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Site Name:
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Thorp's Wood |
OS Reference:
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TQ 7839 2016
Click here to view on Where's The Path |
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Parish:
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Sedlescombe |
Former Parish:
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Hundred:
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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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Bloomery |
Period:
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Iron Age |
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Century:
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01 |
Geology:
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Ashdown Beds |
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Geology notes:
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Adjacent to a small downfaulted pocket of Wadhurst Clay
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Earliest known date:
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Latest known date:
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Dating evidence:
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Three sherds of East Sussex Ware, dating to the 1st or early-2nd century AD
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Site Description:
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This site is at the confluence of a small stream flowing from the north and a larger stream flowing east to Powdermill reservoir. A slag heap, perhaps 700 mm deep, is eroding into the smaller stream. The slag is in large lumps. There is an abundance of large lumps of slag downstream for several hundred metres. There is also slag upstream to the west, in the larger stream, suggesting the possible presence of further bloomeries. The opposite bank of the larger stream has extensive charcoal burning areas and areas of red soil with strong magnetic response. At TQ 7832 2034 (+/- 100 metres from the verified slag heap) a large block of material, provisionally identified as furnace wall, was recovered from the stream bed. No slag was found in the stream above this point.
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Scheduled Monument Number:
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HER Reference:
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MES33957 |
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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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Excavation by Chris Butler Archaeological Services Ltd., in April/May 2013, revealed the bases of two bloomery furnaces, each measuring about 1.1m across. Very little tap slag was noted, the majority of slag appearing to have flowed within the furnaces.
For details see Butler et al. 2014.
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Description of site vegetation:
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Predominantly hornbeam coppice. Also ash, oak, chestnut and birch. Little undergrowth.
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Slag Heap Area (m. sq) :
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30 |
Slag heap grade (Hodgkinson 1999):
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1 |
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Persons Involved in Discovery:
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J Prus
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References:
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Butler, C., Russell, C., Bradshaw, A. and Blandford, V.. (2014) An Archaeological Research and Community Project at Brede High Woods East Sussex. Chris Butler Archaeological Services, unpublished report CBAS0244. Selmeston
(for this site see page(s) 15-29 & Appendix 1)
Butler, C. and Russell, C.. (2021) A Romano-British ironworking site at Thorp's Wood, Sedlescombe, East Sussex. Wealden Iron, Bulletin of the Wealden Iron Research Group. Second series, 41. pp. 23-31
Hodgkinson, J. S.. (2008) Field Notes. Wealden Iron, Bulletin of the Wealden Iron Research Group. 2nd series, 28. pp. 3-8
(for this site see page(s) 7)
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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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