Bibliography - Bernard Charles Worssam
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Iron ore workings in the Weald Clay of the Western Weald, by B. C. Worssam, published 1964 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 75 issue 4, article, pp.529-546)   View Online

The location and extent of a belt of old workings for clay ironstone on the outcrop of the Weald Clay of parts of western Surrey and Sussex are described, and related to the stratigraphy and geological structure. Historical evidence for iron-working in the western part of the Weald is referred to. For the first time an estimate is made of the total production of ore from a worked ironstone bed in the Weald Clay. It is concluded that exhaustion of iron ore supplies was a factor in the decline of the iron industry in the western part of the Weald.

Iron ore workings near Horsham, Sussex, and the sedimentology of Wealden clay ironstone, by B. C. Worssam, published 1972 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 83 issue 1, article, pp.37-55) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 5347]   View Online

The distribution of old workings, or 'minepits', for clay ironstone in an area between Horsham and Crawley is shown on geological sketch-maps. The geological structure of the area is described in outline. The old workings, except for those in two anomalous patches, are restricted to two argillaceous units in the Upper Tunbridge Wells Sand and to an ironstone horizon some 2 m. below the Horsham Stone in the Weald Clay. Slags from two bloomery sites are described. The amount of ore dug from the minepits is estimated to correspond roughly to the requirements of local blast furnaces, of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century date. Depletion of iron ore reserves is suggested as a factor deciding against resumption of the iron industry in the area after the Civil War.
Bringing into consideration evidence from the whole Wealden area, the origin of clay ironstone is discussed in relation to the environment of deposition of the Wealden Beds. Non-spherulitic ironstone occurs at five main Wealden horizons. In the Weald Clay, ironstone development appears to be related to cycles of sedimentation.

Iron ore workings near Horsham, Sussex, by P. J. Ovenden and B. C. Worssam, published 1972 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 83 issue 2, article, pp.237-238)   View Online

New Look at River Capture and at the Denudation History of the Weald, by B. C. Worssam, published 1973 (Report of the Institute of Geological Sciences, no. 73/17 , London: H.M.S.O.) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries

Ore for the Wealden Iron Industry, by Bernard Worssam, published 1973 in Wealden Iron Research Group (First Series No 5, article, pp.1-3) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506558]   Download PDF

The principal ore for the Wealden iron industry, and the one on which certainly the blast furnace if not also the bloomery industry is based, is known as clay ironstone, and more specifically as siderite mudstone.

Stratigraphy of the Weald Clay, by B. C. Worssam, published 1978 (Report of the Institute of Geological Sciences, no. 78/11, London: H.M.S.O.) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries

Iron industry of the Weald, by Henry Cleere, D. Crossley and B. C. Worssam, published 31 December 1985 (367 pp., Leicester Uniersity Press, ISBN-10: 0718512138 & ISBN-13: 9780718512132) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 9491] & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries

Minepits at West Hoathly Brickworks, Sharpthorne, Sussex, by Bernard Worssam and Giles Swift, published 1987 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 7, article, pp.3-15, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506560]   Download PDF

The sections in the West Hoathly Brickworks quarry that are described in this paper are therefore of special importance in that they have revealed clearly the form and dimensions of a series of Wealden minepits, as well as the iron-ore seams to which the pits were dug.
The sections have been under observation by the writers since an initial visit to the quarry, in company with the late Mr C.F. Tebbutt, in 1983. A preliminary account gave radiocarbon dates of two samples of wood recovered from the filling of minepits.

Geology and Iron Ore in the Pays de Bray, by B. C. Worssam, published 1990 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 10, article, pp.12-18, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506560]   Download PDF

The Pays de Bray is an elongated hollow within the extensive Chalk upland of northern France, formed by erosion of an anticline that brings Lower Cretaceous and Jurassic rocks to the surface. It is analogous to the Weald, though much simpler in structure. It is bounded on each side by a Chalk escarpment that attains heights of 220 to 235m (around 750ft) above sea level.

Geology of the country around Horsham : memoir for 1:50 000 geological sheet 302 (England and Wales), by R. W. Gallois and B. C. Worssam, published 1 January 1993 (130 pp., London: H.M.S.O., ISBN-10: 0118844806 & ISBN-13: 9780118844802) accessible at: British Library & West Sussex Libraries

An unusual type of slag at Heathfield, by B. C. Worssam, published 2000 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 20, article, pp.12-13, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506567]   Download PDF

At the Romano-British Tilsmore Wood, Heathfield, bloomery site (TQ 5763 2174), visited in January 1999, some slag fragments attracted attention by reason of their brassy-yellow metallic lustre, rather like that of freshly-broken pyrite (iron sulphide), except that pyrite surfaces would be expected to tarnish rapidly once exposed to the air.

Two bloomeries near Bletchingley, Surrey, by B. C. Worssam and B. K. Herbert, published 2000 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 20, article, pp.14-22, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506567]   Download PDF

Straker recorded that a bloomery on the Weald Clay outcrop at South Park, Bletchingley, Surrey, had been shown to him by the landowner, Mr Uvedale Lambert. Mr Lambert had written a two-volume history of Bletchingley, which includes reference to Sir Thomas Cawarden, a 16th-century owner of the estate, who in 1548-49 was head of a commission of enquiry into iron furnaces and fuel in the Weald. Straker wrote of the bloomery: 'It is the most northerly bloomery yet found, being very near the rise of the greensand hills. There is a deposit of Paludina limestone within a short distance, which may have provided the flux. A considerable amount of ancient cinder is spread over the field, and large lumps have been thrown up on the hedges. There are some marlpits which probably yielded the ore.' He gave its location in terms of latitude and longitude, which work out as grid reference TQ 3306 4820. The area was visited by members of WIRG firstly on February 13th 1999, when a reconnaissance was made and two separate bloomery sites discovered, and secondly on February 12th 2000 in order to carry out trial excavation of Straker's site, these visits being made by kind permission of Mr and Mrs Wetter of South Park Farm and of Mr Michael Lambert of Cucksey's Farm.

The Landscape of Witley Park Furnace Site, by B. C. Worssam, published 2011 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 31, article, pp.29-30, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506578]   Download PDF