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Site Name:
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Chingley Furnace |
OS Reference:
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TQ 6850 3270
Click here to view on Where's The Path |
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Parish:
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Ticehurst |
Former Parish:
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Goudhurst |
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Hundred:
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West Barnfield/Little Barnfield |
District:
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Rother |
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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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Furnace |
Period:
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Modern |
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Century:
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16 |
Geology:
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Wadhurst Clay |
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Geology notes:
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Earliest known date:
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1565 |
Latest known date:
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1597 |
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Dating evidence:
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Awty has argued that aliens working for Thomas May in West Barnfield hundred in c.1543 could only have been at Chingley (Awty 2019, 453) but Crossley (1975, 3) considered that it was built after 1558. The furnace supplied cast iron to Robertsbridge steel works in 1565 (KHLC, U1475 B4/1; Crossley 1975, 207). In 1571 Thomas Mercer was granted permission to take the wood adjacent to the furnace (ESRO, SAS-CO/3/1/17/1). In 1574 Thomas Darell owned Chingley furnace, with Thomas Dyke as tenant. Dyke took a new lease for 41 years in 1579 which he assigned to Richard Ballard and his sons in 1597 (ESRO, DYK/607), contradicting the statement in 1588 when the furnace had been described as "fallen downe and utterlie decayed" (Staffs. RO D593/S/4/283).
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Site Description:
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(Site now flooded by Bewl Reservoir. Notes of features before excavation and inundation).
Bay: L 50m H 2.5/2.5m. Breached by stream towards S end.
Water system: Pond dry.
Working area: Waterlogged, with furnace debris seen before excavation in angle between dam and northern hill-slope. (Report as for Chingley forge.)
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Scheduled Monument Number:
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HER Reference:
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Bay Height (m.):
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2.5 |
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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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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See Crossley, D. W., The Bewl Valley Ironworks (1975).
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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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Tylecote, R. F.. (1986) The Prehistory of Metallurgy in the British Isles. The Institute of Metals. London
(for this site see page(s) 215)
Awty, B. G.. (2019) Adventure in Iron. Wealden Iron Research Group. Tonbridge
(for this site see page(s) 453)
Straker, E. (1931) Wealden Iron. Bell. London
(for this site see page(s) 276)
Crossley, D. W.. (1975) The Bewl Valley Ironworks. Royal Archaeological Institute
(for this site see page(s) 29-36)
Cleere, H. F. and Crossley, D. W.. (1995) The iron industry of the Weald. Merton Priory Press. Cardiff
(for this site see page(s) 322)
Crossley, D. W.. (1975) Sidney Ironworks Accounts 1541-1573. Royal Historical Society (Camden Fourth Series Vol. 15). London
(for this site see page(s) 207)
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) 8)
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Persons with known connections to this site:
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Ballard, Richard - Co-lessee/ironmaster 1597-1620?
Ballard, Richard - Co-lessee/ironmaster 1597-1620?
Ballard, Thomas - Co-lessee/ironmaster 1597-1620?
Cossam, Adams - iron worker in 1543
Darell, Henry - (Co-)owner bef 1579-c.1610
Darrell, Thomas - (Co-)owner bef 1574-98
Dyke, Thomas - Lessee/ironmaster bef 1574-97
Harchaunt, William - iron worker in 1544
Hoke, John - iron worker in 1543
Jeffrey, Bartholomew - iron worker in 1543
Knell, Richard - iron worker in 1543
Loye, John - iron worker in 1543
May, Thomas - Ironmaster in c.1543
Mercer, Thomas - ?Supplier of wood in 1571-2
Pelham, Edmund - Co-owner bef 1579-1606
Tollett, Jerman - iron worker in 1544
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Documents:
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Images:
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