Bibliography - W.I.R.G.: 2nd Series Bulletin No. 25, 2005
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Wealden Iron Research Group: Second Series Bulletin No. 25, 2005, edited by D. W. Crossley, published 2005 (Wealden Iron Research Group, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506572]   Download PDF

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

Early Kent Ironworking Sites, by Neil Aldridge, published 2005 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 25, article, pp.9-18, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506572]   Download PDF

The iron smelting sites at Ulcombe and Headcorn were located as a result of archaeological fieldwork undertaken between 1994 and 2001. It is worth noting that these sites were not particularly close to watercourses but were situated on ridges.

Bungehurst Furnace, Heathfield, by R. G. Houghton and J. S. Hodgkinson, published 2005 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 25, article, pp.19-2, 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.

Warbleton Priory Furnace, by J. Galloway, published 2005 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 25, article, pp.21-24, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506572]   Download PDF

Straker describes the bay as 'inaccessible due to dense undergrowth'. Access was probably difficult to other parts of the site. Now the woodland has grown up to suppress the undergrowth so that access is feasible to all areas. Better visibility has uncovered problems in Straker's description.
The furnace area and its water system and access roads were inspected to find the features described in Straker. Everything was found apart from the roof tiles. Additional items were found in the stream just below the bay, and at the ford where the access road crosses the stream. The conclusion was reached that there may be errors in Straker regarding the access roads and pen ponds, and alternative interpretations of the evidence are proposed.

Charcoal Production in Woodland around the Blast Furnace at Darwell in East Sussex, by Jonathan Prus, published 2005 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 25, article, pp.25-37, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506572]   Download PDF

Seventy-seven charcoal burning platforms have been identified in the woodland surrounding Darwell Furnace near Brightling in East Sussex (Cleere and Crossley, 1995. p.328). Although there is no direct evidence linking these platforms to the furnace, the later energy-hungry industries in the area (lime-burning and brick-making) are more likely to have used wood as a fuel, and later, coal (Beswick, 2001). There is only one place (TQ 6932 2072) within the woodland investigated with any bloomery slag, so it is unlikely that charcoal burning on this scale was associated with bloomeries. One platform (at TQ 7074 2021) is cut by what appear to be mine pits, placing those pits at a date after that platform was last used.

John Browne, Gunfounder to the Stuarts, by Ruth Brown, published 2005 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 25, article, pp.38-61, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506572]   Download PDF

John Browne, the son of Thomas Browne, Queen Elizabeth's gunfounder, claimed in his will to have been born at Chiddingstone in Kent, where his father, Thomas Browne, owned the Red House from 1593 to 1597 and had been living in the parish at an earlier date. We know little of his education except that he wrote in 1621 'at the request of the ordnance officers, and the East India Company, I was put to the trade, that I continue if my father failed' (CSPD, James I, vol 5, 639).
In August 1615, he was granted the office of Gunstone Maker for life (CSPD James I, vol 2, 301). From this period he appears to have been actively involved in running the iron business which his father had built up.

Mr Littleton: Supplier of Ordnance Material, by Jeremy Greenwood, published 2005 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 25, article, p.62, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506572]   Download PDF

The outbreak of the Second Dutch War (1665-7) found the Board of Ordnance unprepared as ever. A desperate shortage of shot led them to inquire of George Browne - His Majesty's Gunfounder - as to the extent of his manufacturing capacity. His reply includes a reference to 'Mr Littleton'. Not being able to identify him from the standard works, a desktop investigation was initiated.

Index, published 2005 in Wealden Iron Research Group (Second Series No. 25, pp.63-66, ISSN: 0266-4402) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506572]   Download PDF