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Site Name:
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Roffey |
OS Reference:
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TQ 2060 3350
Click here to view on Where's The Path |
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Parish:
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Colgate |
Former Parish:
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Hundred:
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Burbeach |
District:
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Horsham |
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County:
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West Sussex |
River Basin:
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Arun |
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Site Type:
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Bloomery, Bloomforge |
Period:
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Medieval |
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Century:
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14, 15, 13 |
Geology:
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Weald Clay |
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Geology notes:
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Earliest known date:
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1327 |
Latest known date:
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1346 |
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Dating evidence:
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An unpublished excavation by Horsham Museum Society in 1985, in the south-east corner of the site, produced a quantity of Graffham and Surrey white wares dating from the late-fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, with smaller amounts of Cheam White and Tudor Green wares extending the range into the early-sixteenth century. 1000 horseshoes were purchased by the Crown, and carried from ‘la Rogheye’ in 1327 (Liberate Roll 4 Edw III), and tipped arrows were made at Horsham eleven years later (Liberate Roll 12 Edw III). In 1344 Thomas Chyew demised to Matilda Bonewyk a smithy with bellows, anvils and hammers etc. belonging, at the same location (Catalogue of Ancient Deeds 3 (HMSO 1900), 286).
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Site Description:
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A large-scale site with slag scattered over an area of 18 hectares. An unpublished excavation by Horsham Museum Society in 1985, in the south-east corner of the site noted the foundations of a small building and evidence suggestive of a hearth perhaps mounted on a stone plinth. A small number of pieces of forging slag found adjacent to a pond bay to the rear of Brook House may indicate water-powered working.
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Scheduled Monument Number:
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HER Reference:
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MWS953 and 4004 |
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Bay Height (m.):
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2 |
Bay Length (m.):
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50 |
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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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Yes |
Two-finery forge:
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No |
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Excavation?:
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Yes |
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Excavation Details:
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A brief, unpublished excavation was carried out by Horsham Museum Society in 1985, in the south-east corner of the site, prior to widening of the A264, Crawley-Horsham road.
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Description of site vegetation:
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Arable
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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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Maxwell Lyte, H. C.. (1900) A Descriptive Catalogue of Ancient Deeds Volume 3. HMSO. London
(for this site see page(s) 286)
Cooper, W. D.. (1865) Produce of and supplies from Sussex. Sussex Archaeological Collections. 17. pp. 115-122
(for this site see page(s) 116-17)
Salzmann, L. F.. (1913) English Industries of the Middle Ages. Constable. London
(for this site see page(s) 24)
Honywood, T.. (1866) Notes and Queries 14. Ancient Hammer-head from Roughey, near Horsham, &c.. Sussex Archaeological Collections. 18. pp. 195-6
(for this site see page(s) 195)
Cranfield, J. L. M.. (2023) The Medieval Iron Industry of the Weald. unpublished PhD thesis, University of Exeter. Exeter
Straker, E. (1931) Wealden Iron. Bell. London
(for this site see page(s) 442)
anon.. (1983) Field Notes. Wealden Iron, Bulletin of the Wealden Iron Research Group. 2nd series, 3. pp. 2-5
(for this site see page(s) 2-3)
Cleere, H. F. and Crossley, D. W.. (1995) The iron industry of the Weald. Merton Priory Press. Cardiff
(for this site see page(s) 89)
anon.. (1976) Inventory of Sites visited by WIRG. Wealden Iron, Bulletin of the Wealden Iron Research Group. 1st series, 9. pp. 2-18
(for this site see page(s) 2)
Hodgkinson, J. S.. (2000) A gazetteer of Medieval iron-making sites in the Weald. Wealden Iron, Bulletin of the Wealden Iron Research Group. 2nd series, 20. pp. 23-32
(for this site see page(s) 29)
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Persons with known connections to this site:
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Chyew, Thomas - Owner ?-1344
De Bonewyk, Matilda - Owner 1344-?
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Documents:
(click to download)
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Images:
(click on a thumbnail to view)
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