Bibliography - W.I.R.G.: 2nd Series Bulletin No. 14, 1994
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Wealden Iron Research Group: Second Series Bulletin No. 14, 1994, edited by D. W. Crossley, published 1994 (Wealden Iron Research Group, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506561]   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

Buttons, Wadhurst, by A. Dalton, published 1994 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 14, article, p.3, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506561]   Download PDF

In November 1991, Elizabeth Gibb, Roma Ogilvy-Watson, Liz Fairclough and Anne Dalton went to 'Buttons', where the owners, Mr & Mrs J. Bellingham had found what they thought was slag in their wood.

Possible bloomery site in the upper Rother valley, by John Mew, published 1994 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 14, article, pp.4-5, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506561]   Download PDF

Pottens Mill (TQ 614242) was formerly called Parsons Mill (1737). It was recorded as a messuage in 1540, and as 'Brailsham' in 1623. The mill itself was demolished at the beginning of the twentieth century, and stood beside a tributary running north to join the river Rother. The present house was rebuilt in 1737, probably on the site of a 15th century hall house, and I am very grateful to David and Barbara Martin for their interest and especially for this information.
The possible bloomery site was first identified by C. S. Cattell in 1970, as being at TQ 6130 2365, 500m to the south of Pottens Mill. The ground rises to the south of the site, to a height of 178m at Tottingworth Park. Earthworks at Tottingworth were considered by both Dawson and Allcroft to have been Iron Age, but recent work by Gardiner would suggest that some parts are no later than medieval. A polished late neolithic flint axe (Norris, curator Sx. Arch. Soc.) was found at Pottens Mill in 1969.

London - Lewes Roman Road part 3, by B. K. Herbert, published 1994 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 14, article, pp.5-12, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506561]   Download PDF

This note reports the third foray to re-explore the London-Lewes Roman Road, this time to the south of the Kent/Sussex border.

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.

The Mayfield cannon - a reappraisal, by C. J. N. Trollope, published 1994 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 14, article, pp.16-19, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506561]   Download PDF

As part of the Queen's Silver Jubilee celebrations in 1977, a cannon which had formerly been dug from the slag heap of Mayfield Furnace, and had subsequently become the property of the Convent which occupied the old Archbishops' palace in the village, was mounted on a plinth in the High Street. A plaque fixed to it suggests that it was made in the mid-17th century.

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.

Wealden ironmasters and the Board of Ordnance after 1770, by R. R. Brown, published 1994 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 14, article, pp.31-47, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506561]   Download PDF

The date 1770 is often taken as a watershed in the history of the iron industry in the Weald. Certainly after this date other areas are increasingly important as a source of iron guns for the Board of Ordnance, which bought stores for the British forces. However there are still a number of references in the Board papers which throw light on the last years of the Sussex iron industry. As in my previous paper I have selected entries which show specific founders or ironworks and which by no means exhaust the references to Wealden iron in the public records.