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Site Name:
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Iridge Furnace |
OS Reference:
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TQ 7490 2770
Click here to view on Where's The Path |
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Parish:
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Hurst Green |
Former Parish:
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Hundred:
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Henhurst |
District:
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Rother |
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County:
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East Sussex |
River Basin:
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Rother |
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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, 17 |
Geology:
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Ashdown Beds |
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Geology notes:
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Earliest known date:
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1584 |
Latest known date:
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1613 |
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Dating evidence:
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This furnace was projected in 1575 (Vivian 1953:115) when Thomas Walsh sold to John Wilgose a strip of land in Bexhurst, which Wilgose intended to use for water supply for his proposed furnace, and in a Star Chamber case concerning the misdemeanours of his workmen, John Wildgose stated that he built his furnace about Whitsuntide 1584 (TNA STAC 5/W2/1). The furnace and a water-course are referred to in 1607 (TNA C142/292/162). In 1613 (not 1654 as stated elsewhere) a furnace in Salehurst was included in a settlement made by Sir John Wildgose on the marriage of his son Annesley (ESRO DUN 48/3), although the estate passed to Sir Annesley's son, Robert, Sir Annesley predeceasing his father. A map of the Iridge Estate dated 1637 shows the site of the furnace and the extensive system of ponds feeding it, but does not confirm that it was working at that time (ESRO ACC 6732/2). In a deed of 1654 (ESRO AMS521) relating to the division of the estate among the descendants of Richard Wildgose and its acquisition by John Busbridge and William White, reference is made to the furnace but the phraseology suggests it is copied from an earlier deed and cannot be taken as an indication that the furnace was still working. It does not appear in the lists of 1653, 1664 or 1717, although Straker found it marked on eighteenth-century maps.
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Site Description:
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Bay:
L 80m H 2.25m/3.25m Breached by stream at N end where it curves to W. Near S end at right-angled projection served as a loading platform and protected the working area from flooding by the spillway stream.
Water system:
Pond dry. S of loading platform shallow gap in bay opposite dry ditch indicates spillway.
Working area:
Furnace site located by burnt clay and bricks protruding from base of N side of loading platform. Much glassy slag.
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Scheduled Monument Number:
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HER Reference:
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MES3968 (ANA) |
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Bay Height (m.):
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3.25 |
Bay Length (m.):
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80 |
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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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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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Straker, E. (1931) Wealden Iron. Bell. London
(for this site see page(s) 320)
Cleere, H. F. and Crossley, D. W.. (1995) The iron industry of the Weald. Merton Priory Press. Cardiff
(for this site see page(s) 339)
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) 14-15)
Vivian, S. P.. (1953) The manor of Etchingham cum Salehurst. Sussex Record Society vol 53. Lewes
(for this site see page(s) 115)
Hodgkinson, J. S. & Houghton, R. G.. (2000) Iridge Furnace, Hurst Green. Wealden Iron, Bulletin of the Wealden Iron Research Group. 2nd series, 20. pp. 32-39
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Persons with known connections to this site:
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Busbridge, John - Co-owner 1654-?
Chatterton, Thomas - founder in 1586
Gutson, Robert - filler in 1586
Millward, Thomas - founder in 1584
White, William - Co-owner 1654-?
Wildgose, John - Owner/ironmaster 1584-1606
Wildgose, John - Owner/ironmaster 1606-36
Wildgose, Robert - Owner/ironmaster 1636-?
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Documents:
(click to download)
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Images:
(click on a thumbnail to view)
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