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Site Name:
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Minepit Wood / Orznash 1 |
OS Reference:
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TQ 5230 3380
Click here to view on Where's The Path |
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Parish:
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Rotherfield |
Former Parish:
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Hundred:
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Rotherfield |
District:
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Wealden |
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County:
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East Sussex |
River Basin:
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Medway |
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Site Type:
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Bloomery |
Period:
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Medieval |
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Century:
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14, 15 |
Geology:
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Wadhurst Clay |
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Geology notes:
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Earliest known date:
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Latest known date:
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Dating evidence:
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The site was dated, by pottery and radiocarbon, to the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and indications were that it was operated over two almost consecutive periods.:
BM 361 Site B minepit spoil heap: 426±40 BP (cal AD 1416-1522)
BM 365 Site C charcoal dump: 545±40 BP (cal AD 1305-1364 and 1384-1440)
BM 362 Site C roasting furnace 1: 492±48 BP (cal AD 1312-1484)
BM 366 Site C roasting furnace 2: 570±44 BP (cal AD 1297-1430)
BM 367 Site D building: 534±61 BP (cal AD 1295-1451)
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Site Description:
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The site lies beside the headwater of a stream about 3.2km NNE of Crowborough.
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Scheduled Monument Number:
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HER Reference:
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MES35263 (ANA) |
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Bay Height (m.):
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Bay Length (m.):
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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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Yes |
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Excavation Details:
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Excavations (1965-7, see Money 1971) revealed two smelting furnaces, one constructed on the remains of the other, enclosed within a timber-framed building. Also discovered were a well-preserved ore-roasting hearth, and the remains of a small, timber-framed hut found close by.
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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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E. Straker
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References:
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Tylecote, R. F.. (1986) The Prehistory of Metallurgy in the British Isles. The Institute of Metals. London
(for this site see page(s) 180, 182-3, 186)
Straker, E. (1931) Wealden Iron. Bell. London
(for this site see page(s) 257)
Money, J. H.. (1971) Medieval Iron-Workings in Minepit Wood, Rotherfield, Sussex. Medieval Archaeology. 15. pp. 86-111
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Persons with known connections to this site:
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Documents:
(click to download)
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Images:
(click on a thumbnail to view)
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