Iron Making in the Olden Times Part 7

"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 quant.i.ty produced not reaching twenty tons per week. The c.o.kes were brought from Broadmoor in boats, by a small ca.n.a.l, 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 Staffords.h.i.+re 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.

"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 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 const.i.tutional 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 arrangements 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 tin-plate 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 embarra.s.sed 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 tin-plate 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 quant.i.ties which had never been antic.i.p.ated. There are now four blast furnaces, three of which are always in use, 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."

As narrated in an earlier part of this account, Park End long since possessed a furnace and forge, though afterwards suppressed in 1674, and not resumed until 1799, the date of the oldest iron furnace there. It is situated about half a mile lower down the valley than the former one, and was carried on by a Mr. Perkins. The Works were eventually sold to Mr.

John Protheroe, and by him disposed of to his nephew, Edward Protheroe, Esq., formerly M.P. for Bristol, who was likewise the possessor of several collieries near. 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, & Co. This arrangement continued until 1826, when Messrs. William Montague, of Gloucester, and John James, Esq., of Lydney, became the sole lessees. A second furnace was erected by these gentlemen in 1827, as well as an immense water-wheel of 51 feet diameter and 6 feet wide, said at the time to be the largest in the kingdom. Two extensive ponds, still observable, were formed higher up the vale, and connected with the Works by a ca.n.a.l yet remaining. Little use was made, however, of these appliances, owing to the general introduction and superior advantages of steam power. A steam-engine was consequently put up for creating the necessary blast.

Not being found sufficiently powerful to keep two furnaces in operation, each being 45 feet high, 9.5 feet diameter at the top, 14 feet across at the boshes, and 5 feet diameter at the hearth, another steam-engine of 80 horse power was erected in 1849; but owing to 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 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 c.o.ke, 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.

Besides its iron furnaces, Park End is the site of Messrs. T. and W.

Allaway's extensive Tin-Plate Works, erected at a large outlay by Messrs.

James and Greenham in 1851. They find employment for some 200 work-people, by whom 500 boxes of tinplate are made per week. Two-thirds of the iron so used is obtained in the Forest.

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 quant.i.ty 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 bra.s.s works.

In 1837 they were raised to the dignity of blast furnaces by having two of them erected of the usual size, by Edward Protheroe, Esq., and worked by him for four years. The late Mr. Benjamin Gibbons purchased them in 1857; and in 1863 his representatives sold them to Messrs. Goold, by whom they are conducted. At present but one furnace is in blast, yielding about 20 tons of Forest iron each casting, South Wales c.o.ke being the fuel employed. Eighty hands are engaged at these 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, Shrops.h.i.+re, and Staffords.h.i.+re iron, especially the former."

Other works, resembling those just described, are being carried on by Mr.

James Russell at the Forest Vale Iron Works, near Cinderford. When perfected, they will employ not less than 60 pairs of hands, and will supply considerable quant.i.ties of iron rods for telegraphic and other wire, as well as chain-cable iron, the adjoining furnaces affording the requisite metal.

All the iron ore supplied from this neighbourhood to these different works is derived from one or other of the following iron mines, whose present extent may be thus particularized. {61}

The _Shake-mantle_, _Buckshraft_, and _St. Annal's_ pits, on the _eastern_ side of the Forest, const.i.tute that exceedingly important range of mining operations, from which the Cinderford furnaces have long obtained their chief supply of iron ore. These are four in number, having a height of 43 feet, an extreme breadth of 14 feet, that of the hearth being 6 feet. They make 500 tons every week of the finest hot-blast iron.

A peculiar interest attaches to the first of these three pits, owing to its being the oldest mine still at work in this vicinity, though it dates no earlier than 1829, so recently has iron mining been resumed in this part of the district. Buckshraft was begun in 1835-7, and that at St.

Annal's in 1849, each originating in the increasing demand for iron ore at the adjoining blast furnaces. They all descend to the same vein of red hemat.i.te, as well as to one common "level." This runs from one to the others, almost in a direct line two miles long. The shafts are severally 70, 160, and 221 yards deep.

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.

Since 1843 this mine work has been very prosperously conducted by the agents of the Dowlais Iron Company, whither most of its ore is sent to be mixed and smelted with the ore there, much to the improvement of the iron so made.

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 hemat.i.te 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 princ.i.p.al 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 hemat.i.te ore per month, and employed nearly 100 hands.

Another remunerative iron mine, opened on the western side of the forest, is the _Easter_ iron mine. It has three shafts sunk upon it, 100, 113, and 118 yards deep respectively. The first of these, and the only one in work, at which a light steam-engine of 14 horse power is used, communicates with "the old men's workings," though none of their tools have been found in them. About fifty men and boys are employed in this mine, from which upwards of 1,000 tons of ore are procured each month.

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.

NAME OF IRON Half-year Half-year Total. Half-year Half-year Total.

MINE. ended Mid ended ended Mid ended Summer 1864. Christmas Summer 1865. Christmas 1864. 1865.

Perseverance 5,199 4,217 9,416 5,742 7,126 12,868 and Findall New China 123 66 189 240 170 410 Level New Dun Pit 1,255 985 2,190 ... ... ...

Buckshraft 21,400 18,370 39,770 22,245 23,882 46,127 Tingle's Mine 548 ... 548 ... 405 405 Level Crow's Nest 1,893 2,975 4,868 ... ... ...

Old Ham 514 ... 514 89 456 545 Oakwood Mill 2,923 2,222 5,145 1,723 4,761 6,484 Westbury Brook 10,180 9,773 19,953 7,756 11,293 19,049 Old Sling 8,889 7,051 15,940 6,267 6,113 12,380 Easter 5,584 3,911 9,495 1,788 2,760 4,548 Yewtree 173 67 240 ... ... ...

Dean's Meend 7,540 7,228 14,768 8,192 6,176 14,368 Clearwell 1,277 3,416 4,693 ... ... ...

Shraves 731 364 1,095 367 186 558 Scar Pit 524 ... 524 ... ... ...

Staunton ... ... ... 543 941 1,484 Wigpool ... ... ... ... 402 402 Scar Pit ... 488 488 ... ... ...

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

No account of the production of iron in the Forest of Dean can be called complete which does not include some description of the "laws and privileges," the "customs and franchises" of the original operatives by whom the mine ore was obtained. As the miners themselves invariably refer to the "Book of Dennis" and the seventeen orders of their court of mine law for all authoritative information respecting their guild, or fraternity of free miners.h.i.+p, the reader is furnished with the following summary of their contents.

Thus the first-named doc.u.ment begins by specifying the franchises of the mine locally and personally, meaning its liberties or privileges, as not to be trespa.s.sed 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 Ma.s.se," and received one penny from each miner, the fellows.h.i.+p 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.

Only such persons as had been born and were abiding in the Forest were to frequent the mines, in working which the distance of a stone's throw was always to be kept, and property in them might be bequeathed.

The miners' clothes and light are mentioned, as likewise the standard measure called "bellis," and carts and waynes are prohibited.