresa in 1811, descendant of a Manresa family linked to the silk industry during the 18th century. Alongside the industrial space, construction also began on the dwellings where the workers of Cal Pons were to live. These dwellings, built in two different stages (1875 and 1890), form Carrer d’Orient, the most emblematic street in the colony. The stewards and foremen lived in flats attached to the factory, while the dwellings on Carrer de la Baixada and Plaça del Centre, where the shop, café, inn, bread oven and other services were located, were occupied by families linked to the colony's services. One of the most important buildings in Cal Pons, due to the services it housed, was the one built next to the church in 1893. This space included the school, the nuns‘ convent, the girls’ residence and the theatre. However, the most emblematic buildings - due to their spectacular nature - of the colony were and still are others: the church and the owners' towers. The church, inaugurated in 1887, was described by the press of the time as the ‘Cathedral of the Alt Llobregat’. The two towers, located around a garden, were built before 1885 (the old one) and in 1897 (the new one). The whole of the colony under construction was surrounded by a wall about two metres high with three gates and two doors. The gatekeepers and the watchman ensured that no worker entered or left the perimeter of the colony after 20.00 or 21.00 (depending on the time of year). This wall was demolished during the Spanish Civil War and was never rebuilt. The 1880s, while the colony was growing and the factory was already working at full capacity, were very conflictive years. The workers of Cal Pons - and of all the Catalan textile colonies and factories of the time - had to endure very hard working conditions: twelve hours a day, or more, in a factory full of dangers and discomforts and constantly having to listen to the noise of the looms and machinery. The workers of Cal Pons rebelled against this daily reality on several occasions. The most important mobilisation was the strike of 1890, which affected most of the factories and colonies of Llobregat. As a result of this strike, 150 Cal Pons workers were dismissed and expelled from the colony. In 1893, Josep Pons i Enrich died and three years later his heir, Ignasi Pons, too. From then until 1921, Lluís G. Pons, brother of the colony's founder, became the strong man of the family and the owner of Cal Pons. The situation of the colony - already built and consolidated - and the figure of the director of the factory - who controlled the economic functioning of the company and the maintenance of order and ‘social peace’ and who had his own villa from 1900 onwards - allowed Mr. Pons to focus on his political activity. It was during these years when Lluís Pons became the owner of Cal Pons that the paternalistic relationship with the workers was consolidated. Paternalism was based on an unwritten pact whereby the owner offered work, a flat, food, services, stability and security to his workers in exchange for them limiting themselves to work, obey and not break the ‘social peace’. (Continuation of Story): Like most of the colonies in Berguedà, Cal Pons remained full of life until the 1960s. From then on, things began to evolve rapidly. The factory continued to operate until 1992, but from the 1970s, and especially during the 1980s, the signs of the crisis in the textile sector were felt and the colony model also went into decline: many people left Cal Pons and the services were closing. With the closure of the factory, the whole of the colony - except for the turbine - was repossessed. When it was put up for sale - by public auction at the end of the 1990s – the Puig-reig Town Council acquired a large part of the colony's spaces.
Cal Pons Colony

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The Pons colony is characterised by the fact that it is one of the textile colonies that was established and developed in a relatively short period of time (1875-1910), which gives it a great sense of unity. The two owners' towers, the director's tower and the church are the most emblematic buildings of Cal Pons, together with the garden. In 1908, King Alfonso XIII travelled to the Llobregat basin and paid a visit to the Pons colony. Church of Sant Josep The church has a Latin cross plan and is 32 metres long. The main nave is covered with a ribbed vault, and the side chapels act as buttresses for the central nave. At the intersection of the main nave and the transept there is an octagonal dome. The polygonal apse has an ambulatory that leads to the crypt and the sacristy. In 1879, the isolated bell tower was erected and in 1907 the family pantheon was built, where Lluís Pons i Enrich and his wife, Anna Roca, were buried. Externally, the church has a haughty appearance reinforced by the dome, the bell tower and the set of pinnacles. The main façade, facing south, is made of well-cut ashlars, while the rest of the building harmoniously combines rubble stone with brick. It is a neo-Gothic building that was constructed in sixteen months, the work of the architect Josep Torres i Argullol. The interior was decorated by Francesc Morell, brother of the factory manager at the time. School, convent, theatre and girls' home. The buildings have two storeys: the ground floor was used as a school and the upper floor was used as a convent, the priest's home and the residence for working girls. Like the rest of the buildings in the colony, the construction materials used were stone for the walls and brick for the windows and doors. The old tower (a fortified town before 1885) and the new tower (inaugurated in 1897) are monumental buildings in a medieval historicist style. They were designed as medieval castles surrounded by gardens. The old tower was the first to be built. It is a solid but slender building, with a very marked central body. The Catalan spiral staircase stands out. It is eclectic in style with a Gothic influence. The new tower is a large construction built on a rock at the end of the colony's gardens. In its structure, the central body predominates over both sides. The main façade, with a double staircase, faces north. The exterior walls combine brick, plaster and mosaics. It has many medieval-style decorative details: capitals with bestiary, floral decoration, gargoyles, blind arches on the eaves of the roof, etc. In the entrance hall there are allegorical paintings that refer to the continents of America, Africa, Asia and Europe. It is a landscape in the background with a female figure who brings some element that refers to each continent. In the representation of Europe, the background landscape is the Pons colony seen from the foot of the Llobregat. It was initially the continuous residence of the owners, later it served as a second residence and in the mid-20th century the furniture was auctioned off and it was converted into a towel factory. The architect of these two buildings is unknown. However, it seems that it could have been Josep Torres i Argullol or Alexandre Soler i March, architects who worked for the Pons family. The director's villa was built before 1900, it is more austere and smaller, and its architect is also unknown. The garden When the colony was designed, the intention was to turn the estate into an enclosed garden that would isolate it from the outside world. The garden was for the private use of the owners of the colony and the director's family. But when the Pons family were not there, the workers could use the garden and the adjoining forest. In this space there was a great diversity of plant species (some of which have since disappeared): banana trees, lime trees, mulberry trees, trumpet trees, horse chestnut trees, palm trees, poplars, holm oaks, fir trees... In the private garden of the new tower, two 1900s gazebos made of brick and wood stand out, overlooking the Llobregat river and the colony. Until the 1950s and 1960s, the colony was the most active cultural centre in the municipality of Puig-reig. The magazine “Colònia Pons” was published and the Home School and the School of Labour linked to the Industrial School of Barcelona were created. The factory workers received training that was truly cutting edge at the regional level. On 25 March 1886, construction began on the church of the Pons colony dedicated to the Virgin of Montserrat. It was consecrated on 10 August 1897. It was built at the same time as the large factory, the workers' housing and the two towers. In the mid-20th century, and especially in the wake of the Spanish Civil War, the towers where the owners resided were abandoned and a progressive deterioration of the cultural activities and the park, which had an interesting collection of exotic birds, began. The moments of splendour of the Pons colony coincide with the early days of its existence, between 1880 and 1930.