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Site Name:
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Cowden Furnace |
OS Reference:
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TQ 4550 3990
Click here to view on Where's The Path |
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Parish:
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Cowden |
Former Parish:
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Hundred:
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Westerham and Edenbridge |
District:
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Sevenoaks |
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County:
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Kent |
River Basin:
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Medway |
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Site Type:
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Pot Foundry, Gunfoundry, Boring Mill, Furnace |
Period:
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Modern |
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Century:
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18, 17, 16 |
Geology:
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Ashdown Beds |
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Geology notes:
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Earliest known date:
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1548 |
Latest known date:
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1778 |
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Dating evidence:
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Two furnaces, Scarlets and Cowden, lie from west to east within Cowden parish, on or close to the Kent Water. The list of 1590 (Staffs. RO, D593/S/4/28/17) suggests confusingly that there were three, described as 'Scarlets', 'the Upper furnace in Cowden' and 'the furnace in Cowden'. However, references to the 'upper' furnace refer to Scarlets, and those to the 'lower' refer to Cowden.
An account of guns delivered by William Levett in 1548 mentions their carriage from Cowden to Newhaven and Pevensey (Royal Armouries, TOL Mss/Ordnance/119 f.58v). In his will of 1554 Levett made a bequest to the poor of Cowden. In 1574 Michael Weston had a furnace in Cowden where he had cast guns for five or six years; this is more likely to have been Cowden than Scarlets in view of the site's similar use 14 years later (and 20 years earlier). Contrary to his earlier opinion, Awty has since suggested that this is the furnace in Cowden worked in 1574 by Quintine/Quyntyn, presumably for Michael Weston (TNA, SP 12/95/20 & 12/95/21). In fact Quyntyn had been resident in Cowden as early as 1559, reinforcing the view that the furnace may have been in operation by then (Awty 2019, 339). In 1588-90 Francis Johnson cast guns there for John Swaysland. In the seventeenth century John Browne worked at Cowden: 1638-43, he was partner of Henry Cruttenden (Herefordshire Archive and Record Centre, E12/VI/Bf/25); he is mentioned in 1651. There are accounts for 1651 and 1655 (HARC, E12/Bf/22-23) and an inventory for the latter year (HARC, E12/VI/Bf/31). John Browne's trustees, Thomas Foley, Herbert Springate and Edward Herbert, reassigned his lease to George Browne and Alexander Courthope in 1660, clearly naming Cowden Furnace (HARC, E12/VI/Bc/2). They had equipment there in 1664 (KHLC, TR1295/62). Two Cowden furnaces, Scarlets and 'the lower' appear in the 1664 list. Scarlets was active, but 'Cowden the Lower' was described as 'ruined', which seems to conflict with the reference to Browne's equipment, stock at both furnaces being noted in the Foley accounts in 1655 (HARC, E12/VI/2/4967). In 1692 government shot and shells were cast at Cowden for William Benge (TNA, WO 51/46 f. 171r; 50 f. 130v). Neither of the Cowden furnaces appears in the 1717 list, but a deed of 1742, whereby William Bowen, a gun founder referred to in the Fuller correspondence between 1747 and 1764 (ESRO, SAS RF15/25, fos. 199, 206, 211 inter alia; Sussex Weekly Advertiser 10 Sep 1764), purchased the furnace from George and Susan Lewis, cites earlier deeds identifying this site as the 'Lower' furnace, and confirms that the property had remained in the hands of the Swaysland family until 1732 (KHLC, 1280 T2). A map of 1743 (KHLC, U650/P1) shows Cowden Furnace complete and occupied by Bowen. Bowen died in December 1771 (Bingleys Journal 14 Dec 1771; TNA, PROB 11/973/132), but it was not until 1778 that the furnace was advertised for sale as a going concern although a corn mill had been established on the site, presumably in the former boring mill (Daily Advertiser 11 May 1778).
Note: Early writers on the Cowden ironworks have attached much importance to the alleged ownership or occupation of Cowden Furnace by the Tichborne family; this connection has not been confirmed. An early cast-iron gun found at Furnace Mill, Cowden, in about 1850 now lies at Crippenden, former home of the Tichbornes. A 'falconet', it was a faulty casting, and may date from as early as the 1550s (Smith 1991, 36-7).
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Site Description:
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Bay: L 125m H pond in water/5m. Forms public road
Water System: Present spillway at N end, but map of 1743 (Centre for Kentish Studies, U650/P1) shows spillway at S end, pond of 14 acres and sluices for two wheelpits with tailraces.
Working area: The 1743 map shows the furnace at the N end and the boring house at S, with a 'workhouse' between. A surviving building may be the latter, its roof trusses suggesting construction in the early- to mid-17th century. Also depicted is a 'kiln' to NE of furnace, possibly where ore was roasted or cannon moulds baked.
Re-use: Corn mill, established by 1778, probably on the site of the former boring mill, utilising its water course.
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Scheduled Monument Number:
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HER Reference:
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TQ 43 NE 1 |
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Bay Height (m.):
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5 |
Bay Length (m.):
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125 |
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Classis Britannica tiles:
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No |
Samian pottery:
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No |
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Cylindrical slag plugs:
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No |
Two-finery forge:
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No |
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Excavation?:
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No |
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Excavation Details:
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Description of site vegetation:
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Slag Heap Area (m. sq) :
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Slag heap grade (Hodgkinson 1999):
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Persons Involved in Discovery:
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References:
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Hodgkinson, J. S.. (2014) Cowden Furnaces in the late-16th Century - Some further comments. Wealden Iron, Bulletin of the Wealden Iron Research Group. Second series, 34. pp. 60-2
(for this site see page(s) 60)
Cattell, C. S.. (1971) An Evaluation of the Loseley List of Ironworks within the Weald in the Year 1588. Archaeologia Cantiana. 86. pp. 85-92
(for this site see page(s) 88-9)
Awty, B. G.. (2019) Adventure in Iron. Wealden Iron Research Group. Tonbridge
(for this site see page(s) 338-40, 445)
Hodgkinson, J. S.. (2023) Some probate inventories mentioning ironworks. Wealden Iron, Second series. 43. pp. 47-61
(for this site see page(s) 54-55)
Hodgkinson, J. S.. (2024) Notes on the closure of Wealden ironworks. Wealden Iron, Bulletin of the Wealden Iron Research Group. Second series, 44. pp. 52-60
(for this site see page(s) 52-4)
Straker, E. (1931) Wealden Iron. Bell. London
(for this site see page(s) 226-7)
anon.. (1975) Inventory of Iron Sites visited by WIRG. Wealden Iron, Bulletin of the Wealden Iron Research Group. 1st series, 8. pp. 8-44
(for this site see page(s) 20)
Cleere, H. F. and Crossley, D. W.. (1995) The iron industry of the Weald. Merton Priory Press. Cardiff
(for this site see page(s) 325, 385)
Hodgkinson, J. S.. (1993) Notes on Kent furnaces. Wealden Iron, Bulletin of the Wealden Iron Research Group. 2nd series, 13. pp. 8-10
(for this site see page(s) 9-10)
Barter Bailey, S.. (1991) Information relating to the operation of the early cast-iron industry from a manuscript account book in the collection of the Royal Armouries. Journal of the Ordnance Society. 3. pp. 11-23
(for this site see page(s) 15, 19)
Hodgkinson, J. S.. (2004) Ironworks in Late-16th Century Kent. Wealden Iron, Bulletin of the Wealden Iron Research Group. Second series, 24. pp. 6-16
(for this site see page(s) 10, 12, 14)
Brown, R. R.. (1993) Notes on Wealden furnaces in the records of the Board of Ordnance, 1660-1700. Wealden Iron, Bulletin of the Wealden Iron Research Group. Second series, 13. pp. 20-30
(for this site see page(s) 25)
Smith, R. D.. (1991) Early cast-iron ordnance with particular reference to guns on the Isle of Man. Journal of the Ordnance Society. 3. pp. 25-45
(for this site see page(s) 36-7)
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Persons with known connections to this site:
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Benge, William - cast shot or shells in 1692
Bowen, William - Owner/ironmaster 1742-71
Browne, George - Lessee/ironmaster 1660-bef 1675
Browne, John - Manager bef 1645-1647
Browne, John - (Co-)lessee/ironmaster 1638-51
Courthope, Alexander - Co-lessee/ironmaster 1660-?
Cruttenden, Henry - Co-lessee 1638-43
Ferrers, Samuel - clerk in 1644-5
Foley, Thomas - Co-lessee 1651-1660
Herbert, Edward - Co-lessee 1651-60
Johnson, Francis - gun founder 1588-90
Johnson, Thomas - gunfounder in 1576
Levett, William - ?Lessee/ironmaster in 1548
Lewis, George - Owner 1732-42
Lukin, James - ?Manager bef 1774-78
Noye, Mary - Titular owner 1771-78
Shobridge, William - gun founder in 1604-32
Springate, Herbert - Co-lessee 1651-60
Swaysland, Charles - Owner ?1660-?
Swaysland, Edward - Owner bef 1625-1627
Swaysland, Edward - Owner 1636-60
Swaysland, Henry - Owner ?-1732
Swaysland, John - Co-owner bef 1588-aft 96
Swaysland, John - Owner ?-bef 1625
Swaysland, John - Co-owner in 1596
Swaysland, John - Owner ?1660-?
Swaysland, Richard - Owner bef 1588
Swaysland, Robert - Owner 1624-36
Turner, William - pot founder ?-1680
Tyler, Quintin - founder ?1559-79
Warren, John - De facto owner 1771-78
Weston, Michael - Lessee/ironmaster c.1567-78?
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Documents:
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Images:
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