The Medieval Iron Industry of the Weald

Abstract

The Weald of Kent, Sussex and Surrey has long been recognised in the literature as a centre of iron production, an industry that spanned from the late Iron Age to the early 19th century. During the period of Roman occupation, evidence suggests iron was produced at some localities on an industrial scale. However, the limited archaeological evidence for its existence in the Anglo-Saxon period and its relative absence from the Domesday Book, save a single reference to a ‘una ferraria’ near East Grinstead, suggests that by the 11th century iron-production in the Weald only operated on a small scale. By the 14th century however, evidence of iron production is more apparent in the archaeological and documentary record. It is at this time that a unique collection of records, of the Tudeley Ironworks at the manor of Southfrith, Kent were created. These accounts offer a rare insight into the annual outputs of a Wealden ironworks, along with details on the site’s construction, its equipment and the identity of ironworkers and woodland workers, involved in supplying the necessary raw materials and managing the furnace. At a time when plague and population loss had led to considerable uncertainty across England, Tudeley Ironworks along with its wood colliers and ore diggers, found itself in the middle of significant social changes. While documentary evidence is scarce for the iron industry, several important accounts imply that iron was more than just a local commodity by the 14th century, but one whose trade was connected to nobility, Royalty, and the Church. Commodities such as nails, arrows, iron bars and horseshoes were transported across England and used to repair Royal houses, castles and equip Edward III’s war horses, during the Scottish wars in 1327. Sites operating on a larger scale to fulfil these orders are indicated in the documentary record, which include Roffey where, in 1327, 1000 horseshoes were made. Eleven years later 6000 arrows were sent from near Horsham to the Tower of London. At times trade was controversial and in 1300 London ironmongers complained that Wealden ironworkers were selling iron strakes for cartwheels at shorter than the normal lengths. How do these historical accounts relate to the archaeological evidence? and what was the nature of Wealden iron-production sites during this period? Excavations at Crawley have suggested it may have formed a centre of production during the medieval period, while the 1327 and 1338 references to horseshoes and arrows suggest other larger-scale production sites were also in existence. Other questions are raised over the working and spatial relationship between smelting and smithing at this time – were they separated, or did they form collaborative groups? This thesis uses an archaeo-historical approach to identify and define centres of iron production within the Weald. Two case study sites were investigated which included Tudeley Ironworks and Roffey, both of which were recorded in documentary accounts and offered the opportunity to carry out archaeological field surveys. Site morphology and technology was investigated in both cases, using a range of methods including landscape reconnaissance survey, geophysics, fieldwalking and macromorphology. Along with site specific analysis, the wider economic landscape of both sites was investigated to identify related woodland industries that provided the necessary raw materials for these sites to operate.