|
Site Name:
|
Darwell (Darvel or Darfold) Furnace and Forge |
OS Reference:
|
TQ 7080 2070
Click here to view on Where's The Path |
|
Parish:
|
Mountfield |
Former Parish:
|
|
|
Hundred:
|
Netherfield |
District:
|
Rother |
|
County:
|
East Sussex |
River Basin:
|
Rother |
|
Site Type:
|
Gunfoundry, Furnace, Forge |
Period:
|
Modern |
|
Century:
|
18, 17, 16 |
Geology:
|
Wadhurst Clay |
|
Geology notes:
|
|
|
Earliest known date:
|
1539 |
Latest known date:
|
1774 |
|
Dating evidence:
|
In the sixteenth century a furnace variously spelt Darfold and Darvell was leased with Etchingham forge. A lease held by Joan Welshe, and formerly by her husband from 1539 was to be surrendered to Sir Robert Tyrwhitt c.1545 (TNA C78/1/57). In 1554 payments were made for hursts cast at Darvolde for the forge at Robertsbridge (Schubert, 1950, 406). In 1568 Tyrwhitt let the forge and furnace (spelt Darvell) to Thomas Glydd (ESRO Dunn 14/1, cf. Vivian 1953:191). The contemporary Robertsbridge Survey refers to lands adjacent to Darfold or Derfold furnace, the location being unquestionably the 'Darwell' site (D'Elboux 1944:141-2). One version of the 1574 list spells Tyrwhitt's furnace 'Darfold' (SP12/95/149) but another, (SP12/95/175), shows Glydd as Tyrwhitt's tenant at a furnace in Mountfield parish, where Darwell lay. In 1588 Glydd was still tenant (TNA REQ2/68/50). Further confirmation of the location of Thomas Glydd's tenancy appears in WSRO EpII/5/3, which shows that he was cutting wood in Tyrwhitt's Darvell wood in the parish of Battle in or about 1572. Tyrwhitt ownership came to an end in 1622, the property passing to Henry English and Thomas Lord, and remaining with English and then his son, also Henry, until the latter's nephew and executor, another Henry, sold the manor to John Nicoll in 1698 (Dunkin 1915, 313; Dunkin papers, Sussex Arch. Soc. library, Lewes), it having been offered for sale, as 'lately built', four years previously (London Gazette, 26-29 Nov 1694). In 1695 government shells were cast here for William Benge (TNA WO 51/50 f. 130v). In 1699 a 'Jhone Nicole' had a warehouse in London from where 40 firebacks and hearth plates were stolen, possibly products of the furnace (Post Boy 11-16 Nov 1699). Nicoll left the furnace and forge to his son, James, in 1711 (TNA PROB 11/523/518). In 1717 annual output of the furnace was 150 tons and of the forge, 30 tons (Hulme 1929, 22). James Nicoll put the furnace and forge up to let for three years in 1732, apparently unsuccessfully (Hodgkinson 2012, 15, 16), for in 1734 it was re-advertised to let for seven years (The Whitehall Evening Post 26 Jan 1734). The Crowleys leased Darwell, with Ashburnham, in the 1730s and 40s (Suffolk RO HAI/CD/2/3). In 1742 the works, including a clear reference to a forge, were advertised for sale (London Gazette 14-18 Sep 1742). Purchase of the works at that time was contemplated by Josias Wordsworth but not concluded (BL Verelst Papers Ms Eur F218/113/79). Trunnion marks on three cannon jettisoned from HMB Endeavour by Lieutenant James Cook in Australia in 1770 indicate that they were made at Darwell by John Churchill (Sharman, 1971, 30), who also operated the furnace at Robertsbridge (q.v.). By 1787 it was in the hands of Mr Bourne but 'entirely down' (Science Mus Lib MS 371/1). This is likely to be James Bourne who had also leased Robertsbridge furnace and forge in succession to John Churchill. Churchill's projected output in 1757 was appreciably greater than the capacity of one furnace, so Bourne's occupation of Darwell will have been in succession to Churchill's (TNA, WO 47/49 p. 314). Dispatch of guns by Bourne from Hastings in 1774 implies continued production at Darwell (TNA, WO 47/84 22 Nov 1774).
An ordnance mark of 'D' on the right trunnion is associated with this furnace (Brown 1989: 326).
The furnace earlier identified as Darfold or Echingham Furnace (Straker 1931, 297) has now been identified as Pashley [old] Furnace (q.v.)
|
|
Site Description:
|
(Submerged under Darwell Reservoir c. 1950. Information is from notes made before submergence and when exposed by drought 1973).
Bay: L 137m H 5.5m Breached by stream near N end, and by cart track c.25m S of stream. Built of clay, either side filled in with slag. (50m at S end remained above water level in 1981).
Water system: Pond dry before 1950.
Working area: Excavations by J.M. Baines 1949 revealed 'line of masonry with furnace earth and slag' between stream and cart track (notes in Hastings Museum). Also scatter of bricks 114 x 229 x 57mm. Bear and supposed sub-hearth iron plate 1219 x 610 x 127mm removed to Hastings Museum (Schubert 1957:203n.1); Beswick noted 'half circles of bricks 1m diameter at ground level near S end of bay' (BWIRG 7 (1974) , 27).
A pond bay at TQ 7098 2058 was investigated by South Eastern Archaeological Services in 1999 as a possible site of the forge but no conclusive evidence was found. Another possible use might have been a boring mill but again no conclusive evidence was found.
|
|
Scheduled Monument Number:
|
|
HER Reference:
|
MES4116 (ANA) |
|
Bay Height (m.):
|
5.5 |
Bay Length (m.):
|
137 |
|
Classis Britannica tiles:
|
No |
Samian pottery:
|
No |
|
Cylindrical slag plugs:
|
No |
Two-finery forge:
|
No |
|
Excavation?:
|
Yes |
|
|
Excavation Details:
|
Excavations by J.M. Baines 1949 revealed 'line of masonry with furnace earth and slag' between stream and cart track (notes in Hastings Museum). Also scatter of bricks 114 x 229 x 57mm. Bear and supposed sub-hearth iron plate 1219 x 610 x 127mm removed to Hastings Museum (Schubert 1957:203n.1); Beswick noted 'half circles of bricks 1m diameter at ground level near S end of bay' BWIRG 7 (1974) , 27.
|
|
Description of site vegetation:
|
Submerged beneath reservoir
|
|
Slag Heap Area (m. sq) :
|
|
Slag heap grade (Hodgkinson 1999):
|
|
|
Persons Involved in Discovery:
|
|
|
|
|
|
References:
|
Hulme, E. W.. (1929) Statistical History of the Iron Trade of England and Wales, 1717-1750. Transactions of the Newcomen Society. 9. pp. 12-35
(for this site see page(s) 22)
White, W. P.. (1976) Darvel Furnace - A note. Wealden Iron, Bulletin of the Wealden Iron Research Group. First series, 9. pp. 18
Jenkins, R.. (1920) The Rise and Fall of the Sussex Iron Industry Part II. Transactions of the Newcomen Society. 1. 1. pp. 25-33
(for this site see page(s) 32)
Hodgkinson, J. S.. (2020) For 'Darfold' read Pashley. Wealden Iron, Bulletin of the Wealden Iron Research Group. Second series, 40. pp. 42-48
Sharman, R. C.. (1971) Guns from the 'Endeavour'. Queensland Heritage. 2, 5. pp. 23-31
(for this site see page(s) 30)
Schubert, H. R.. (1950) The earliest use of British cast iron in machine construction. Journal of the Iron and Steel Institute. 164. 4. pp. 406
Straker, E. (1931) Wealden Iron. Bell. London
(for this site see page(s) 308-9)
Tebbutt, C. F.. (1980) Recent Field-work. Wealden Iron, Bulletin of the Wealden Iron Research Group. 1st series, 17. pp. 15-19
(for this site see page(s) 9-12)
Cleere, H. F. and Crossley, D. W.. (1995) The iron industry of the Weald. Merton Priory Press. Cardiff
(for this site see page(s) 328, 385)
anon.. (1974) Inventory of Iron Sites visited by WIRG. Bulletin of the Wealden Iron Research Group. 1st series, 7. pp. 10-27
(for this site see page(s) 27)
Baines, J. M.. (1980) Darwell furnace, Mountfield. Wealden Iron, Bulletin of the Wealden Iron Research Group. 1st series, 17. pp. 9-12
Vivian, S. P.. (1953) The manor of Etchingham cum Salehurst. Sussex Record Society vol 53. Lewes
D'Elboux, R. H.. (1944) Surveys of the manors of Robertsbridge, Sussex, and Michelmarsh, Hampshire, and of the demesne lands of Halden in Rolvenden, Kent, 1567-1570. Sussex Record Society vol 47. Lewes
(for this site see page(s) 141-2)
Hodgkinson, J. S.. (2009) The Legas-Remnant Letters. Wealden Iron, Bulletin of the Wealden Iron Research Group. Second series, 29. pp. 14-68
(for this site see page(s) 27)
Awty, B. G.. (1979) Provisional Identification of Ironworkers among French Immigrants Listed in the Denization Rolls of 1541 and 1544. Wealden Iron, Bulletin of the Wealden Iron Research Group. First series, 16. pp. 2-11
Jack, S. M.. (1981) Sources for the History of the Iron Industry in the PRO, Pt 2. Wealden Iron, Bulletin of the Wealden Iron Research Group. Second series, 1. pp. 7-11
(for this site see page(s) 8)
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) 28)
Hodgkinson, J. S.. (2012) Notices of Wealden ironworks in early English newspapers. Wealden Iron, Bulletin of the Wealden Iron Research Group. 32. pp. 11-27
(for this site see page(s) 15, 16)
Brown, R. R.. (1989) Identifying 18th-century trunnion marks on British iron guns - a discussion. International Journal of Nautical Archaeology. 18. 4. pp. 321-9
(for this site see page(s) 326)
Dunkin, E. H. W.. (1915) Sussex Manors, Advowsons etc. vol. 2 M-Z. Sussex Record Society Vol. 20. Lewes
(for this site see page(s) 313)
|
|
Persons with known connections to this site:
|
Bartyn, Nicholas - working here or at Etchingham forge in 1544
Benge, William - cast shot or shells in 1695
Blackett, Richard - founder in 1665-6
Bourne, James - Lessee/ironmaster 1768-74
Carbonett, John - working here or at Etchingham forge in 1544
Churchill, John - Lessee/ironmaster c.1755-1767?
Churchill, John - Lessee/ironmaster 1761-8
Crowley, Ambrose - Lessee/ironmaster c.1739-54
Dale, Thomas - ?forgeman in 1721
Dewprown, Thomas - working here or at Etchingham forge in 1544
English, Henry - Owner 1649-1693
English, Henry - Trustee/Owner 1693-8
English, Henry - Owner 1622-1649
Glidd, Thomas - Lessee 1568-aft 1588
Jarret, Thomas - founder in 1662
Margoo, John - working here or at Etchingham forge in 1544
Nicoll, James - Owner 1711-1731
Nicoll, John - Owner 1731-c.1765
Nicoll, John - Owner 1698-1711
Oxenbridge, Elizabeth - Owner in 1540
Oxenbridge, Thomas - Owner bef 1539-40
Poleyn, Charles - forge man in 1544
Tyrwhitt, Robert - Owner 1540-81
Tyrwhitt, Robert - Owner 1591-1620
Tyrwhitt, William - Owner 1581-91
Walsh, Joan - Co-lessee 1539-c.1545
Walsh, Thomas - Lessee/ironmaster ?-1540
|
Documents:
(click to download)
|
|
Images:
(click on a thumbnail to view)
|
|
|
