“Sows of Iron are the long pieces of cast iron as they run into the sand immediately from the furnace; thus called from the appearance of this and the shorter pieces which are runned into smaller gutters made in the same sand, from the resemblance they have to a sow lying on her side with her pigs at her dugs.  These are for working up in the forges; but it is usual to cast other sows of iron of very great size to lay in the walls of the furnaces as beams to support the great strain of the work.

“Dam Plate is a large flat plate of cast iron placed on its edge against the front of the furnace, with a stone cut sloping and placed on the inside.  This plate has a notch on the top for the cinder or scruff to run off, and a place at the side to discharge the metal at casting.

“The Shaft of a wheel is a large round beam having the wheel fixed near the one end of it, and turning upon gudgeons or centres fixed in the two ends.

“The Furnace House I take to be what we call the casting-house, where the metal runs out of the furnace into the sand.

“The Bridge is the place where the raw materials are laid down ready to be thrown into the furnace.  I conceive that it had its name (which is still continued) from this circumstance—that in the infancy of these works it was built as a bridge, hollow underneath.  It was not at first known what strength was required to support the blast of a furnace bellows; and the consequence was that they were often out of repair, and frequently obliged to be built almost entirely new.

“Bellows Boards—Not very different from the present dimensions.

“Water Troughs—scooped out of the solid timber.  This shows the great simplicity of these times, not 150 years ago.

“The Hutch, or as it is now corruptly called the Witch, a wide covered drain below the furnace-wheel to carry off the water from it, usually arched, but here only covered with timbers to support the rubbish and earth thrown upon it.

“Cinder Shovels, iron shovels for taking up the cinders into the boxes, both to measure them and to fill the furnace.

“Moulding Ship, an iron tool fixed on a wooden handle, so formed as to make the gutters in the sand for casting the pig and sow iron.

“Casting Ladles, made hollow like a dish, with a lip to lade up the liquid iron for small castings.

“Wringers, large long bars of iron to wring the furnace, that is to clear it of the grosser and least fluid cinder which rises on the upper surface, and would there coagulate and soon prevent the furnace from working aright.

“Constable, a bar of very great substance and length, kept always lying by a furnace in readiness for extraordinary purposes in which uncommon strength and purchase was required.  I suppose this name to have been given to this tool on account of its superior bulk and power, and in allusion to the Constable of St. Briavel’s Castle, an officer heretofore of very great weight and consequence in this forest.

“Cinder Hook, a hook of iron for drawing away the scruff or cinder which runs liquid out of the furnace over the dam plate, and soon becomes a solid substance, which must be removed to make room for fresh cinder to run out into its place.

“Plackett, a tool contrived as a kind of trowel for smoothing and shaping the clay.

“Buckstones, now called Buckstaves, are two thick plates of iron, about 5 or 6 feet long, fixed one on each side of the front of the furnace down to the ground to support the stone work.

“Iron Tempe is a plate fixed at the bottom of the front wall of the furnace over the flame between the buckstaves.

“Tuiron Plate is a plate of cast iron fixed before the noses of the bellows, and so shaped as to conduct the blast into the body of the furnace.

“Tuiron Hooke, a tool contrived for conveying a lump of tempered clay before the point of the tuiron plate, to guard the wall from wearing away as it would otherwise do in that part, there being the greatest force of the fire.

“Firkett Hooks, two strong hooks of square wrought iron fixed at the smallest end of the bellows to keep it firm and in its place.

“Gage, two rods of iron jointed in the middle, with a ring for the filler to drop the shortest end into the furnace at the top, to know when it is worked down low enough to be charged.

“Poises, wooden beams, one over each bellows, fixed upon centres across another very large beam; at the longest end of these poises are open boxes bound with iron, and the little end being fixed with harness to the upper ends of the firketts are thus pressed down, and the bellows with it, by the working of the wheel, while the weight of the poises lifts them up alternately as the wheel goes round.”

* * * * *

As to the length of time these works continued in operation, the late Mr. Mushet, who knew the district intimately, in his valuable papers on iron, &c., considered that they were abandoned shortly after the date of the inventory, i.e. 1635, since, “with the exception of the slags, traces of the water-mounds, and the faint lines of the water-courses, 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 8000 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 troubles of the civil wars, in which the country surrounding the Forest was so much involved, materially disturbed its iron manufactures.  Sir John Winter’s large works at Lydney were wholly destroyed, and probably such others as continued in operation were limited to the casting of cannon and shot, similar to what was used in the siege of Goodrich Castle by Colonel Birch in 1646.  Otherwise iron making was for the time suppressed.

When matters had become somewhat settled, the attention of the Commonwealth was directed to them.  They were placed under the general supervision of Major John Wade, who was assisted in their management by John a Deane.

A contemporary petition, to much the same end, but from a different quarter, was presented by Sir Edward Massey.  He stated, truly enough, that “he had formerly held the works for which he now applied, but they and all his stock were taken from him by the Rump Parliament for his loyalty.”  But he suppressed saying, how they were formerly voted to him by the House of Commons for defeating the staunch royalist Sir John Winter, to whom they previously belonged.

Sir John, himself, was a third, and reasonable applicant for the restoration of his patent for the same, which was as justly restored him; the other, but unsuccessful candidate, being Sir Baynham Throckmorton.

“Price of a Tun of Sow Iron.

“Which Tune of Sow Iron will yield cõib annis, although now debased by the late mispending of the Stock, but wil bee brought up agⁿ to 6^li 10.

“What Quantity the Furnace will cast yearly.

“The Furnace may w^th the Expence of 100^li to p^r serve & pcure a greater ppcõn of water, cast Were Thirty Tunn p weeke, but to reduce it to a greater certainty we will compute at 26 Tunne p weeke, w^ch at 6^li 10^s 6^d p Tunn amounts to 1248 Tunn p An., w^ch at 6^li 10^s O^d p Tunn amounts to 8112^li.  But the Charges to be deducted at 1^li 18^s 6^d p Tunn amounts to 2402^li 8^s deducting w^ch out of the generall pfitt there remains 709^li 12^s O^d.

“Other Charges to be deducted and alowed out of the
Furnace profits.

“Charges of Product of the Forge.

“The Forge will make Cõibus Annis 150 Tunn w^ch will yield genrally 16^li 10^s p Tunn, although now debased by the late mispending of the Stock.

“Three Load of Coales will make a Tunn of Barr Iron, whereof one may be brasses, but sett it at three Loade,

“Other Charges to be allowed out of the yearly
pfitts of the Forge.

The Commissioners further report that all necessary appliances existed on the spot:—

“One excellent Furnace called the Park Furnace, and one Forge called Whitecros Forge.  The later is in good rep^re, but the Furnace wants a Roofe to y^e Cole hous, and some other Rep^rs, w^ch we compute may cost us circa 40^li, and care must be taken whensoever his Ma^ty shall take them into his own handes, that all the Implem^ts the late psõns intrusted w^th the managem^t thereof had deliv’d to them by inventory or otherwise, be forthcoming, or else it will be a great p^rjudice to his Ma^ty.”

The 4th “Order” of the Mine Law Court, dated 27th April, 1680, fixes the prices at which twelve Winchester bushels of iron mine should be delivered at the following places:—St. Wonnarth’s furnace, 10s.; Whitechurch, 7s.; Linton, 9s.; Bishopswood, 9s.; Longhope, 9s.; Flaxley, 8s.; Gunnsmills (if rebuilt), 7s.; Blakeney, 6s.; Lydney, 6s.; at those within the Forest (if rebuilt), the same as in 1668; Redbrooke, 4s. 6d.; the Abbey (Tintern), 9s.; Brochweare, 6s. 6d.; Redbrooke Passage, 5s. 6d.; Gunnpill, 7s.; or ore (intended for inland) shipped on the Severn, 6s. 6d.

The prices affixed to the ore, including delivery, indicate a discontinuance, in a measure, of the mines on the north-east edge of the Forest.  Those adjoining Newland and in Noxon Park, both on the opposite side of the Forest, appear to have formed the principal sources of supply.  The records of the Court of Mine Law, belonging to this date, allude oftener to these works than to others, for the same reason.

Its “order,” dated 8th December, 1685, in providing that “the one-half of the jury of 48 should be iron-miners, and the other half colliers,” manifests considerable decay in the influence and number of the former operatives, once so much otherwise.  It is remarkable that the later orders are silent as regards iron, owing to the suppression of the Forest furnaces.

With respect to the mode now in use of reducing the mine ore, there is preserved so explicit an account, from the pen of Dr. Parsons, the county antiquary and naturalist of that age, as to call for its verbatim insertion here:—

“Jephthah Wyrall, Gent., to R^d Avenant, Gent., and John Wheeler, Gent.

“Articles for the Sale of 10 thousand dozⁿ of cinders, in certain grounds near Mr. Wyrall’s house, called the Correggio, the Limekiln Patch, the Long Sevens, and the Ockwal Field, if so many could be found there.  The Price, 10 Pence the dozen, or 12 Bushels; 6 to be heaped and the other 6 even with the top of the Bushel, or hand-weaved.  Such of them as should be taken to Bishopswood or Parkend to be measured by the Bushel used at Bishop’s wood Furnace; and such as should be carried to Blakeney Furnace by the Bushel used there.  To be raised and fitted for carriage by Avenant and Whealer.  To employ no persons in raising the cinders but such as Mr. Wyrall approves of.  Mr. Wyrall to carry yearly as many cinders as he should please, not exceeding 250 Dozens, to Parkend, at 4^s a dozen.  Should carry to the banks of the river Wye, at 13^d a Dozen such as should be used at Bishop’s Wood Furnace.  Avenant and Whealer to get 800 dozⁿ a year, and as many more as they sh^d please till the 10 Thousand Dozens should be raised: and pay for them yearly on the 1st day of May, and the 1st day of October; and should leave the ground as level and plain as usually is where cinders are gotten (which was promising nothing at all).”

“The iron manufactory is still carried on, and the metal is esteemed peculiarly good; but its goodness does not arise from any extraordinary qualities in the ore, but from the practice of working the furnace and forges with charcoal wood, without any mixture of pit-coal.

“The quantity of charcoal required is so considerable that the furnace cannot be kept in blow or working more than nine months successively, the wheels which work the bellows and hammers being turned by a powerful stream of water.  At this time (28th Oct. 1802) a cessation has taken place for nearly a year.  Lancashire ore, which is brought to Newnham by sea, furnishes the principal supply; the mine found in the Forest being either too scanty to answer the expense of raising it, or when raised too difficult of fusion, and consequently too consumptive of fuel, to allow the common use of it.

“When the furnace is at work, about twenty tons a week are reduced to pig iron; in this state it is carried to the forges, where about eight tons a week are hammered out into bars, ploughshares, &c., ready for the smith.”

Though these operations have been long given up, the furnace buildings removed, and the pools drained in which the water accumulated for driving the machinery, yet the old people of the neighbourhood still recollect when the Castiard’s Vale, now wholly devoted to the picturesque, resounded with the noise of engines.  A solitary heap of Lancashire iron mine alone remains to show what was once operated upon at this spot.

A few years after the decease of Mr. Montague, in 1847, Mr. James bought all his interest in the Works and became the sole lessee, until the year 1854, when he purchased from Mr. Protheroe the fee of the property, together with all the liabilities of the lease.  Since that time the two furnaces have been occasionally worked together, under the superintendence of Mr. Greenham, one of the proprietors, the firm still continuing as “The Forest of Dean Iron Company.”  They produce upwards of 300 tons of pig-iron per week, consuming in the meantime 350 tons of coke, and 600 tons of iron ore, obtained from the neighbouring mines at Oakwood and China Eugene; and from the Perseverance and Findall Mine, on the eastern side of the Forest.  These operations give employment to something like 300 men; and the foundation is now being laid for another furnace.

Similar works, only on a larger scale, are carried on at Lydney by Messrs. W. Allaway and Sons.  These are five in number, and bear the names of The Lower Mill, The Lower Forge, The Middle Forge, The Upper Mill, and The Upper Forge.  About 400 hands are engaged at them, and turn out about 1,000 boxes of tin-plate every week, besides a quantity of sheet-iron.  The materials supplied to these works from the Forest of Dean are pig-iron, coal, fire-bricks and clay, fire-stone and fire-sand, and cordwood for conversion into charcoal.  Lydney has long been famed for its ironworks, which at one time belonged to the Talbot family.

Sowdley, in spite of its natural beauties and retired situation, has been occupied by ironworks since 1565, the ancient family of the Joneses of Hay Hill conducting them as wire-works drawn by power of hand.  Messrs. Parnell and Co. then took to them; from 1784 to 1804 Dobbs and Taylor carried on the works; Browning, Heaven and Tayer followed in 1824, and Todd, Jeffries and Spirrin in 1828, converting a part of the premises into paint and brass works.

Lydbrook has long been the site of several busy ironworks.  They may be specified as the Upper and Lower; the last of these, situated near the Wye, was once the property of the Foleys, by whom so many of the iron works of the beginning of the last century were carried on.  More recently they were in Mr. Partridge’s hands, and were worked in connexion with the furnace at Bishopswood.  In 1817 Mr. Allaway leased them, at which time they comprised three forges, rolling and bar mills, and tin-house complete, capable of producing from 100 to 150 boxes of tin plates per week.  Now, however, under the able management of the late Mr. Allaway’s sons, the Works yield 600 boxes, sent off by the Wye.  The iron used is chiefly that from Cinderford, as being the best suited for the purpose.

The Upper Works, formerly the property of Lord Gage, at the time when the High Meadow Estates belonged to the family, are now owned by Messrs. Russell, the late Mr. Russell having bought them from the Crown in 1818.  His son, Mr. Edward Russell, writes:—

“We have since then considerably improved and enlarged them, and are now employing about 100 hands.  We manufacture wire for fencing, as also for telegraph purposes, of which we can roll from 40 to 50 tons per week.  We likewise make charcoal iron for horse-nails and smith’s work, besides that for agricultural purposes, using the Cinderford, Shropshire, and Staffordshire iron, especially the former.”

Upwards of 36,000 tons of rich ore have been annually obtained from these iron mines for many years, leaving a transverse area of cavernous workings about 70 yards wide.  But a far greater void was formed by the old miners, whose holes occur immediately above, and in which a few scattered tools have been discovered, left behind when operations were abruptly stopped in 1674, but not before the men had burrowed down some 150 yards.

The natural drainage of these mines being towards the Shake-mantle pit, a very powerful pumping engine has been put up there, capable of raising 250 gallons of water to the surface at every stroke.

As many as 250 hands are employed in working these valuable iron mines.

The Westbury-brook iron mine, so called from its situation near the head of that stream, is one of the most productive pits on the eastern side of the Forest basin.

It was begun about the year 1837, immediately below “the old men’s workings.”  These proved to be remarkably extensive and searching, all the ore having been cleared out to a depth, in some places, of 160 yards.  They were also found to contain many ancient mining implements, such as plank-ladders, shovels, helves, &c., all of ash, besides leather shoes and mattock heads, left behind probably when the iron furnaces of the district were suppressed in 1674.

Nearly 200 hands are employed at the Westbury-brook mine pit.  The excavations run north and south for upwards of a mile and a half, their breadth averaging about 16 yards.  They are reached by a shaft 186 yards deep, to the top of which a plunging pump raises 33 gallons of water at each stroke.

For several years past this iron mine has yielded many thousands of tons yearly of the finest red hematite ore.  A steam-engine of 36 horse power brings it to the surface.

The Old Sling iron mine, begun in 1838, on the Clearwell Mean, has long been considered one of the principal mine works on the western edge of the Forest.  Its chief access is by a shaft that descends 105 yards to where the deepest workings begin.  These gradually rise, in accordance with the upward slope of the mine train, until they attain an area of about 20 acres, leaving some 33 acres unwrought above them, to where “the old men’s workings” are reached.  Such is the case about 50 yards below the surface, after they had worked over upwards of seven acres of the mine ore.  These excavations were found to contain some ancient picks and wooden shovels tipped with iron, an addition not met with elsewhere, but rendered necessary in this instance by the harder nature of the matrix of the mine ore.

This iron mine has yielded for several years past 1,000 tons of red hematite ore per month, and employed nearly 100 hands.

The table here appended, by the kind permission of the deputy gaveller, Mr. T. F. Brown, exhibits the proceeds of each of the Dean Forest Iron Mines during the years 1864-5:—

AN ACCOUNT OF IRON ORE RAISED IN DEAN FOREST AND HUNDRED OF
ST. BRIAVEL’S FROM CHRISTMAS, 1863, TO CHRISTMAS, 1865.

Forty other gales of iron ore have been awarded to various parties, and will no doubt be shortly opened.

Thus the first-named document begins by specifying the franchises of the mine locally and personally, meaning its liberties or privileges, as not to be trespassed against, and consisting apparently in this, that every man who possessed it, though it is not stated how, might, with the approval of the king’s gaveller, dig for iron ore or coal where he pleased, not limiting him, as in later times, to the Hundred of St. Briavel’s, but giving as his range the whole county south-west of Gloucester and as far south as the Severn.  There was, too, a right of way awarded to every mine, although in certain cases “forbids” to sell might be declared.

One-third part of the profits of the undertaking belonged to the king, whose gaveller called at the works every Tuesday “between Mattens and Masse,” and received one penny from each miner, the fellowship supplying the Crown with twelve charges of ore per week at twelve pence, or three charges of “sea coal” at one penny.

Timber was allowed for the use of the works above and below ground.

The miners’ clothes and light are mentioned, as likewise the standard measure called “bellis,” and carts and waynes are prohibited.

It alludes to the “court of the wod” at the speech before the Verderers; but more particularly to the debtor court at St. Briavel’s castle or gate, and to the mine court, as regulated by the constable, clerk, and gaveller, with the miners’ jury of twelve, twenty-four, or forty-eight, where all causes relating to the mines were to be alone heard.  Three hands, or three witnesses, were required in evidence, and the oath was taken with a stick of holly held in the hand.

The miners of Mitcheldeane, Little Deane, and Ruer Deane are called “beneath the wood.”  It also appears that at Carlion, Newport, Barkley, Monmouth, and Tulluh, the manufacture of iron was carried on by “smiths,” who were connected with smith holders living in the Forest, and supplying the ore.

For many ages the mining operations of the Forest and the action of the miners’ court seem to have gone on so smoothly, and as a matter of course, that no notices regarding them occur in the documents of those times.

Finding on examination that the reign of the first of the Edwards, and not the third, was the period to which it assigned the confirmation of the Forest of Dean Mine Laws, and that it contained many other inaccuracies, he determined to prepare, in accordance with the valued suggestion of Mr. Smirke, Judge of the Stannaries of Cornwall, a true copy of so ancient and curious a document.

From the note which is appended to it, the existing MS. is evidently the only authentic copy of the original “parchment roll,” out of which it was transcribed by the gaveller, Richard Morse, A.D. 1673, of the penmanship of which period it is a good specimen.

In character it is “sui generis,” though it exhibits traces of resemblance to the laws and customs of the old mining districts of Somerset and Derbyshire, and even with those of Germany, as the accompanying notes show.  The words between brackets do not occur in the original MS., having been inserted by modern printers.  Those in italics give the corrections needed in modern copies.