Bibliography - Jeremy S. Hodgkinson
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The Carrier's Account of Robert Knight: Part 2 - The Accounts, by J. Hodgkinson, published 1978 in Wealden Iron Research Group (First Series No. 14, article, pp.11-24) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506558]   Download PDF

Since writing the Introduction to the Accounts several facts have come to light concerning the history of Warren Furnace. The central figure in all records dealing with the furnace is that of Edward Raby, about whom other records are elusive. He does seem to have lived at Raby's Farm, Newchapel, Surrey (TQ 367 425), though the connection is only nominal. The farm is about a quarter of a mile from Woodcock Forge.

The Carrier's Account of Robert Knight: Part 1 - Introduction, by J. Hodgkinson, published 1978 in Wealden Iron Research Group (First Series No. 13, article, pp.24-25) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506558]   Download PDF

In Sussex Archaeological Collections 46 (1903), there was published an abridged transcript of these accounts. Their editor, W. Powell Breach, made his selection to illustrate one of the more routine aspects of the iron trade. Straker made use of these accounts as did W. H. Hills in his History of East Grinstead, and it is to the former that we owe most for their interpretation.

The Weale Manuscripts, by Jeremy Hodgkinson, published 1979 in Wealden Iron Research Group (First Series No. 16, article, pp.11-14) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506558]   Download PDF

These manuscripts, entitled 'Prospectus of an intended work, in one Volume Quarto to be entitled An Historical Account of the Iron and Steel Manufactures and Trade' (etc.), are in two volumes in the Science Museum Library. They were the work of James Weale, junior, Private Secretary to the Rt. Hon. Lord Sheffield, and consist of a collection of accounts of the state of the iron trade at the beginning of the nineteenth century, together with letters from manufacturers and economists, and many statistics concerning not only the industry in the British Isles but also overseas.

An Example of Wealden Ordnance, by Jeremy Hodgkinson, published 1980 in Wealden Iron Research Group (First Series No. 17, article, pp.6-7) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506558]   Download PDF

Some Extracts from the Sussex Weekly Advertiser, 1772-5, by Jeremy Hodgkinson, published 1981 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 1, article, pp.14-16) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506559]   Download PDF

The Sussex Weekly Advertiser - Some Extracts, by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 1982 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 2, article, pp.30-36) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506559]   Download PDF

West End Furnace, Chiddingfold, Surrey, by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 1984 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 4, article, pp.6-7, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506559]   Download PDF

In December 1982, the reconstruction of the road bridge 10m downstream from the bay of this furnace (SU 939344) exposed a section through the road on the south side of the stream. In the section below the modern road surface, about 3.5m above the stream, was a layer of clay and, below that, a layer of iron slag, indicating an earlier road surface.

Birchenbridge Forge - a new site identified, by T. E. Evans and J. S. Hodgkinson, published 1984 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 4, article, pp.7-10, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506559]   Download PDF

The first documentary reference to this site is in a survey of the timber and woods belonging to Sir John Caryll in 1598. It was part of the manors of Chesworth and Sedgwick which belonged, like the Forest of St. Leonard, to the Dukes of Norfolk and were confiscated, then restored, and then confiscated again, during their chequered careers under the Tudors. The Carylls, who were extensive proprietors of ironworks, having no less than six furnaces and four forges in the early seventeenth century, leased the manors of Chesworth and Sedgwick from the Crown, in succession to Sir Thomas Fynes, following the attainder of the Duke of Norfolk in 1572. The forge is not mentioned in the 1574 lists of ironworks and probably dates from the period between 1574 and 1598, during which time Edward Caryll and then his nephew, Sir John Caryll, acquired or took control of the forges and furnaces in St. Leonard's Forest, and at Gosden, Burningfold and Pallingham.

A Romano-British Ironworking Site at Crawley Down, Worth, Sussex, by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 1985 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 5, article, pp.9-20, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506559]   Download PDF

The site was discovered in 1980 during an investigation of the land along the Felbridge Water, upstream from the site of Warren Furnace, in an area known in the Middle Ages as Smythford and later as Smithfield. Evidence of ironworking was noted at three locations: (A) TQ 3586 3898, (B) TQ 3584 3899 and (C) TQ 3602 3905, and, the excavation of the first two is the subject of this report. It should be noted that some 150m to the east there is a moated site, adjacent to a field once known as Bottle Field or Botley's. Here there is some surface evidence of habitation in the form of house platforms and hollow-ways, and the Roman road from London to Brighton (Margary 150) passes through the field to cross the stream near the moat.
The sites are in young woodland, on the gently sloping side of a small valley, just above a steep drop of 2-3m down to the stream. The geology of the area is Upper Tunbridge Wells Sand. On the north side of the valley a band of clay outcrops, and it has been suggested that this may have been the source of ore, as the same band outcrops beside the later Warren Furnace downstream, and may have been an ore source for that site.
The site has been given the name Smythford.

Field Notes, compiled by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 1986 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 6, report, pp.3-6, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506559]   Download PDF

Standford Furnace, Bramshott, Hampshire: A Case of Mistaken Identity, by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 1986 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 6, article, pp.42-44, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506559]   Download PDF

Rowfant Supra Forge, by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 1986 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 6, article, pp.49-52, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506559]   Download PDF

Straker (1931, 467) and Cleere and Crossley (1985, 353-4) have suggested that the location of this enigmatic site may be downstream from the pond (TQ 319372) north of Horse pasture Wood. Both refer to small, inconclusive finds of slag in the immediate vicinity. This location can now be confirmed on the evidence of a manuscript map of the Rowfant Estate, dated 1692, at present in private hands.

Field Notes, compiled by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 1987 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 7, report, p.2, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506560]   Download PDF

Footlands Ironworking Site, Sedlescombe, by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 1987 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 7, article, pp.25-32, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506560]   Download PDF

This site has attracted considerable attention since it was discovered in 1924 (Straker 1931, 327-8). Despite the interest which has been shown by groups and individuals, of which there is ample evidence in the small, filled-in excavations to be seen in the field to the south of Kemp's Wood, a lamentably small proportion has been recorded. The Field Group first visited the site in 1975 (Crossley, 1976) and on two occasions in 1985.

Iron Ore Extraction - An Eighteenth Century Example, by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 1987 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 7, article, pp.35-37, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506560]   Download PDF

Two Roman Shoe fragments from Sedlescombe, by Jeremy S. Hodgkinson, published 1988 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 126, archaeological note, pp.231-233) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 10371] & The Keep [LIB/500303] & S.A.S. library

The Evolution of Warlege, by Jeremy S. Hodgkinson and Michael J. Leppard, published 1988 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 126, historical note, p.248) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 10371] & The Keep [LIB/500303] & S.A.S. library

Field Notes, compiled by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 1988 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 8, article, pp.2-11, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506560]   Download PDF

Prizefights at Crawley Down, by Jeremy Hodgkinson, published May 1988 in West Sussex History, the Journal of West Sussex Archives Society (no. 40, article, p.13) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16404/40] & The Keep [LIB/500482]

Field Notes, compiled by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 1989 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 9, report, pp.2-8, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506560]   Download PDF

St. Leonards Lower Forge and Furnace Site Survey 1988, by R. G. Houghton and J. S. Hodgkinson, published 1989 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 9, article, pp.12-17, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506560]   Download PDF

The WIRG Field Group made a number of visits to this site. Based on their discussions during and after their visits, this account supplements and re-examines the information given in the gazetteer of The Iron Industry of the Weald. The site is a complex one and any interpretation must be tentative for the dual use cannot be explained as readily as at Langles.

William Clutton - Ironmaster, by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 1989 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 9, article, pp.27-32, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506560]   Download PDF

The brief re-vitalisation of the Wealden iron industry, brought about by the Seven Years' War (1756-63), caused an upsurge in the fortunes of established ironmasters, such as the Fullers and the Harrisons. It also brought to the fore a small number of entrepreneurs whose involvement in the Weald was much shorter. Among these can be numbered Edward Raby, John Churchill and James Bourne. Perhaps the briefest career was that of William Clutton.

Field Notes, compiled by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 1990 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 10, report, pp.2-3, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506560]   Download PDF

Heathfield Furnace Site Survey 1989, by R. G. Houghton and J. S. Hodgkinson, published 1990 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 10, article, pp.3-6, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506560]   Download PDF

The WIRG Field Group visited the site (TQ 600186) on three occasions. Heathfield was one of the most important sites in the Weald in the eighteenth century but it has suffered considerable depredation and Cleere and Crossley's description (1985: p.335) requires little amendment

Field Notes, compiled by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 1991 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 11, report, pp.2-7, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506560]   Download PDF

Cuckfield Furnace Site Survey 1989, by J. Berners-Price, R. G. Houghton and J. S. Hodgkinson, published 1991 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 11, article, pp.7-9, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506560]   Download PDF

Due to the undergrowth on the site, distances and directions are deceptive, and for this reason some slight revision of the conclusions in Cleere & Crossley is necessary. The site is, in many ways, typical of Wealden furnace sites, with the probable position of the furnace dictated by the access for wagons, and evidence of water management in the arrangement of water courses.

Two Wealden Wrought Iron Hammers, by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 1991 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 11, article, pp.9-11, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506560]   Download PDF

Two iron hammer heads bearing common features have been found at locations in the Weald: in The Hawth, a stretch of woodland in the centre of Crawley and at Bartley Mill Farm, Wadhurst. The one from Crawley was discovered by Mr D. Langridge in the roots of a tree in the side of one of the minepits in which The Hawth abounds. The minepits are believed to have been associated with Tilgate Furnace, which operated in the late-16th and 17th centuries. Details of the recovery of the example from Wadhurst are not known.

Field Notes, compiled by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 1992 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 12, report, pp.2-13, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506560]   Download PDF

Wealden Cannon on a Dutch East Indiaman, by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 1992 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 12, article, pp.13-16, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506560]   Download PDF

Seven iron guns of English manufacture have been recovered from the wreck of the Mauritius, a Dutch East Indiaman, off Gabon in West Africa. They were excavated by a team led by M.L Hour and L. Long, sponsored by the Elf-Gabon Petroleum Company.

Warren Furnace, Worth, Sussex, by J. S. Hodgkinson and R. G. Houghton, published 1992 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 12, article, pp.16-23, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506560]   Download PDF

This survey was carried out in 1979 and particular thanks are owed to Tony Weaver and Ken Housman for their advice and assistance, and to Mr. Peter Curties, the owner, for permission to examine the site over a long period. When the survey was undertaken the site lay in woodland consisting of a few mature oaks and wild cherries amid a low undergrowth of ash saplings. Since the storm of 1987 the site has become virtually impenetrable.

Field Notes, compiled by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 1993 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 13, report, pp.2-3, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506560]   Download PDF

Notes on Kent Furnaces, by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 1993 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 13, note, pp.8-10, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506560]   Download PDF

Field Notes, compiled by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 1994 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 14, report, pp.2-3, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506561]   Download PDF

The possible use of coke for smelting iron in the Weald, by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 1994 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 14, article, pp.13-16, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506561]   Download PDF

In a recent article, Philip Riden has discussed a list of coke iron furnaces which apparently ceased working before 1788. The list is part of a document in which are named forges and their output in 1749, charcoal furnaces closed between 1750 and 1787 (to which the list of defunct coke furnaces is appended), and the output, by county, of coke furnaces at work in 1791. At the end of the list of thirteen defunct coke furnaces is a site, or sites, which the author was unable to locate: Fordley North Park. The site is not mentioned in the similar lists of ironworks in the Weale Manuscripts.

Contemporary illustrations of Wealden furnaces, by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 1994 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 14, article, pp.20-27, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506561]   Download PDF

Further additions to the catalogue of early Wealden iron gravestones, by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 1994 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 14, article, p.28, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506561]   Download PDF

Millplace and Gravetye furnaces, by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 1994 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 14, article, pp.29-31, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506561]   Download PDF

Depositions in a case laid before the Court of Chancery, in the matter of Katherine Infield v. Henry Faulconer, over his alleged improper occupation of the Gravetye estate, in West Hoathly, show that Mill Place Furnace was active between 1624 and 1638, and probably in the immediately preceding period. The depositions of a number of persons who had known, or who had had business dealings with Mrs Infield or Mr Faulconer, were taken at East Grinstead in January and October 1638.

Field Notes, compiled by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 1995 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 15, report, pp.2-4, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506562]   Download PDF

Notes on Early 18th-century Memoranda on the making of iron, by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 1995 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 15, article, pp.9-17, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506562]   Download PDF

The expenditure accounts for Beech and Robertsbridge Furnaces and Robertsbridge Forge, between 1726 and 1735, have received little attention. They are worthy of interest, however, for a series of memoranda preceding the accounts, which add to our knowledge of the detail of charcoal ironmaking in the Weald and elsewhere. There are several published descriptions of aspects of the practice of iron making, the most familiar examples from the Weald being those of John Ray and John Fuller; the latter a most comprehensive description. The memoranda transcribed below (in italics) do not provide a full description of either the smelting or forging process. Rather they supplement the better known accounts. The memoranda appear to constitute a series of notes, perhaps made by the clerk of the ironworks for his successor, for the guidance of someone either new to the iron business, or to the Weald, or both.

Iron industry of the Weald, by Henry Cleere, D. W. Crossley and edited by Jeremy Hodgkinson, published 7 April 1995 (revised edition, 424 pp., Merton Priory Press Ltd., ISBN-10: 1898937044 & ISBN-13: 9781898937043) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 12860] & The Keep [LIB/502218] & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries   Download PDF

The Weald of Kent, Surrey and Sussex form the site of the major concentration of ironmaking in Britain during two distinct periods of the island's history; during the Roman occupation of AD43-400 and in the 16th and 17th centuries. This book surveys the evidence derived from excavation, fieldwork, documentary studies and experimental archæology carried out by the Wealden Iron Research Group. It includes chapters on geology and topography of the region, the iron industry during the successive periods of operation, and the technology of the direct and indirect ironmaking processes, together with a detailed gazetteer of sites.

The Decline of the Ordnance Trade in the Weald: the Seven Years War and its Aftermath, by Jeremy S. Hodgkinson, published 1996 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 134, article, pp.155-168) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 13390] & The Keep [LIB/500296] & S.A.S. library

Field Notes, compiled by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 1996 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 16, report, pp.2-6, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506563]   Download PDF

Fourteenth century ironworks in Wartling Manor, by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 1996 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 16, article, pp.7-9, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506563]   Download PDF

The following extract from the court roll of the Manor of Wartling in 1310 can be added to the small number of documentary references to ironmaking in the Weald in the medieval period.

A Wealden steel-making patent, by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 1996 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 16, article, pp.9-12, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506563]   Download PDF

References to steel making in the Weald are rare; steel forges are known at Pippingford and at Warbleton, and German steel workers were engaged by Sir Henry Sidney at Robertsbridge, and at an unidentified site at Boxhurst, in the 1560s. A hitherto unrecognised contribution to the search for a method of steel making is to be found in the patent granted to James Goodyer in 1771. Goodyer was a Guildford ironmonger, and in 1771 was the occupier of Abinger Hammer, near Dorking. In 1774 he took the leases of North Park Furnace, near Fernhurst, and Pophole Hammer, near Haslemere. He was declared bankrupt in 1777.

Field Notes, compiled by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 1997 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 17, report, pp.2-8, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506564]   Download PDF

Ebernoe Furnace - site survey 1996, by J. S. Hodgkinson and R. G. Houghton, published 1997 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 17, article, pp.9-12, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506564]   Download PDF

The site of the iron works at Ebernoe (SU 977278) was located, in common with many other such works, at the point where a valley narrowed, enabling the construction of a bay, or dam, by which a pond could be impounded. The original stream seems to have followed a course on the south side of the valley, where the remains of a natural ghyll can still be seen. The southern valley sides are steep in comparison with those on the north side, and it is for this reason that access to the site would have been more likely on the north side. A deeply worn track is still in evidence, and following a route, at a gradient manageable by wagons, up past the site of a former cottage. Known as Furnace Croft, the building, which is shown on a 1764 map of the manor of Ebernoe, survived until the 1920s.

Forges in the late eighteenth century Weald, by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 1997 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 17, article, pp.13-23, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506564]   Download PDF

From the second half of the seventeenth century the output of the Wealden iron industry had changed from being concentrated on the production of bar iron, through the close integration of furnaces and forges, to a specialisation in the manufacture of castings and, in particular, ordnance. This trend, which is reflected in the changing proportion of forges to furnaces, is demonstrated in the succession of lists which appeared during the hundred years from 1650. In them the reduction in output of the forges is very evident, and the petitions and pamphlets which often accompanied such lists point to the increasing dominance of Swedish iron in the eastern half of England, the market earlier served, in part, by the Wealden forges. Not only was the iron, that was imported from the Baltic, of a higher grade than the Wealden product but, despite export and import taxes and a long sea journey, was cheaper as well. The Crowleys, themselves manufacturers of ordnance in the Weald, were the largest importers of Swedish iron, at their extensive works on Tyneside. Thus the Wealden forges were deprived of a wider market by cheaper, imported iron, and reduced to working up the limited surplus iron from furnaces, the production of which was geared to casting guns.

Field Notes, compiled by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 1998 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 18, report, pp.2-7, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506565]   Download PDF

The Tudeley ironworks accounts, by J. S. Hodgkinson and C. H. C. Whittick, published 1998 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 18, article, p.7, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506565]   Download PDF

Attention was first drawn to the accounts of the ironworks at Tudeley, near Tonbridge, in a paper by Michael Giuseppi. The ironworks were part of the 'chace' or manor of Southfrith, which belonged to Elizabeth de Burgh, the founder of Clare College, Cambridge, and grand-daughter of Edward I, and the accounts form part of a larger collection of papers, now in the Public Record Office, relating to the manor. The detailed records of the ironworks survive for two periods - from 1329 to 1334 and from 1350 to 1354 - when they were worked in hand by the manor. Between 1334 and 1350, and from 1354 to 1375, they were leased, and the manor accounts in those periods only record an annual rental payment.

Brass' casting at a Kent furnace, by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 1998 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 18, article, pp.48-51, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506565]   Download PDF

Evidence that brass (i.e. bronze) cannon were being cast at a Kent iron furnace in the mid-18th century has survived in the form of a copy of an unprovenanced letter. The letter was one of a collection of copies and originals that were found in a flooded kitchen, in 1995, by Mr Christopher Taylor, of Bourton-on-the-Hill, Gloucestershire. Unfortunately the originals were ruined, and it was not possible to discover the source of the letters. In spite of the obvious questions that surround its provenance, the information contained within the letter is of sufficient interest to make it worth publishing. The letter is from a mother to her son, who was undertaking a tour of the continent.

Romano-British iron production in the Sussex and Kent Weald: a review of current data, by Jeremy Hodgkinson, published 1999 (academia.edu)   Download PDF

A succession of studies over the past sixty years has shown that iron making was well-developed in the Weald in the Romano-British period. Distribution maps showing the extent of the industry in the region have not, hitherto, attempted to indicate a measure of output for individual sites. This revision of data provides such an opportunity.

Field Notes, compiled by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 1999 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 19, report, p.2, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506566]   Download PDF

Frith Furnace, Northchapel - Site Survey 1999, by R. G. Houghton and J. S. Hodgkinson, published 1999 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 19, article, pp.30-33, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506566]   Download PDF

This site was first surveyed for the Wealden Iron Research Group by Peter Ovenden in 1972, although the estimated length of the bay was later revised. As part of a continuing programme to make measured survey drawings of water-powered furnaces and forges, the site was resurveyed in January and February 1999. Frith is an extensive site with large quantities of blast furnace slag confirming a working life in excess of a hundred years. The streams which fed the pond for the furnace, rise in springs at the foot of Blackdown, less than a mile to the west of the site, and downstream provided power for three other ironworks: Shillinglee Furnace, Mitchell Park Forge and Wassell Forge.

Swedenborg's Description of English Iron-making, by Jeremy Hodgkinson and Anne Dalton, published 1999 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 19, article, pp.47-63, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506566]   Download PDF

In Wealden Iron, Ernest Straker made use of an illustration of the Gloucester Furnace, Lamberhurst, from an 18th century treatise on iron entitled De Ferro, written by Emanuel Swedenborg, which had been published in 1734. In the original treatise the illustration accompanied a chapter on iron-making in England which included a description of the furnace, as well as of Wealden gun production, and blast furnaces and forges in general. No complete translation of the treatise into English is known to the editors.

Warren Furnace, by Jeremy Hodgkinson, published 2000 (Felbridge & District History Group) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries

Field Notes, compiled by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 2000 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 20, report, pp.2-11, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506567]   Download PDF

A gazetteer of medieval iron-making sites in the Weald, by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 2000 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 20, article, pp.23-31, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506567]   Download PDF

In The Iron Industry of the Weald, Cleere and Crossley provided gazetteers of Roman sites and water-powered sites. Medieval sites were identified only in the checklist of bloomeries, and no other details were given. The list below provides a gazetteer of such sites in the same format.

Iridge Furnace, Hurst Green, by J. S. Hodgkinson and R. G. Houghton, published 2000 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 20, article, pp.32-39, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506567]   Download PDF

The Field Group first visited this site in May 1971, and revisited it in 1975 and 1997. The incentive for the present survey has been the acquisition, by East Sussex Record Office, of a fine map, by Ambrose Cogger, of the Iridge Estate, dated 1637. In that year, the estate was inherited by Robert Wildgoose, from his grandfather, Sir John Wildgoose. The furnace, however, had been built in 1584 by Robert's great-grandfather, John. Of particular interest with regard to the iron industry, the map illustrates an elaborate water management system for the furnace, which invites comparison with the water systems of other furnaces in the Weald. It also draws attention to the importance of recording the features of the landscape in which ironworks are located.

Field Notes, compiled by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 2001 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 21, report, pp.2-8, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506568]   Download PDF

The Sussex Weekly Advertiser - Extracts, by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 2001 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 21, article, pp.27-30, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506568]   Download PDF

Charcoal Burning and the Febridge Area, by Jeremy Hodgkinson, published 2002 (Felbridge & District History Group) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries

Field Notes, compiled by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 2002 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 22, report, pp.2-5, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506569]   Download PDF

More additions to the catalogue of early Wealden graveslabs, by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 2002 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 22, article, pp.22-23, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506569]   Download PDF

Factors of production in mid-18th century Wealden Iron smelting, by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 2002 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 22, article, pp.36-56, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506569]   Download PDF

Studies of the factors which controlled production at ironworks in the Weald have largely focused on data from a small number of sets of accounts. In the sixteenth century, the Sidney and Hogge accounts have provided the opportunity for detailed case studies, while the Fuller papers in the eighteenth century offer a wealth of detail. Other source material, notably the Pelham accounts and the papers relating to the Harrison-Legas partnership, remains to be fully exploited. In addition to these major sources, however, and although much incidental detail can be derived from legal documents and letters, it is the archives of the Board of Ordnance to which we should turn for much more than accounts of the purchase of guns.

Field Notes, compiled by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 2003 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 23, report, pp.2-6, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506570]   Download PDF

Field Notes, compiled by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 2004 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 24, report, pp.2-5, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506571]   Download PDF

Ironworks in late-16th century Kent, by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 2004 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 24, article, pp.6-16, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506571]   Download PDF

In an oft-quoted paper, published in 1981, Charles Cattell drew attention to the lists of ironworks in Kent drawn up in and after 1588, of which the corresponding lists for Sussex and Surrey seem not to have survived. The lists provide considerably more information than those of 1574, upon which they were initially based, but Cattell transcribed relatively little detail and, being deposited in the Staffordshire archives in Stafford, and at some distance from the Weald, the lists are reproduced here in full.
In addition to the basic facts about the owners and occupiers of ironworks, the lists include a certain amount of incidental detail about the individuals named, their employees, the output of their furnaces, numbers of guns cast at certain furnaces, and the names of merchants on Tower Hill, in London, with whom they dealt or, in one instance, were contracted to. The names of the merchants correspond closely with those named in surviving bonds of the same period, obliging merchants to dispose of ordnance according to Privy Council orders.

Field Notes, compiled by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 2005 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 25, report, pp.2-9, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506572]   Download PDF

• A bloomery in Peasmarsh, East Sussex
• Romano-British site at North Chailey, East Sussex
• Ashburnham Forge, East Sussex
• In search of Bournemill furnace, Kent
• In search of Iping furnace, West Sussex
• Two bloomery sites in Maresfield, East Sussex
• Bloomery slag in Mayfield, East Sussex

Bungehurst Furnace, Heathfield, by R. G. Houghton and J. S. Hodgkinson, published 2005 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 25, article, pp.19-21, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506572]   Download PDF

There is considerable confusion in published sources as to the location of what is known as Bungehurst Furnace. Straker, using latitude and longitude, located it at about TQ 6013 2359, while in Cleere and Crossley it is recorded at TQ 600239.1 While the navigational reference given by Straker appears to be incorrect, his description matches the site which is the subject of this survey. The description given by Cleere and Crossley, which was drawn from notes made following a visit by the Field Group in October 1973, appears to be of another site, all evidence of which seems to have been removed or covered over, for when the site was revisited in December 2002 nothing of it could be found. It would seem that there had been two blast furnace sites on the stream that joins the Rother at Scotsford Bridge.
The site of Bungehurst Furnace lies near the northern edge of Newick Wood, at TQ 5992 2357, on a north-flowing tributary of the River Rother.

Archaeological investigations at the junction of High Street and Kilnmead, Crawley, West Sussex , by Simon Stevens, Luke Barber and Jeremy Hodgkinson, published 2006 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 144, short article, pp.203-207) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 15759] & The Keep [LIB/500362] & S.A.S. library   View Online

Field Notes, compiled by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 2006 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 26, report, pp.2-5, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506573]   Download PDF

Field Notes, compiled by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 2007 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 27, report, pp.2-5, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506574]   Download PDF

A Godly Chimney Plate and other Firebacks from Brede, by Jeremy Hodgkinson, published 2007 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 27, article, pp.18-26, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506574]   Download PDF

If the spirituality of a people were to have been measured by the designs they cast on their firebacks, the English, or at least those who lived and worked in the Weald, would have been regarded as a godless lot in the sixteenth and early-seventeenth centuries. Before the influx of religious and classical fireback designs from the Low Countries, probably after the Restoration in 1660, English firebacks with religious subjects are rare.

Field Notes, compiled by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 2008 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 28, report, pp.2-8, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506575]   Download PDF

Three Examples of Blast Furnace Dross, by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 2008 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 28, article, pp.16-20, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506575]   Download PDF

Two Additions to the Catalogue of Early Cast-Iron Graveslabs, by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 2008 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 28, article, pp.21-22, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506575]   Download PDF

Wealden Iron Industry, by Jeremy Hodgkinson, published 14 July 2008 (160 pp., The History Press, ISBN-10: 0752445731 & ISBN-13: 9780752445731) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/502191] & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries

For two periods of British history - the first part of the Roman occupation and the Tudor and early Stuart periods - the Weald of south-east England was the most productive iron-producing region in the country. Looking across the tranquil Wealden countryside, it is hard to identify anything that hints at its industrial past. Yet 400 years ago, nearly 100 furnaces and forges roared and hammered there, the smoke from charcoal-making curling up from the surrounding woods and the roads bustling with wagons laden with ore and iron sows. Many British naval campaigns, including the Spanish Armada, the wars against the Dutch and The Seven Years' War, relied on Wealden iron cannon; the pressures of conflict driving forward the development of iron-producing technology. For a time the economy of the whole area was dominated by the production of iron and its raw materials, providing employment, generating prosperity and shaping the landscape irrevocably. Drawing on a wealth of local evidence, this book explores the archaeology and history of an area whose iron industry was of international importance.

In 1931 an eccentric stationer and bookbinder, Ernest Straker, published at his own expense a rather idiosyncratic book of nearly 500 pages entitled Wealden Iron. In the Preface he reported that, with the exception of a single brochure, ". . . no work speci!cally dealing with this exceedingly interesting chapter of our industrial history" had previously been published. The following decades saw the sporadic publication of papers dealing with different aspects of this very wide-ranging subject in the Society's Collections and elsewhere, but it was not until 1995 that the next major survey, The Iron Industry of the Weald, appeared. This was the fruit of nearly thirty years' work by the Wealden Iron Research Group (WIRG), founded at an enthusiastic meeting at the Royal Pavilion in Brighton.
Jeremy Hodgkinson has played an ifluential role in the development and work of WIRG, as a member of its Council for many years and Chairman from 1981 to 2005. He has contributed to fieldwork, excavations, and historical research, and now lectures widely on the industry. His stated objective in writing this book was "to present the story of the industry . . . for the more general reader".
Chapters on geology and raw materials, prehistoric, Roman, and medieval ironmaking, blast furnaces and forges, and iron production in the 16th-19th centuries are followed by others on the economic effects of ironmaking and on products, with special emphasis on cannon production. Two appendices provide guidance on where to see Wealden iron and a list of blast furnaces and finery forges, and there is an excellent bibliography. The book is well illustrated with photographs, maps, plans, and some superb reconstruction drawings by the late Reg Houghton.
The author has admirably achieved his objective of presenting this vanished industry to the general reader. I have just two suggestions for inclusion in the second edition that will assuredly be called for: a list of bloomery sites would be desirable, and also a glossary of ironmaking terms.

Iron Firebacks: New survey and catalogue planned, by Jeremy Hodgkinson, published August 2008 in Sussex Past & Present (no. 115, article, p.7, ISSN: 1357-7417) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/500475] & S.A.S. library   View Online

A trawl through earlier volumes of the Sussex Archaeological Collections will demonstrate that the decorated cast-iron plates that sat in many an old farmhouse inglenook were of interest to antiquarians; The Gentleman's Magazine published a note on one found in Norwich as early as 1788. Firebacks were among the first objects that the Society acquired and the collection at Anne of Cleves House is possibly the largest in the country.

Field Notes, compiled by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 2009 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 29, report, pp.3-6, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506576]   Download PDF

The Legas-Remnant Letters, by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 2009 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 29, article, p.14, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506576]   Download PDF

The correspondence forms part of a collection of papers, in the Guildhall Library, London, which relate to the trust set up under the will of William Harrison, a London merchant, ironmonger and iron founder. Harrison died on 3 January 1744/5 and, by his will, he placed his estate in trust for his two sons, Andrews and John. The trustees were his business partner, John Legas, a Sussex-based iron founder, and Samuel Remnant, a London merchant. As will be seen, much of the partners' business was with the Board of Ordnance, so it is unfortunate that for the whole of the period from 1721 to 1748 inclusive, in which all but eight letters of the correspondence were written, the Minutes of the Surveyor General of the Ordnance, which would have provided a great deal of complementary information for the period, have not survived.
The period covered by the letters was a time of considerable activity for the gun foundries of the Weald. The declaration of hostilities against Spain in 1739, following the incident of 'Jenkin's Ear', and the subsequent war over the disputed Austrian Succession, which lasted from 1740 until 1748, was fought on many fronts. Although initially confined to continental Europe, the increase in naval operations against the Spanish, and particularly the French, together with the continued competition for trading interests in America, the Caribbean, India and elsewhere, ensured a vigorous market for ordnance.
The letters complement those written by the Fuller family during the same period (Crossley & Saville, 1991), and many of the themes, as well as the individuals, that figure in those letters also feature in the present correspondence. Because of their purpose the Legas-Remnant letters inevitably provide a narrower perspective than those of the Fullers whose interests included their estates in Sussex and Jamaica and their political activities.

Field Notes, compiled by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 2010 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 30, report, pp.3-9, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506577]   Download PDF

Pot founders at Wealden ironworks, by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 2010 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 30, article, pp.30-33, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506577]   Download PDF

Pot founding was a skilled branch of the founder's craft which involved the production of castings in iron using box moulds. Hollow wares, such as pots could only be cast in this way and the skill in their manufacture necessitated expertise in making moulds that would allow iron to fill a shaped void within a sand- or loam-filled container. The fact that they were sometimes referred to as potters, as in the case of Stephen Marden, may have led to the Oxford Dictionary definition of pot founding formerly being incorrectly associated with the making of ceramics. This has now been corrected.

Addition to the catalogue of early iron graveslabs, by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 2010 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 30, article, pp.34-35, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506577]   Download PDF

British Cast-iron Firebacks of the 16th to Mid 18th Centuries, by Jeremy Hodgkinson, published November 2010 (278 pp., Hodgers Books, ISBN-10: 0956672604 & ISBN-13: 9780956672605) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/501967] & West Sussex Libraries

Firebacks began to be made in Britain in the first half of the sixteenth century. From the purely functional purpose of protecting the back of the fireplace and reflecting heat into the room, it was not long before the opportunity was taken to embellish their plain surfaces. Their decoration provides us with a reflection of the social history of the times in which they were made, whether in the heraldry of royalty and the landed class, the religious and political turmoil of the Stuart period, or the beginnings of the Enlightenment and the rediscovery of classical literature.
Illustrated with more than 300 photographs, this first survey of British firebacks sets out to explore their development and variety, and to provide interpretation, where possible, of the decoration to be found on them. The illustrations are to scale so the relative sizes of firebacks can be compared, and there is a comprehensive gazetteer with full details of each fireback shown.

Field Notes, compiled by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 2011 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 31, report, pp.3-8, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506578]   Download PDF

A Contemporary Illustration of a Sixteenth-Century Ironworks, by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 2011 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 31, article, pp.19-22, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506578]   Download PDF

A set of late sixteenth-century engravings illustrating personifications of the planets then known was the source for designs on some early eighteenth-century English firebacks. The collection of engravings was entitled, Planetarum effectus et eorum in signis zodiaci, and were the work of Marten de Vos (1532-1603), an important Mannerist painter and prolific draughtsman based in Antwerp. Engraved by Jan Sadeler, they were published by him in 1585 under a dedication to Alessandro Farnese, Duke of Parma and Governor of the Spanish Netherlands.

Witley Park Furnace, Witley, Surrey, by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 2011 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 31, article, pp.23-28, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506578]   Download PDF

Crowhurst Forge, Surrey - a new site identified, by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 2012 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 31, article, pp.5-10, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506579]   Download PDF

Notices of Wealden ironworks in early English newspapers, by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 2012 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 31, article, pp.11-27, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506579]   Download PDF

Some years ago a selection of extracts relating to the iron industry from the Sussex Weekly Advertiser or Lewes Journal were published in Wealden Iron. The British Library has now made available, to readers at its premises and to certain institutional subscribers, scans of several early newspapers and periodicals and the means to search them. Because of the variety of ways references to the iron industry are phrased, and indeed spelled, and given that scanning early printed texts is subject to inconsistencies of letter size and variable inking, designing suitable criteria for searches can never be very precise. Identical searches do not always yield the same results. Searches for the phrases, iron furnace, iron forge, iron mine and iron works, as well as the various spellings of foundry, have yielded several notices relating to ironworking in the Weald which complement those noted earlier. Most are notices of sales and several relate to bankruptcies. Such notices were often repeated in successive editions as well as in other papers; only a single example of each is given below. Original spelling and punctuation have been retained.

Field Notes, compiled by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 2013 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 33, report, pp.3-4, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/507841]   Download PDF

A Pope family fireback, by J. S. Hodgkinson, published 2013 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 33, article, pp.27-31, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/507841]   Download PDF

A cast-iron fireback has been identified as bearing the arms of the Pope family of Hendall, in Buxted. It has the date 1625 and the initials SP. The fireback appears to have been cast from a one-piece wooden pattern with arms carved in low relief within a shield embellished with strapwork motifs, which were typical of the early 17th century. The styling of the initials, on each side of the shield, suggests that they were carved as part of the original pattern. However, the date, which may well have been carved as a small stamp, appears to have been added to the mould before casting as it obliterates one of the fleur-de-lys embellishments above the shield.

The Two Martyrs Fireback: Further comments, by Jeremy Hodgkinson, published December 2013 in Sussex Past & Present (no. 131, article, p.8, ISSN: 1357-7417) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/507923] & S.A.S. library   View Online

I also entertained unkind thoughts towards Charles Dawson when I was researching my book on firebacks, and was relieved to discover that the original casting of the martyrs fireback had not been one of his enterprises. Some further information about the Burwash example referred to by Reverend Egerton can be gleaned from an article by J T Balcomb in The Art Journal of November 1886.

The 'Europe' fireback at Preston Manor, Brighton, by Jeremy Hodgkinson, published 2016 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 154, short article, pp.297-299) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 18939] & The Keep [LIB/509465] & S.A.S. library

The development of iron production in the Roman Weald, by Jeremy Hodgkinson, published 31 December 2016 in Agriculture and Industry in South-Eastern Roman Britain (edited by David Bird, pp.282-300, Oxbow Books, ISBN-10: 1785703196 & ISBN-13: 9781785703195)