|
Site Name:
|
Stream Forge and Furnace |
OS Reference:
|
TQ 5550 1550
Click here to view on Where's The Path |
|
Parish:
|
Chiddingly |
Former Parish:
|
|
|
Hundred:
|
Shiplake |
District:
|
Wealden |
|
County:
|
East Sussex |
River Basin:
|
Cuckmere |
|
Site Type:
|
Gunfoundry, Furnace, Boring Mill, Forge |
Period:
|
Modern |
|
Century:
|
17, 16 |
Geology:
|
Ashdown Beds |
|
Geology notes:
|
|
|
Earliest known date:
|
1548 |
Latest known date:
|
1696 |
|
Dating evidence:
|
This site began as a forge, the hammer at Chiddingly being included in the complaint of the coastal towns in 1548 (Straker 1931, 114). John French had a hammer c.1570, within three miles (5km) of woods in Framfield (ESRO SRL/13/1; Whittick 2002, 19), and in 1574. The presence of a founder in 1595 indicates the existence of a furnace; the 'lower furnace, called 'the New Furnace' was leased by Stephen French 'forgemaster' in 1597 for 21 years to Edward Montagu (BL Add. Ch. 30132). In 1648 the pond was still called the 'Forge Pond' (ESRO SAS-RF/5/26), yet a forge and a furnace are mentioned in 1653 and 1667. Thomas Dyke and John Fuller leased the forge and furnace from Stephen French in 1650 (Parsons 1882: 30). Over 400 tons of guns were cast at Stream Furnace in 1692-3 (ESRO SAS-RF/15/26). Use by the Fullers may have continued briefly after 1693 when they built Heathfield (q.v.). The furnace is marked on Budgen's map of 1724 but had not been listed in 1717.
|
|
Site Description:
|
Bay: L 155m H 1.6m/3m Carried bridle road. A ramp leads down towards working area.
Water system: Pond reduced to swamp. Modern spillway at W end. Position of forge and furnace wheel-pit and tail-race probably obscured by those of later corn mill at E end. Extent of pond in 1648, 12 acres.
Working area: Probably in present mill house garden, where much charcoal occurs, and where was found the cannon boring bar now in Anne of Cleves Museum, Lewes (Butler and Tebbutt 1975:38-41). Recent excavations of crashed German aircraft in field immediately S of bay revealed much glassy slag and fragments of cannon mould. 100m down the mill tail-race the bank is revetted with forge bottoms.
This site was last used as a corn mill, and since Straker’s time the pond has finally gone. The bay, along which a public bridle road runs, is 170 yards long, with a weir in good condition almost at its W. end. It is only 5 feet high on the upstream side and 10 feet on the downstream. The working area seems to have been at the E. end, where the present mill house and its garden are. There is plenty of black soil and black glassy slag about there, and some pieces of clay mould were found. Raw material for the furnace seems to have been brought along the bridle road from the W. Just E. of the bridge over the weir a ramp was built leading down from the top of the bay to the low ground below. The mill stream is now mainly dry but about 100 yards below the mill house its right bank is revetted with forge bottoms.
|
|
Scheduled Monument Number:
|
|
HER Reference:
|
MES2936 (ANA) |
|
Bay Height (m.):
|
3 |
Bay Length (m.):
|
155 |
|
Classis Britannica tiles:
|
No |
Samian pottery:
|
No |
|
Cylindrical slag plugs:
|
No |
Two-finery forge:
|
No |
|
Excavation?:
|
No |
|
|
Excavation Details:
|
|
|
Description of site vegetation:
|
|
|
Slag Heap Area (m. sq) :
|
|
Slag heap grade (Hodgkinson 1999):
|
|
|
Persons Involved in Discovery:
|
|
|
|
|
|
References:
|
Smith, T. G.. (2016) Stream Forge, Furnace and Boring Mill, Chiddingly. Wealden Iron, Bulletin of the Wealden Iron Research Group. Second series, 36 pt. 1. pp. 27-32
Trent, E. M. and Smart, E. F.. (1984) Further examination of cutting tip from cannon-boring tool. Histoprical Metallurgy. 18. 1. pp. 8-12
Straker, E. (1931) Wealden Iron. Bell. London
(for this site see page(s) 114, 384)
Lower, M. A.. (1849) Iron Works of the County of Sussex. Sussex Archaeological Collections. 2. pp. 169-220
(for this site see page(s) 208-9)
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) 28-9)
Cleere, H. F. and Crossley, D. W.. (1995) The iron industry of the Weald. Merton Priory Press. Cardiff
(for this site see page(s) 194, 359)
Butler, D. S. & Tebbutt, C. F.. (1975) A Wealden cannon-boring bar. Post-Medieval Archaeology. 9. pp. 38-41
Parsons, J. L.. (1882) The Sussex ironworks. Sussex Archaeological Collections. 32. pp. 19-32
(for this site see page(s) 30)
Teesdale, E. B.. (1986) The 1574 lists of ironworks in the Weald. A re-examination. Wealden Iron, Bulletin of the Wealden Iron Research Group. Second series, 6. pp. 7-41
(for this site see page(s) 32-3)
Crossley, D. W.. (1975) The Lists of Furnaces and Forges of 1664. Wealden Iron, Bulletin of the Wealden Iron Research Group. First series, 8. pp. 2-7
(for this site see page(s) 3, 6)
Whittick, C. H. C.. (2002) Re-Dating an Early Document. Wealden Iron, Bulletin of the Wealden Iron Research Group. Second series, 22. pp. 18-21
(for this site see page(s) 19)
|
|
Persons with known connections to this site:
|
Barham, Peter - iron worker in 1552
Blancke, Robert - finer in 1552
Bluet, James - forgeman in 1686
Dupre, Lawrens - founder in 1572
Dyke, Thomas - Co-lessee/ironmaster 1669-after 1696
Dyke, Thomas - Co-lessee/ironmaster 1650-69
Francis, John - hammerman in 1634
French, John - Owner 1606-31
French, John - Owner/ironmaster bef 1548-aft 1574
French, John - Owner 1666-68
French, Stephen - Owner/ironmaster c.1578-1606
French, Stephen - Owner 1648-66
Fuller, John - Co-lessee/ironmaster 1679-96?
Fuller, John - Co-lessee/ironmaster 1650-79?
Jerman, Thomas - founder in 1595
Messuage, Nicholas - finer in 1669
Montagu, Edward - Lessee/ironmaster 1597-1618?
Shermun, John - iron worker in 1551
unknown, William - iron worker in 1551
|
Documents:
(click to download)
|
|
Images:
(click on a thumbnail to view)
|
|
|
