_The Iron Mines and Iron Works in the Forest_--Mr. Wyrrall's description
of the ancient excavations for iron--Their remote antiquity proved, and
character described--Historical allusions to them--The quality,
abundance, and situation of the old iron cinders--The early forges
described--Portrait of an original free miner of iron ore--His
tools--Introduction of the blast furnace into the Forest--Various Crown
leases respecting them--A minute inventory of them--Mr. Wyrrall's
glossary of terms found therein--Mr. Mushet's remarks on the remains of
the above works--First attempts to use prepared coal in the
furnaces--Iron-works suppressed--Value of iron ore at that time--Dr.
Parsons's account of the manner of making iron--State of the adjoining
iron-works during the seventeenth century--Revival of them at its
close--Their rise and prosperity since--At Cinderford, Park End, Sowdley,
Lydbrook, and Lydney--Character of the iron-mines at the present time.
"There are," writes Mr. Wyrrall, in his valuable MS. on the ancient
iron-works of the Forest, dated in the year 1780, "deep in the earth vast
caverns scooped out by men's hands, and large as the aisles of churches;
and on its surface are extensive labyrinths, worked among the rocks, and
now long since overgrown with woods; which whosoever traces them must see
with astonishment, and incline to think them to have been the work of
armies rather than of private labourers. They certainly were the toil of
many centuries, and this perhaps before they thought of searching in the
bowels of the earth for their ore--whither, however, they at length
naturally pursued the veins, as they found them to be exhausted near the
surface." Such were the remains, as they existed in his day, of the
original iron-mines of this locality; and except where modern operations
have obliterated them, such they continue to the present time. Beyond
the inference of remote antiquity, which we naturally draw from the fact
of their presenting no trace of the use of any kind of machinery, or of
gunpowder, or the display of any mining skill, we may cite the unanimous
opinion of the neighbourhood, that they owe their origin to the
predecessors of that peculiar order of operatives known as "the free
miners of the Forest of Dean;" a view which is confirmed by the authentic
history of the district. But the numerous Roman relics found deeply
buried in the prodigious accumulations of iron cinders, once so abundant
here as to have formed an important part of the materials supplied to the
furnaces of the Forest, afford proof that the iron-mines were in
existence as early as the commencement of the Christian era; so that the
openings we now see are the results of many centuries of mining
operations, with which their extent, number, and size perfectly accord.
[Picture: The Devil's Chapel]
These mines present the appearance either of spacious caves, as on the
Doward Hill, or at the Scowles near Bream, or they consist of precipitous
and irregularly shaped passages, left by the removal of the ore or
mineral earth wherever it was found, and which was followed in some
instances for many hundreds of yards, openings being made to the surface
wherever the course of the mine permitted, thus securing an efficient
ventilation, so that although they have been so long deserted the air in
them is perfectly good. They are also quite dry, owing probably to their
being drained by the new workings adjacent to them, and descending to a
far greater depth. In the first instance they were no doubt excavated as
deep as the water permitted, that is, to about 100 feet, or in dry
seasons even lower, as is in fact proved by the water-marks left in some
of them. Occasionally they are found adorned with beautiful
incrustations of the purest white, formed by springs of carbonate of
lime, originating in the rocky walls of limestone around. Sometimes,
after proceeding a considerable distance, they suddenly open out into
spacious vaults fifteen feet in width, the site probably of some valuable
"pocket" or "churn" of ore; and then again, where the supply was less
abundant, narrowing into a width hardly sufficient to admit the human
body. Occasionally the passage divides and unites again, or abruptly
stops, turning off at a sharp angle, or changing its level, where rude
steps cut in the rock show the mode by which the old miners ascended or
descended; whilst sometimes the rounds of ladders have been found,
semi-carbonized by age. These excavations abound on every side of the
Forest, wherever the iron makes its appearance, giving the name of
"Meand" or mine to such places. Of the deeper workings, one of the most
extensive occurs on the Lining Wood Hill above Mitcheldean, and is well
worth exploring.
The earliest historical allusion to these underground works is made by
Camden, who records that a gigantic skeleton was found in a cave on the
Great Doward Hill, now called "King Arthur's Hall," being evidently the
entrance to an ancient iron-mine. The next refers to the period of the
Great Rebellion, when the terrified inhabitants of the district are said
to have fled to them for safety when pursued by the hostile soldiery of
either party.
[Picture: "King Arthur's Hall"]
Adverting, in the next place, to the heaps of cinders left where the
ancient iron-manufacturers of the district worked, their _quality_,
_abundance_, and _situation_ suggest several interesting points of
observation. Thus, their _quality_ proves that charcoal was the fuel
invariably employed, and the large percentage of metal left in them shows
that the process then in use of extracting the iron was very imperfect.
They are said to vary in richness according as they belong to an earlier
or later period--so much so, that some persons have ventured on this data
to specify their relative ages; but other causes may have produced this
difference. As to their _quantity_, it was once so great, that, although
they have formed a large part of the mineral supply to the different
furnaces of the district for the last 200 years, they still abound for
miles round the Forest, wherever human habitations appear to have
clustered, sometimes giving the names to places, as "Cinderford" and
"Cinder Hill," or forming a valuable consideration in the purchase of
land containing them.
Equally remarkable with the two former characteristics of these cinders
is their _position_, not unfrequently on elevated spots and far removed
from any watercourse. Under such circumstances, the high temperature
necessary for acting upon the ore must have been obtained by constructing
the fireplace so as to create a powerful draft of air, the fuel and
mineral being placed alternately in layers within a circular structure of
stone, resembling the rude furnaces said to be used amongst the natives
of central Africa.
The "_forgioe errantes_," or itinerant forges, {216} mentioned in the
records of the Justice Seat held at Gloucester Castle in 1282, were no
doubt improvements on the structures just mentioned, being at the same
time so formed as to admit of being removed and set at work elsewhere, as
is in fact intimated by the name given to them, as well as by the more
frequent occurrence and smaller size of those cinder-heaps which are
found nearer to the centre of the Forest; and consequently of more modern
date, presenting a striking contrast to the larger and more ancient
mounds existing in places more remote, the refuse of the earlier forges
kept at work for many years in one spot.
The moderate capacity of the _forgioe errantes_ may be inferred from the
circumstance that in the reign of Edward I. there were seventy-two of
them in the Forest alone, supplied with ore by at least fifty-nine
iron-mines, by which Gloucester, Monmouth, Caerleon, Newport, Berkeley,
Trelleck, &c., are stated in the Book of the Laws and Customs of the Mine
to have been furnished with that metal. We also know that the two forges
at Flaxley consumed two oaks every week, and that in that age 46 pounds
was paid to the King by such persons as farmed any of them, or 7s. if
they held a year's licence.
In the year 1841, when that part of the old road leading up to the
Hawthorns from Hownal was altered, near the brook below Rudge Farm, the
hearths of five small forges, cut out of the sandstone rock, and
curiously pitched all round the bottom with small pebbles, were laid
open, and an iron tube seven or eight inches long, and one inch and a
half bore, apparently the nozzle of a pair of bellows, was found, as well
as scores of old tobacco pipes, bits of iron much rusted, and broken
earthenware, besides a piece of silver coin; but unfortunately none of
these relics have been preserved.
[Picture: Effigy of a Forest Free Miner]
The heraldic crest here copied from a mutilated brass of the 15th
century, within the Clearwell Chapel of Newland Church, gives a curious
representation of the iron-miner of that period equipped for his work.
It represents him as wearing a cap, holding a candlestick between his
teeth, handling a small mattock with which to loosen, as occasion
required, the fine mineral earth lodged in the cavity within which he
worked, or else to detach the metallic incrustations lining its sides,
bearing a light wooden mine-hod on his back, suspended by a
shoulderstrap, and clothed in a thick flannel jacket, and short leathern
breeches, tied with thongs below the knee. Although in this
representation the lower extremities are concealed, the numerous
shoe-footed marks yet visible on the moist beds of some of the old
excavations prove that the feet were well protected from injury by the
rough rocks of the workings. Several mattock-heads exactly resembling
the one which this miner is holding have also been discovered; and to
enable us, as it were, to supply every particular, small oak shovels for
collecting the ore, and putting it into the hod, have in some places been
found.
[Picture: Leather sole of a Shoe]
[Picture: Iron Mattock head]
The mining and making of iron continued to be carried on in the Forest in
the manner indicated by the foregoing particulars, until the improved
methods of manufacture established in other parts of the kingdom,
particularly in Sussex, had been adopted here. As early probably as the
commencement of the reign of Elizabeth, these improvements came into use
in this locality, and superseded the old "make." It was for its
iron-mines, even more than for its timber, that this Forest excited the
jealousy of the Spaniards, who designed to suppress the former by
destroying the charcoal fuel with which they were worked.
[Picture: Oak Shovel]
The earliest intimation of any such change in the mode of manufacture
occurs in the terms of a "bargayne," made by the Crown, and preserved in
the Lansdowne MSS. "wth Giles Brudges and others," on 14th June, 1611,
demising "libertye to erect all manner of workes, iron or other, by lande
or water, excepting Wyer workes, and the same to pull downe, remove, and
alter att pleasure," with "libertye to take myne oare and synders, either
to be used att the workes or otherwise," &c. By "synders" is meant the
refuse of the old forges, but which by the new process could be made to
yield a profitable percentage of metal which the former method had failed
to extract. In the year following a similar "bargayne" was made with
William Earl of Pembroke, at the enormous rental of 2,433 pounds 6s. 3d.,
but with leave to take "tymbr for buildinges & workes as they were," with
"allowance of reasonable fireboote for the workmen out of the dead & dry
wood, &c., to inclose a garden not exceedinge halfe an acre to every
house, and likewise to inclose for the necessity of the worke; the houses
and inclosures to bee pulled downe & layd open as the workes shall cease
or remove." A third and corresponding "bargayne" was agreed to, on the
3rd of May, 1615, with Sir Basil Brook, there being reserved in rent
"iron 320 tonns p. annum, wch att xiill xs the tone cometh to 4,000 per
an.: the rent reserved to be payd in iron by 40 tonns p. month, wch
cometh to 500ll every month; so in toto yearelye 4,000ll;" and a proviso
that "The workes already buylt onlye granted, wth no power to remove
them, but bound to mayntayne and leave them in good case and repayre, wth
all stock of hammers, anvil's, and other necessarys received att the
pattentees' entrye," as also that "libertye for myne and synders for
supplying of the workes onlye, to be taken by delivery of the miners att
the price agreed uppon."
In 1621 Messrs. Chaloner and Harris appear to have succeeded to the works
under a rent of 2,000 pounds, and who, we may presume, cast the 610 guns
ordered by the Crown on behalf of the States General of Holland in 1629.
The spot where they were made was, it would seem, ever after called "Guns
Mills." It certainly was so called as early as the year 1680, an
explanation of the term which is confirmed by the discovery there of an
ancient piece of ordnance. "Guns Pill" was the place where they were
afterwards shipped.
A curious inventory, dated 1635, of the buildings and machinery referred
to in the forenamed "bargaynes," has been preserved amongst the Wyrrall
Papers, and is inserted in the Appendix No. IV.
As to the length of time the works specified in Appendix No. IV.
continued in operation, the late Mr. Mushet, who knew the neighbourhood
intimately, in his valuable "Papers on Iron," &c., considers that they
were finally abandoned shortly after that date (1635), since, "with the
exception of the slags, traces of the water mounds, and the faint lines
of the watercourses, not a vestige of any of them remains." He adds,
"About fourteen years ago I first saw the ruins of one of these furnaces,
situated below York Lodge, and surrounded by a large heap of slag or
scoria that is produced in making pig iron. As the situation of this
furnace was remote from roads, and must at one time have been deemed
nearly inaccessible, it had all the appearance at the time of my survey
of having remained in the same state for nearly two centuries. The
quantity of slags I computed at from 8,000 to 10,000 tons. If it is
assumed that this furnace made upon an average annually 200 tons of pig
iron, and that the quantity of slag run from the furnace was equal to one
half the quantity of iron made, we shall have 100 tons of cinders
annually, for a period of from 80 to 100 years. If the abandonment of
this furnace took place about the year 1640, the commencement of its
smeltings must be assigned to a period between the years 1540 and 1560."
The oldest piece of cast iron which Mr. Mushet states he ever saw,
exhibited the arms of England, with the initials E. R., and bore date
1555, but he found no specimen in the Forest earlier than 1620. He also
observes, that, "although he had carefully examined every spot and relic
in Dean Forest likely to denote the site of Dud Dudley's enterprising but
unfortunate experiment of making iron with pit coal," it had been without
success, and the same with the like operations of Cromwell, who was
partner with Major Wildman, Captain Birch, and other of his officers,
Doctors of Physic and Merchants, by whom works and furnaces had been set
up in the Forest, at a vast charge.
In 1650 a Committee of the House of Commons ordered that all the
iron-works in the Forest, formerly let on lease by the Crown, should be
suppressed and demolished, partly perhaps with the view of checking the
consumption of wood, and also to put a stop to the making of cannon and
shot, lest when the occasion invited they should be seized by the adverse
party and turned against them. The Royalists had already found here a
valuable store of such things at the time they were defending Bristol
against Fairfax.
How far the above mandate was obeyed does not appear, but ere the year
1674 a general decay seems to have fallen on the Forest works, as in that
year the expediency of repairing them, and building an additional furnace
and two forges, at the cost of 1,000 pounds, was suggested. The opposite
course was, however, recommended, that is, of demolishing them all, lest
they should ultimately cause the destruction of the wood and timber, a
course which it seems was followed, since in the 4th order of the Mine
Law Court, dated 27th April, 1680, they are stated to have been lately
demolished. The same "Order" fixes the following prices as those at
which twelve Winchester bushels of iron mine should be delivered at the
following places:--St. Wonnarth's furnace 10s., Whitchurch 7s., Linton
9s., Bishopswood 9s., Longhope 9s., Flaxley 8s., Gunsmills (if rebuilt)
7s., Blakeney 6s., Lydney 6s.; at those in the Forest, if rebuilt, the
same as in 1668--Redbrooke 4s. 6d., The Abbey (Tintern) 9s., Brockweare
6s. 6d., Redbrooke Passage 5s. 6d., Gunpill 7s., or ore (intended for
Ireland) shipped on the Severn 6s. 6d.
Most of these localities exhibit traces of former iron manufacture having
been carried on at them up to the commencement of that century, as at
Flaxley, Bishopswood, &c., charcoal being the fuel invariably used, and
their situation such that water power was at command. The prices
severally affixed to the places above named indicate a discontinuance of
the mines on the north-east side of the Forest, those adjoining Newland
and in Noxon Park being at this date the chief sources of supply,
agreeably with the allusions to iron-pits existing there which occur in
the proceedings of the Mine Law Court about that time. The mode then in
use of operating upon the iron ore, as described in MS. by Dr. Parsons,
will be found in Appendix No. V.
Andrew Yarranton, in his book of novel suggestions for the "Improvement
of England by Sea and Land," printed in 1677, remarks as follows:--"And
first, I will begin in Monmouthshire, and go through the Forest of Dean,
and there take notice what infinite quantities of raw iron is there made,
with bar iron and wire; and consider the infinite number of men, horses,
and carriages which are to supply these works, and also digging of
ironstone, providing of cinders, carrying to the works, making it into
sows and bars, cutting of wood and converting into charcoal. Consider
also, in all these parts, the woods are not worth the cutting and
bringing home by the owners to burn in their houses; and it is because in
all these places there are pit coal very cheap . . . If these advantages
were not there, it would be little less than a howling wilderness. I
believe, if this comes to the hands of Sir Baynom Frogmorton and Sir
Duncomb Colchester, they will be on my side. Moreover, there is yet a
most great benefit to the kingdom in general by the sow iron made of the
ironstone and Roman cinders in the Forest of Dean, for that metal is of a
most gentle, pliable, soft nature, easily and quickly to be wrought into
manufacture, over what any other iron is, and it is the best in the known
world: and the greatest part of this sow iron is sent up Severne to the
forges into Worcester, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, and
Cheshire, and there it's made into bar iron: and because of its kind and
gentle nature to work, it is now at Sturbridge, Dudley, Wolverhampton,
Sedgley, Wasall, and Burmingham, and there bent, wrought, and
manufactured into all small commodities, and diffused all England over,
and thereby a great trade made of it; and when manufactured, into most
parts of the world. And I can very easily make it appear, that in the
Forest of Dean and thereabouts, and about the material that comes from
thence, there are employed and have their subsistence therefrom no less
than 60,000 persons. And certainly, if this be true, then it is certain
it is better these iron-works were up and in being than that there were
none. And it were well if there were an Act of Parliament for enclosing
all common fit or any way likely to bear wood in the Forest of Dean and
six miles round the Forest; and that great quantities of timber might by
the same law be there preserved, for to supply in future ages timber for
shipping and building. And I dare say the Forest of Dean is, as to the
iron, to be compared to the sheep's back as to the woollen; nothing being
of more advantage to England than these two are . . .
"In the Forest of Dean and thereabouts the iron is made at this day of
cinders, being the rough and offal thrown by in the Romans' time; they
then having only foot blasts to melt the ironstone, but now, by the force
of a great wheel that drives a pair of bellows twenty feet long, all that
iron is extracted out of the cinders, which could not be forced from it
by the Roman foot blast. And in the Forest of Dean and thereabouts, and
as high as Worcester, there are great and infinite quantities of these
cinders; some in vast mounts above ground, some under ground, which will
supply the iron-works some hundreds of years, and these cinders are they
which make the prime and best iron, and with much less charcoal than doth
the ironstone . . . Let there be one ton of this bar-iron made of Forest
ironstone, and 20 pounds will be given for it."
According to a paper examined by Mr. Mushet, and referring probably to
the year 1720 or 1730, the iron-making district of the Forest of Dean
contained ten blast furnaces, viz. six in Gloucestershire, three in
Herefordshire, and one at Tintern, making their total number just equal
to that of the then iron-making district of Sussex. In Mr. Taylor's map
of Gloucestershire, published in 1777, iron furnaces, forges, or engines
are indicated at Bishopswood, Lydbrook, The New Wear, Upper Red Brook,
Park End, Bradley, and Flaxley. Yet only a small portion of the mineral
used at these works was obtained from the Dean Forest mines, if we may
judge from the statement made by Mr. Hopkinson, in 1788, before the
Parliamentary Commissioners, to the effect that "there is no regular
iron-mine work now carried on in the said Forest, but there were about
twenty-two poor men who, at times when they had no other work to do,
employed themselves in searching for and getting iron mine or ore in the
old holes and pits in the said Forest, which have been worked out many
years." Such a practice is well remembered by the aged miners, the chief
part of the ore used coming by sea from Whitehaven. Thus Mr. Mushet
represents, "at Tintern the furnace charge for forge pig iron was
generally composed of a mixture of seven-eighths of Lancashire iron ore,
and one-eighth part of a lean calcareous sparry iron ore from the Forest
of Dean, called flux, the average yield of which mixture was fifty per
cent of iron. When in full work, Tintern Abbey charcoal furnace made
weekly from twenty-eight to thirty tons of charcoal forge pig iron, and
consumed forty dozen sacks of charcoal; so that sixteen sacks of charcoal
were consumed in making one ton of pigs." This furnace was, he believes,
"the first charcoal furnace which in this country was blown with air
compressed in iron cylinders."
The year 1795 marks the period when the manufacture of iron was resumed
in the Forest by means of pit coal cokes at Cinderford, the above date
being preserved on an inscription stone in No. 1 furnace. "The
conductors of the work succeeded," in the words of Mr. Bishop,
communicated to the Author, "as to fact, and made pig iron of good
quality; but from the rude and insufficient character of their
arrangements, they failed commercially as a speculation, the quantity
produced not reaching twenty tons per week. The cokes were brought from
Broadmoor in boats, by a small canal, the embankment of which may be seen
at the present day. The ore was carried down to the furnaces on mules'
backs, from Edge Hill and other mines. The rising tide of iron
manufacture in Wales and Staffordshire could not fail to swamp such
ineffectual arrangements, and as a natural consequence Cinderford sank."
"Attempts still continued to be made from time to time in the locality,
but the want of success, and the loss of large capital, placed the whole
neighbourhood under a ban. It was during this interval that the name of
David Mushet appears in connexion with the Forest. He made his first
essay at White Cliff, near Coleford, in partnership with a Mr. Alford.
The result was the loss of the entire investment, and the dismantling of
the works, except the shell of the building, as a monument over the grave
of departed thousands. A large quantity of the castings were brought to
Cinderford in 1827, and were connected with the blast apparatus attached
to those works. The names of Birt and Teague now occasionally appeared,
combined with attempts to retrieve the character of the locality for iron
making; but all failed: and Mr. Mushet's famous declaration that physical
difficulties would for ever prevent its success, in connexion with such
repeated failures, seemed for several years to have sealed up the
prospects of the Forest; but at length a glimmer of light broke through
the darkness, and it was reserved for an individual of Forest birth to
prove that the greatest theorists may arrive at wrong practical
conclusions.
"Moses Teague was the day-star who ushered in a bright morning after a
dark and gloomy night. Great natural genius, combined with a rare
devotion to the interests of the Forest, led him to attempt a solution of
the difficulty. In this he so far succeeded at Dark Hill, in the cupola
formerly used by Mr. Mushet, that he formed a company, consisting of
Messrs. Whitehouse, James, and Montague, who took a lease of Park End
Furnace about the year 1825, erected a large water-wheel to blow the
furnace, and got to work in 1826. Having started this concern, Mr.
Teague, who from constitutional tendencies was always seeking something
new, and considered nothing done while aught remained to do, cast his eye
on Cinderford, which he thought presented the best prospects in the
locality; and after making arrangments with Messrs. Montague, Church, and
Fraser, those gentlemen with himself formed the first 'Cinderford Iron
Company,' the writer joining the undertaking when the foundations of the
buildings were being laid. The scheme comprehended two blast furnaces, a
powerful blast engine still at work, finery, forge, and rolling-mill,
designed to furnish about forty tons of tinplate per week with collieries
and mine work. Before the completion of the undertaking it was found
that the outlay so far exceeded their expectations and means, that the
concern became embarrassed almost before it was finished, which, with the
then great depression of the iron trade during the years 1829 to 1832
inclusive, led to the stoppage of the works, which had continued in
operation from November 1829 till the close of 1832, in which state they
continued to 1835, when Mr. Teague again came to the rescue, and induced
Mr. William Allaway, a gentleman in the tinplate trade, of Lydbrook, to
form, in connexion with Messrs. Crawshay, another company. Mr. Teague
having retired from the management of the furnaces, that important post
was filled by Mr. James Broad, a man of great practical knowledge, who
for twenty years succeeded in making iron at Cinderford furnaces of
quality and in quantities which had never been anticipated. There are
now four blast furnaces, three of which are always in blast, and a new
blast engine of considerable power is in course of erection, in addition
to the old engine which has been puffing away for twenty-eight years."
Adverting, in the next place, to the iron-works at Park End, the Reverend
H. Poole kindly supplies the following facts, courteously communicated by
the proprietors:--
"The year 1799 gives the date of the oldest iron furnace here,
situated about half a mile below the original works, and carried on
by a Mr. Perkins. They were afterwards sold to Mr. John Protheroe,
who disposed of the same to his nephew, Edward Protheroe, Esq.,
formerly M.P. for Bristol, who had extensive grants of coal in the
immediate neighbourhood. In 1824 Mr. Protheroe granted a lease of
the furnace and premises, and also sundry iron-mines, to 'the Forest
of Dean Iron Company,' then consisting of Messrs. Montague, James,
&c., until in 1826 Messrs. William Montague of Gloucester, and John
James, Esq., of Lydney, became the sole lessees. These parties, in
1827, erected another furnace, and also an immense waterwheel of 51
feet diameter and 6 feet wide, said to be nearly the largest in the
kingdom, and formed extensive and suitable ponds and canals for the
supply of water. This water-wheel was but little used, in
consequence of the general introduction and superior advantages of
steam power, which was obtained by erecting an engine for creating
the blast. It was considered insufficient, however, for supplying
two furnaces on the blast principle, each of which was 45 feet high,
8 feet diameter at the top, 14 feet diameter at the boshes, and 4
feet 6 inches diameter at the hearth; hence another steam-engine of
80 horse power was erected in 1849, but in consequence of a
depression in the iron trade, and other causes, the two furnaces were
not then worked together. A few years after the decease of Mr.
Montague, in 1847, Mr. James purchased all his interest in the works,
and became the sole lessee until the year 1854, when he purchased of
Mr. Protheroe the fee of the property, together with all the
liabilities of the lease. Since that time the two furnaces have been
constantly worked together, under the superintendence of Mr.
Greenham, one of the proprietors, the firm still continuing as 'the
Forest of Dean Iron Company.'"
"In the year 1851 extensive tinplate works were commenced at Park
End, and 24 houses were built for the workmen, by Messrs. James and
Greenham, at a considerable outlay. These works when completed were
afterwards sold to Messrs. T. and W. Allaway, who enlarged and
improved the same, and are now carried on with much spirit and
success."
The tinworks at Lydney are also in the hands of the above-named firm, and
comprise three forges, mills, and tin-house, producing 1200 boxes of tin
plates a week, with the consumption of from 70 to 80 tons of Cinderford
iron. The Lydney iron-works belonged in early times to the Talbot
family.
At Lydbrook there are the "Upper" and "Lower" works. The latter, or
those nearest the Wye, are said to have belonged originally to the
Foleys, one of whom was elected a free miner in 1754. Mr. Partridge
carried them on for many years in connexion with the furnaces at
Bishopswood, but leased them in 1817 to Mr. Allaway, at which time they
comprised three forges, rolling and bar mills, and tin-house complete,
capable of producing 100 to 150 boxes of tin plates per week. Under the
able management of Mr. Allaway's sons, the works now yield 600 boxes,
sent off by the Wye, the iron used being that from Cinderford, as best
suited for the purpose. The "Upper" works were once farmed for Lord
Gage, but they now belong to Messrs. Russell, who make large quantities
of wire for the electrical telegraph, as well as iron for smith's use.
The iron-works at Sowdley are all that remain to be noticed. Here, as
early as 1565, iron wire is said to have been made, being drawn by
strength of hand. In 1661 Mr. Paysted states that the factory passed
from Roynon Jones, Esq., of Hay Hill, into the hands of a party named
Parnell and Co., who carried on the works until the year 1784, from which
date to 1804 Dobbs and Taylor had them. From 1824 on to 1828 they were
held by Browning, Heaven, and Tryer; but in the latter year Todd,
Jeffries, and Spirrin undertook the business, converting a part of the
premises into paint and brass works, which lasted for about four years.
Two blast furnaces were built on the spot in 1837 by Edward Protheroe,
Esq., who worked them for four years. In 1857 they were purchased by
Messrs. Gibbon, and are now in blast.
Eight blast furnaces were at work in the Forest in the year 1856, and
produced upwards of 24,132 tons of iron of the best quality.
It only remains to state that twenty iron-mines were awarded by the
Mining Commissioners in 1841, and these are since increased to upwards of
fifty, several of them comprising very extensive workings, and are
furnished with very powerful pumping engines; that at Shakemantle raises
198.25 gallons per stroke, and the one at Westbury Brook 24 gallons, from
a depth of 186 yards.
The annual yield of iron mine from the four principal pits is:--
Buckshaft 14,574 Tons.
Old Sling Pit 13,263 ,,
Westbury Brook 11,725 ,,
Easter Iron Mine 10,782 ,,
The total yield from all the iron-mines in the Forest for 1856 was
109,268 tons.