Publications
History of St Pancras Engineering Works, Chichester, by J. G. Woodruff, M.I.E.E., F.I.Prod.E., published 1983 in Sussex Industrial History (No. 13, article, pp.32-35) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506525] Download PDF
Abstract:When the Romans occupied parts of England they introduced industrial activities of many kinds based on experience going back for many centuries. These activities included founding in bronzes, brasses and also in iron. In the second century A.D. a rising tide of militant barbarous people began to overrun the Roman Empire from many directions and by the end of the third century the Roman Empire was fallen, resulting in a period known as the Dark Ages when there was a general decline in authority and organisation.
This unsettled state of affairs continued until the ninth century but at the beginning of the tenth century the cultural pattern in various countries slowly established a more ordered way of life. In England, founding, which had managed to survive throughout the Dark Ages, began to be conducted more systematically; the existing methods were, however, used and in the next five hundred years or so only details were improved. Furnace temperatures were increased by the use of water power for providing forced draught but charcoal was still the main fuel. New methods of making steel were developed including the melting of iron in open-hearth furnaces and puddling. In England the iron industry was centred mainly in the Wealds of Kent and Sussex where deposits of iron ore existed and timber for charcoal was plentiful.
By the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries iron founding had developed rapidly and Sussex iron founding had become an industry of national importance. In the early sixteenth century the knowledge of steel making in the area enabled the production of steel needles to begin in Chichester and by the early seventeenth century almost the whole of the English production of such needles came from the Chichester needle makers.
The needle-making industry was based outside the walls of the old Roman city near the East Gate in the Parish of St. Pancras and was largely carried out in the needle-makers' dwellings. In the middle of the seventeenth century, however, a body of Parliamentarians headed by Sir William Walker besieged the area, occupied the Church and sacked the buildings in the parish. The industry was thus severely hit and with strong competition from the north, where steel was then being made and needles supplied very cheaply (although of poorer quality), the Chichester needle making industry slowly declined in common with its iron founding activities. By 1797 the Universal British Directory published by Peter Barfoot and John Wilkes stated that "manufacturing in Chichester was negligible although there had been a considerable manufactory of needles here, which were very much esteemed, but it has now dwindled almost to nothing". Remnants of the iron founding industry undoubtedly continued in the area and the first sign of the 'rekindling' of the iron foundry furnaces appeared shortly after 1798.
This unsettled state of affairs continued until the ninth century but at the beginning of the tenth century the cultural pattern in various countries slowly established a more ordered way of life. In England, founding, which had managed to survive throughout the Dark Ages, began to be conducted more systematically; the existing methods were, however, used and in the next five hundred years or so only details were improved. Furnace temperatures were increased by the use of water power for providing forced draught but charcoal was still the main fuel. New methods of making steel were developed including the melting of iron in open-hearth furnaces and puddling. In England the iron industry was centred mainly in the Wealds of Kent and Sussex where deposits of iron ore existed and timber for charcoal was plentiful.
By the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries iron founding had developed rapidly and Sussex iron founding had become an industry of national importance. In the early sixteenth century the knowledge of steel making in the area enabled the production of steel needles to begin in Chichester and by the early seventeenth century almost the whole of the English production of such needles came from the Chichester needle makers.
The needle-making industry was based outside the walls of the old Roman city near the East Gate in the Parish of St. Pancras and was largely carried out in the needle-makers' dwellings. In the middle of the seventeenth century, however, a body of Parliamentarians headed by Sir William Walker besieged the area, occupied the Church and sacked the buildings in the parish. The industry was thus severely hit and with strong competition from the north, where steel was then being made and needles supplied very cheaply (although of poorer quality), the Chichester needle making industry slowly declined in common with its iron founding activities. By 1797 the Universal British Directory published by Peter Barfoot and John Wilkes stated that "manufacturing in Chichester was negligible although there had been a considerable manufactory of needles here, which were very much esteemed, but it has now dwindled almost to nothing". Remnants of the iron founding industry undoubtedly continued in the area and the first sign of the 'rekindling' of the iron foundry furnaces appeared shortly after 1798.