The High Weald owes much of its character to the ancient craft of blacksmithing. For centuries, the rhythmic clang of hammers and the glow of forges have shaped the landscape and economy. Join us on a journey through time, exploring the evolution of this remarkable craft.
Roman Roots and Medieval Mastery
Ironworking in the Weald dates back to Roman times. The region’s rich iron ore deposits fuelled a thriving industry, supplying the empire with essential materials. As the Romans departed, the craft endured, evolving through the Middle Ages with innovative techniques and water-powered forges.
A Blazing Revolution
The 14th century marked a turning point with the introduction of blast furnaces. These behemoths transformed iron production, enabling the mass creation of everything from cannons to household items. The Weald’s reputation as a leading iron-producing region soared.
Industrial Might and Enduring Legacy
The Industrial Revolution brought further advancements, with steam power and machinery revolutionizing the industry. The Weald’s ironworks produced iconic pieces like the railings of St. Paul’s Cathedral, a testament to the region’s skill and craftsmanship. Today, you can see a part of these original railings on the village hall in Lamberhurst.
Today, the legacy of blacksmithing lives on. Discover the fascinating story of ironmaking through the impressive iron gates at Amelia Scott. Designed by Alex Fox, these intricate panels chronicle the Weald’s iron heritage, from its Roman origins to the present day. Let’s explore these panels in detail with the images below.
Panel 1
If you are looking at the gates and into the courtyard from Monson Way, this is the first gate on left hand side. This first panel shows the history of Roman and early medieval iron making.
At the top of the panel, tree trunks and foliage show a family working in the forests of the High Weald. In the centre a person is digging with a pick-axe for rocks containing iron (iron ore). At the top a child is climbing up the side of a charcoal burner. This was used to smelt the iron, which is the heating process used to extract metal from rock.
At the bottom right corner, a woman is using bellows to pump air into a medieval style furnace, to help it burn, and a man is tipping iron ore into the furnace.
Iron making had begun in the Weald before the Roman invasion of 43 AD. While Julius Caesar records iron production on only a limited scale in the maritime region of Britain, fifty years later the Greek geographer Strabo referred to iron as one of the principal exports, along with slaves and hunting dogs.
There were two main groups of sites, one in the Battle in the Seddlescombe area, producing iron for export and a second one on the northern fringe of the Weald.
With the Roman conquest, the Wealden iron industry developed rapidly as weapons and tools were needed for the army, and nails required in the construction of forts and other timber buildings. The industry was administered by the Roman fleet, and it is probable that the Weald had the status of an Imperial estate, keeping it free from major settlement. This arrangement continued until the end of the third century, when, perhaps due to the vulnerability of the area to raids from Channel pirates, the military operation was transferred to more secure areas like the Forest of Dean. After this, only a few Wealden iron-working sites remained in operation, and all had ceased production by the end of the fourth century.
Iron making was reintroduced into the Weald from the Continent in the Middle Saxon period, but only one site has so far been identified, at Millbrook in the Ashdown Forest.
Panel 2
This panel shows a wooden and tile-roofed medieval forge building, with its brick-faced hearth burning inside, sending smoke out of its chimney.
In front of the forge, a blacksmith is fitting a shoe to a horse. The hearth, which the blacksmith uses to heat iron to a temperature high enough to make it bendable, is lit on the left-hand side inside the building. The metal anvil used by the blacksmith to shape metal against, is visible in front of the furnace’s brick fireplace.
In the Middle Ages, superior iron was imported from Spain and the Baltic, with only a limited amount being produced in the Weald, to be wrought into nails, horseshoes and other plain articles. During the fourteenth century, the industry was transformed by the introduction of waterwheels to power bloomery bellows and hammers.
Panel 3
This panel shows a blast furnace. The drawing has cut away sections which show what is happening inside.
Blast furnaces were a huge technical advancement because they use chemical reactions to extract liquid iron from ore. This created much purer iron, which was more useful for making things.
The person climbing the ladder is taking a load of raw materials to dump into the top of the furnace chimney. This is made up from a mixture of iron ore, coke (a refined form of coal, a fossil fuel) and limestone. After 6-8 hours the raw materials react together to create liquid iron and liquid slag. Slag is the waste material which contains all the impurities removed from the iron ore during its time in the furnace.
The waterwheel at the front of the furnace turns to power bellows. They blow hot air into the furnace. This together with the coke fuel, heats the furnace to over 700 degrees Celsius. It is the heat which makes the combination of raw materials have chemical reactions which separate iron from its ore. The iron produced in a blast furnace is called pig iron.
Technological change with the use of the blast furnace made increased output possible, and the production of cast iron. By the sixteenth century, the Weald was again Britain’s largest iron making area, producing cast iron cannons and shot, firebacks, and grave slabs, in addition to pig iron for converting into wrought iron.
Panel 4
The image shows the inside of the blast furnace and a worker with a container of liquid pig iron on a long pole. In the background is a furnace pond with a duck swimming in it. Streams were dammed and furnace ponds built so that water could be diverted to powering the waterwheels needed to pump air into blast furnaces.
The bloomery process was used from the Iron Age until the introduction of the blast furnace from the Continent in Tudor times. The bloomery furnace was an enclosed combustion chamber with a means of supplying air, usually manually. This process was time labour intensive and produced a lot of waste material.
Before the iron bloom could be re-worked into wrought iron artefacts, any entrapped slag had to be removed by repeated heating on an open forging hearth and hammering on an anvil.
The blast furnace worked on the same principle as the bloomery but employed a stronger forced draught of air to obtain a temperature high enough to melt the iron, which could be tapped off in a molten state. Blast furnaces produced cast iron. If wrought iron was required, the cast iron had to be converted by a process of heating and hammering known as ‘fining’.
Panel 5
This panel shows iron workers at Lamberhurst forge in Tunbridge Wells borough pouring the pig iron into moulds to make the railings which enclosed St Paul’s Cathedral.
These were made in 1695 and were designed by architect William Dickinson.
St Paul’s Cathedral appears in the background.
One of the railings is on display at The Amelia in the ‘Origins of Collecting’ gallery.
Panel 6
The final panel shows parts of the courtyard and the gates of The Amelia Scott building, including the gates themselves. In the background a fox is running across to the left from the woods.
The Iron in the Weald gates have been made using a combination of traditional, centuries old methods and more recent innovations. They are made from steel, a metal alloy which contains iron and carbon and is much stronger than pure iron. The hand-crafted sections were made at Darenth Valley Forge by blacksmith Rhys Harlin and other sections were laser cut in a factory.
The gates are galvanised which gives them their dark colour and protects them from the effects of the weather.
Don’t miss our Wealden Iron celebration at The Amelia on August 24th! Immerse yourself in the world of blacksmithing with hands-on family activities, expert talks, and a live demonstration by Tangmere Forge.
