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Post-Medieval Archaeology 44/1 (2010), 1–53 © Society for Post-Medieval Archaeology 2010 DOI: 10.1179/174581310X12662382629094 1 Five centuries of iron working: excavations at Wednesbury Forge By PAUL BELFORD SUMMARY: Archaeological excavations undertaken between 2004 and 2008 at Wednesbury Forge, Wednesbury, West Midlands encountered extensive remains of timber and masonry structures and other features. Historical and archaeological evidence revealed a sophisticated ironworking complex in existence by c. 1600, which was subsequently continually adapted and redeveloped until the site closed in 2005. Processes included finery and chafery forges, nail-making, saw-making, gun-making and edge-tool manufacture. Later developments included a wind-powered grinding mill, internal railway networks, water turbines, rolling mills, housing and workers’ recreational facilities. Archaeological investigations comprised documentary research, excavation, building recording, oral history and process recording. INTRODUCTION This paper describes the results of archaeological research and investigation undertaken by Iron- bridge Archaeology at Wednesbury Forge between 2001 and 2007. The site was in continuous use as an iron forge from the late 16th century to the early 21st century. Wednesbury Forge was situated in the modern Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell (historically part of south Staffordshire). It was located approximately 1.5km north-east of the medieval town centre of Wednesbury, and 0.5km south-east of Junction 9 of the M6 motorway (NGR SP 0020 9620). The forge was situated in the valley of the River Tame, from which it drew its water supply (Fig. 1). The underlying geology is that of the Coal Measures, specifically the so-called ‘Ten Yard Seam’ or ‘Thick Coal’ (in fact, about a dozen closely overlying seams) of the South Staffordshire Coalfield, which lies very close to the surface and outcrops in places. 1 The upper part of this seam was encountered during archaeological fieldwork, and was cut through by the construction of the forge. This is overlain by deposits of boulder clay, sands and gravels deposited during the last Ice Age. WEDNESBURY AND ITS INDUSTRIES Despite the evidently Saxon origins of Wednesbury as a place name, 2 the settlement itself may have been preceded by an Iron Age hill fort on what is now Church Hill. 3 At Domesday the Manor of Wednesbury was part of Crown lands and possessed a corn mill. 4 The original nucleus of the medieval settlement was probably near Church Hill or within the market place, later spreading to the north-east. 5 Industrial activity began early in Wednesbury, with coal and iron being mined in the area by 1315. 6 Geology influenced the early development of the pottery industry in Wednes- bury, and potters were first noted in 1422. 7 By the 16th century a substantial ceramic industry had emerged, which continued to dominate the region until eclipsed by the 18th-century expansion of the north Staffordshire potteries. 8 The earliest period of pottery production included Cistercian- type wares and Midlands purple ware, as well as so-called ‘Wednesbury ware’ (a redware). Wednesbury pottery products are well known from contexts across the English Midlands, and recent archaeological fieldwork in Wednesbury 44-1-1-PMA 01.indd 1 44-1-1-PMA 01.indd 1 3/1/2010 7:34:59 PM 3/1/2010 7:34:59 PM

Wednesbury Forge Excavations

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Excavations of a long-established high-quality iron forge, founded in the late 1500s and still going in 2005. Report describes all phases of site use and occupation from c.1580 onwards. Copious illustrations and discussion.

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Page 1: Wednesbury Forge Excavations

Post-Medieval Archaeology 44/1 (2010), 1–53

© Society for Post-Medieval Archaeology 2010 DOI: 10.1179/174581310X12662382629094

1

Five centuries of iron working: excavations at Wednesbury Forge

By PAUL BELFORD

SUMMARY: Archaeological excavations undertaken between 2004 and 2008 at Wednesbury Forge, Wednesbury, West Midlands encountered extensive remains of timber and masonry structures and other features. Historical and archaeological evidence revealed a sophisticated ironworking complex in existence by c. 1600, which was subsequently continually adapted and redeveloped until the site closed in 2005. Processes included fi nery and chafery forges, nail-making, saw-making, gun-making and edge-tool manufacture. Later developments included a wind-powered grinding mill, internal railway networks, water turbines, rolling mills, housing and workers’ recreational facilities. Archaeological investigations comprised documentary research, excavation, building recording, oral history and process recording.

INTRODUCTION

This paper describes the results of archaeological research and investigation undertaken by Iron-bridge Archaeology at Wednesbury Forge between 2001 and 2007. The site was in continuous use as an iron forge from the late 16th century to the early 21st century. Wednesbury Forge was situated in the modern Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell (historically part of south Staffordshire). It was located approximately 1.5km north-east of the medieval town centre of Wednesbury, and 0.5km south-east of Junction 9 of the M6 motorway (NGR SP 0020 9620). The forge was situated in the valley of the River Tame, from which it drew its water supply (Fig. 1). The underlying geology is that of the Coal Measures, specifi cally the so-called ‘Ten Yard Seam’ or ‘Thick Coal’ (in fact, about a dozen closely overlying seams) of the South Staffordshire Coalfi eld, which lies very close to the surface and outcrops in places.1 The upper part of this seam was encountered during archaeological fi eldwork, and was cut through by the construction of the forge. This is overlain by deposits of boulder clay, sands and gravels deposited during the last Ice Age.

WEDNESBURY AND ITS INDUSTRIES

Despite the evidently Saxon origins of Wednesbury as a place name,2 the settlement itself may have been preceded by an Iron Age hill fort on what is now Church Hill.3 At Domesday the Manor of Wednesbury was part of Crown lands and possessed a corn mill.4 The original nucleus of the medieval settlement was probably near Church Hill or within the market place, later spreading to the north-east.5 Industrial activity began early in Wednesbury, with coal and iron being mined in the area by 1315.6 Geology infl uenced the early development of the pottery industry in Wednes-bury, and potters were fi rst noted in 1422.7 By the 16th century a substantial ceramic industry had emerged, which continued to dominate the region until eclipsed by the 18th-century expansion of the north Staffordshire potteries.8 The earliest period of pottery production included Cistercian-type wares and Midlands purple ware, as well as so-called ‘Wednesbury ware’ (a redware). Wednesbury pottery products are well known from contexts across the English Midlands, and recent archaeological fi eldwork in Wednesbury

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2 PAUL BELFORD

has recovered evidence in the form of kiln bases and waster dumps.9

The River Tame provided power to several installations in Wednesbury, including the manorial corn mill noted at Domesday. This was demised by William de Heronville (then lord of the manor) to Bordesley Abbey c. 1230, but by c. 1280 the mill had been sub-let to Sir Thomas Hillary of nearby Bescot.10 Rivalry between the de Heronville and Hillary families during the 13th and 14th centuries resulted in the construction of a second corn mill in Wednesbury, and the original corn mill site

was probably converted to use as a fulling mill by 1423.11 After the Dissolution this site was eventu-ally converted to an iron forge and later became known as Wednesbury Bridge Forge. The heyday of this ironworks was in the later 18th century when it was occupied by John Wood, who ‘made a fortune as contractor for the making of Irish coinage’.12 By the 1820s it had been re-converted to a corn mill, and it fi nally closed in 1885.13

Other ironworking sites included Sparrow’s Forge, which was a short-lived 18th- and 19th-century enterprise; originally horse-powered and

FIG. 1

Wednesbury Forge: site location, showing standing buildings in 2001 and extent of interventions in 2005 (evaluation trenches in black, numbered) and 2006–7 (area of excavation shown shaded).

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WEDNESBURY FORGE 3

later relocated and converted to water power.14 Iron smelting does not seem to have taken place in Wednesbury until the late 18th century, although there may have been a furnace in the area as early as the 1590s.15

Wednesbury Forge (the subject of archaeo-logical fi eldwork described here) was a separate entity from either of the two corn mills, the fulling mill and the Wednesbury Bridge Forge. The detailed history of the Wednesbury Forge site is presented below; suffi ce to say here that the earliest docu-mentary reference is to a ‘riotous and unlawful assembly’ in 1597, when workers from Wednes-bury Bridge Forge descended on Wednesbury Forge armed with shovels and axes.16 In 1606 Wednes-bury Forge was leased by William Comberford (then lord of the manor) to Walter Coleman.17 By the late 1650s the forge was occupied by the Foley partnership, who later sub-let it to various tenants. In 1704 the site was let to John Willetts, beginning four generations of occupation by that family, who manufactured saws and guns. In 1817 the forge was let to Edward Elwell, an edge tool maker, who bought the site outright in 1831. Even to the present day the site is locally known as ‘Elwell’s

Forge’. In 1970 Wednesbury Forge was taken over by Spear and Jackson, who continued to manufacture edge tools there until 2005.

THE SITE IN ITS LANDSCAPE SETTING

The original layout of the site was determined by water-power arrangements. This layout was fossilized by subsequent developments, and even when water power was fi nally abandoned in the early 20th century the form of the landscape respected these antecedents. Water power was provided by the River Tame, which fl ows roughly from west to east through the area. For most of the site’s history, a headrace from the Tame diverted water to a pair of pools to the west of the forge. During the 16th and 17th centuries the northern pool was predominant; in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries a southern pool was also in use.18 For a period during the 18th century the southern pool was the principal pool. Throughout the forge’s existence the main area of forging activities was situated to the east of both pools, with water supply regulated at the point where they met (Fig. 2). For most of the 16th to 18th centuries the

FIG. 2

Wednesbury Forge in its landscape setting, based on the 1903 Ordnance Survey map and showing the River Tame and tributaries.

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4 PAUL BELFORD

forge complex was confi ned to an area approxi-mately 50m (E–W) by 30m (N–S) immediately east of the pools. The outfl ow (tailraces) of the water-power system also proved a resilient arrangement, the original tailraces being culverted in the 17th and 18th centuries and remaining in use well into the 20th century.

PROJECT BACKGROUND

In 2001 Ironbridge Archaeology were commis-sioned by Crouch Butler Savage Limited (on behalf of their clients Opus Land) to undertake an His-toric Landscape Appraisal of land at Wednesbury Forge. This was part of a planning application for redevelopment of the land for employment purposes; the desk-based assessment was required as part of the pre-determination conditions. The desk-based report identifi ed areas of archaeologi-cal potential, and recommended fi eld evaluation of the site to determine the nature, extent and state of preservation of any archaeological remains.19 The development project involved work on several different landholdings, and due to the complexities of pre-development negotiation, fi eldwork did not take place until 2005.

The evaluation comprised two stages of trial trenching, in April–May and July–August 2005 (Fig. 1).20 Nine trial trenches were excavated, focusing on the areas identifi ed as the historic core of the forge (Trenches 1, 2 and 3), surrounding areas identifi ed as 18th- and 19th-century develop-ment from historical sources (Trenches 4, 5 and 6/6a), and ancillary areas such as managers’ and workers’ housing and water-power regulation (Trenches 7, 9 and 10). Process recording of forging operations was also undertaken.

The results of the fi eld evaluation suggested that substantial well-stratifi ed remains of the his-toric core of the forge survived. Since the develop-ment area included a number of relict watercourses and made ground of uncertain solidity, develop-ment was best enabled by the removal and consoli-dation of such features. Consequently the decision was taken to mitigate the archaeological impact of the development through preservation by record. This took the form of open-area excavation of the historic core of the forge, together with isolated interventions in outlying areas and a watching brief on redevelopment (Fig. 1). Open-area excava-tion was undertaken in two main phases. The fi rst took place between March and September 2006, and focused on identifying the full extent of the historic forge complex and recording 18th-, 19th- and 20th-century levels. The second phase took place between January and June 2007, with further work in July and September 2007 (interrupted by

that summer’s exceptionally wet weather). This concentrated on 16th-, 17th- and 18th-century levels. Post-excavation analysis and specialist reporting took place during 2007 and 2008, with the fi nal ‘grey literature’ report submitted to Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council (MBC) Historic Environment Record in 2009.

PRESENTATION OF RESULTS

Despite the inevitable complexities of a site in continuous industrial use for fi ve centuries, it was possible to arrive at a close correspondence between the archaeological sequence and the his-torical record. Therefore the story of each period in the site’s development is presented as a self-contained narrative. The documented history enhances the already vivid story told by the archae-ology. Archaeology is the act of recovering the past directly from the earth; history — the recovery of the past through the foggy lens of written sources — is, at Wednesbury, the handmaiden of archaeol-ogy. Description of artefacts and specialist analysis is also incorporated into the main body of the nar-rative. Inevitably this narrative is an abridgement of the archaeological sequence. Those seeking more detailed analysis of individual elements can await the publication of a monograph (currently in preparation), or inspect the relevant ‘grey litera-ture’ reports at the Sandwell MBC Historic Envi-ronment Record, or explore the excavation archive deposited with Wednesbury Museum.

PERIOD 1: COMBERFORD’S FORGE (c. 1585–1656)

The date of c. 1585 is suggested for the commence-ment of operations at Wednesbury Forge. This is based on the renewal of an earlier lease in 1606, in which the already-extant forge was described as ‘decayed’.21

PHASE I: 16TH CENTURY

The earliest activity on site involved the construc-tion of two timber-framed wheelpits and their associated tailraces. These correspond with the 1606 description of an existing fi nery and chafery, powered by water supplied from dammed water-courses with fl oodgates.22 Wheelpit 1 [2065, 2146] was located at the northern end of the site, with Wheelpit 3 [1869, 2125] situated some 15m to the south (Fig. 3). Both wheelpits and associated tailraces were of similar construction, although Wheelpit 3 and its associated tailrace were heavily truncated by later disturbance, notably the insertion of a steam engine in Phase XI.

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WEDNESBURY FORGE 5

FIG. 3

Wednesbury Forge: Period 1, Phases I and II. Overall site plan showing 16th- and early 17th-century features.

The northern wheelpit (Wheelpit 1) was the best-preserved example, due to its abandonment early in the forge’s history. Its construction methods were employed in subsequent wheelpit and tailrace structures, so it is described in detail here to avoid later repetition.

A trench [2066] oriented east–west and approximately 2m wide, had been cut through the underlying natural clay. This was then packed with levelling layers [2018] and [2019]. Two parallel oak beams, each c. 5m long and 0.15–0.2m square in section, were laid 0.5m apart along this cut, and

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6 PAUL BELFORD

were braced with a series of lateral oak timbers spaced c. 1m apart. Upright timbers were mortised into the longitudinal base beams. These uprights averaged approximately 0.15–0.2m square in section

and survived to around 1m high. Oak planks were then nailed to both sides of the resulting box-frame, forming side-boards for the interior of the wheelpit and revetting for the exterior (Fig. 4).

FIG. 4

Wednesbury Forge: Wheelpit 1. Top: plan as excavated, showing components and phasing. Bottom: isometric reconstructed drawings as built and exploded views.

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WEDNESBURY FORGE 7

The rear of the wheelpit had a fl oor of oak planks which curved upwards, secured together with an interlocking lap joint and pegged together using dowels. Curving side-boards were fi xed to these base planks with nails (Fig. 5). This con-struction provided an effi cient close fi t for a water-wheel. The resulting wheelpit would have been approximately 0.4m wide. Fragments of straight bucket-boards, on average 0.3m wide with cham-fered ends, were found beneath the later phase of this wheelpit (see below). Wear-marks were evident on the southern internal side-boards of the wheelpit, and from these the diameter of the water-wheel was estimated at approximately 4m. Assuming that pond levels were consistent between the 16th and 19th centuries, this water-wheel would have been breast-shot.

This method of planked box-frame construc-tion continued eastwards to form the tailrace, although unlike the wheelpit the fl oor of the tailrace was clay-lined and did not have timber boarding. Although truncated, fragments of Tail-race 1 were noted 22m east of the wheelpit. After

construction of the timberwork, the foundation trench was then backfi lled with redeposited clay [2067].

As with Wheelpit 1, construction of Wheelpit 3 comprised an oak base frame of longitudinal members joined with lateral cross-sleepers [1869] and [2125] (Fig. 6). Most of the wheelpit was destroyed by 18th- and 19th-century intrusions, and so it was not possible to determine the original location or size of the water-wheel. The tailrace had been truncated to the level of the base timbers, so uprights and side-boards did not survive.

PHASE II: EARLY 17TH CENTURY

In 1597 Thomas and Richard Parkes, together with fi ve labourers, were alleged to have broken into Wednesbury Forge and expelled William Comber-ford and William Whorwood. Whorwood’s iron mill at Perry Bar was also visited by Parkes; Whor-wood retaliated by attacking Parkes’ ironworks at Perry Bar and Handsworth.23 These actions clearly put the forge out of business for some time, and

FIG. 5

Wednesbury Forge: Wheelpit 1 during excavation. North-facing view of the western end of the structure showing the wheelpit curvature.

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in 1606 Comberford leased the forge to his son-in-law, Walter Coleman of Cannock, in partnership with Thomas Chetwynd.24 Coleman and Chetwynd had both been involved in iron forges in the Cannock area; Chetwynd later going on to develop the slitting mill at the now-eponymous village and establishing a family concern that had interests in forges and furnaces elsewhere in Staffordshire later in the 17th century.25

The terms of the 1606 lease required Coleman to rebuild and repair the forge, and to pay rent of £20 per annum. This rent could be reduced at one year’s notice to £5 13s. 4d., providing he only worked the forge when Comberford could spare the water.26 There would have been little incentive for Coleman to make signifi cant improvements to the forge, since these would have increased his demand for water and prevented him from paying reduced rent.

REPAIRS TO WHEELPIT 1

It is perhaps not surprising that Coleman fi rst repaired the existing infrastructure. During the 16th century, the mortises along the original northern longitudinal base beam of Wheelpit 1 had

fractured. This suggests a quite serious accident, such as the unseating of the wheel from its bear-ings, creating excessive strain on the box-frame structure and causing it to fail. It is tempting to link this with sabotage during events in 1597, although it could have resulted from ordinary wear and tear. The rebuilding inserted a new base timber [2105] along the northern side of the wheelpit, into which new and reused uprights from the original con-struction were inserted and side-boards re-fi xed. This alteration slightly widened the structure, but the inner dimensions of the wheelpit itself did not change (Fig. 4). Dendrochronology on this new timber gave a date of 1524, although the absence of sapwood in the sample probably renders this signifi cantly too early to be a reliable indicator of felling or construction.

With Wheelpit 1 back in running order, Cole-man turned his attention to the wider water supply situation. He built a ‘weere or stank’ on the northern mill race to Wednesbury Forge.27 Coleman evidently felt that these repairs were suffi cient to permit the rent reduction, and gave Comberford notice to this effect. However, Comb-erford was clearly unhappy and brought a Chan-cery suit against his son-in-law (one wonders what his daughter thought about this), in which he alleged that Coleman had failed to repair the forge. In reply, Coleman argued that a lot of this work had already taken place, and further work was ongoing.28

Comberford was regularly bringing Chancery suits against various tenants, and in this case the archaeological evidence unequivocally supports Coleman’s defence. In fact, Coleman had con-structed two entirely new and extremely sophisti-cated water-powered forging installations during the fi rst twelve years of his lease. Both of these were double-channel systems, containing two par-allel but offset water-wheels in order to power a bellows and adjacent hammers.

WHEELPIT 4

Wheelpit 4 and its associated tailrace were built approximately 10m south of the then still-extant Wheelpit 3. Construction was similar to Wheelpit 1, except that three parallel sets of longitudinal base timbers were deployed to create a double wheelpit (Fig. 7). Dendrochronology gave a con-struction date of c. 1603–14; supported by a yellow ware jug found in the fi ll [2158] of the construction cut. Only the very base of the western end of this structure survived (a total length of about 15m), the wheelpit (eastern) end having been removed by the insertion of a brick wheelpit in the 18th century, and the tailrace truncated by later culverting.

FIG. 6

Wednesbury Forge: Tailrace 3 during excavation, east-facing view (scale 0.3m).

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WEDNESBURY FORGE 9

The two channels merged into a single tailrace approximately 20m downstream from the wheel-pit; this fed into an open tailrace which served all the water-power installations. A timber platform [2156] was located south of Tailrace 4, consisting of two layers of horizontally-laid timbers creating a solid platform capable of supporting an anvil.

With the installation of Wheelpit 4 and its tailrace (actually two wheels), Coleman now had four operational water-wheels and the beginnings of a substantial forge operation. The construction of Wheelpit 4 enabled him to consider upgrading

infrastructure whilst still maintaining production. Perhaps encouraged by the pending case in Chan-cery, he turned his attention to the centre of the site. Adjacent to the old Wheelpit 3 Coleman constructed another ambitious double-wheel installation which was evidently intended to replace it.

WHEELPIT 2

Wheelpit 2 (again two wheelpits) was the most complete surviving example of these early 17th-century timber installations (Fig. 8). This was 2.3m wide overall, comprising two parallel wheelpits and tailraces constructed using three oak base beams braced by lateral cross-sleepers; the total surviving length was 29m. Carpenters’ numbering marks were evident on some of the timbers (Fig. 9). The northern wheelpit at the western end of this structure retained its timber base-boards in situ (Fig. 10). To the north of this were some substan-tial timbers [2045, 2089]: the relict substructure of a bellows or anvil installation. Dendrochronology gave a construction date of between 1616 and 1618 — evidently the work that was ongoing at the time of the Chancery case.

Ian Tyers’ examination of the Wednesbury timbers found that they came from trees which had suffered ‘rapid growth reductions followed by either steady recovery or permanently slowed growth’.29 This growth pattern resulted in extreme-ly dense, gnarled timbers, possibly the result of lopping of hedgerow or coppice woodland. The knots and compression wood within these timbers meant they would have been less likely to split than straight-grained wood, and so may have been deliberately selected to allow for the stresses and strains of machinery. Although it was not possible to be more than regionally specifi c about the sup-ply of timber, the nearby woodlands of Cannock Chase (where Coleman was born) would have been of the right character to provide this material.

A small fragment of water-wheel was found in the fi ll of the northern channel of Tailrace 2 (Fig. 11). This consisted of one section of sole board, into which were cut three 20mm grooves; these held the bucket boards or paddles which were fi xed by nails. This fragment would have been part of a wheel that was 4.38m in diameter, which is consistent with the evidence from Wheelpit 1. Moreover, it suggests that the original early 17th-century fl oor level would have been approximately 2.19m above the base of the wheelpit. Given that Wheelpit 2 and its associated tailrace was truncat-ed to a surviving height of not more than 0.3m, it is perhaps not surprising that these massive timber structures are the only evidence for the early history of the site.

FIG. 7

Wednesbury Forge: Tailrace 4, plan as excavated.

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The construction of the two double-wheel installations (Wheelpits 2 and 4) in the southern part of the site rendered the earlier Wheelpit 3 redundant. The tailrace was fi lled in two distinct phases. The fi rst related to the period when the installation was still in use: a series of laminated silts [1870] containing various ironworking debris, including fi nery slags, molten iron slags, smithing hearth and hammerscale conglomerates, as well as a number of hand-forged nails. The second layer

was a deliberate fi lling episode [2127] which con-tained a sherd of blackware dating to the fi rst half of the 17th century.

PERIOD 2: FOLEY’S FORGE (1656–1704)

William Comberford died in 1625, leaving £20 for the poor of Wednesbury.30 Despite his various battles with rivals and tenants, and his unabashed

FIG. 8

Wednesbury Forge: Wheelpit and Tailrace 2, plan as excavated and cross-section.

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Catholicism, he had built a successful political and business career and had sired numerous children with his two wives. The manor passed to his son William and then to his grandson, John Comber-ford, in 1653.31 John settled the estate as a whole on

Trustees, cleared the debts, and three years later sold the manor (including the forge) to his cousin, John Shelton of West Bromwich.32 This period can be divided into two phases.

PHASE III: MID- TO LATE 17TH CENTURY

After acquiring Wednesbury Forge, John Shelton promptly leased it to Thomas Foley of the well-known family of Midlands ironmasters. In 1667 the site was transferred to Thomas’ son Philip Foley, presumably part of the elder Foley’s settle-ment at this time to Philip of all his Midlands iron-making concerns.33 Wednesbury was a closely integrated part of Foley’s Stour valley group of ironworks, pig iron coming from the blast furnace at Hales and the wrought iron bar sent down to the slitting mill at Bustleholme.34 During the fi rst few years of this period, at least until 1672, the forge was managed on Foley’s behalf by William Spencer. Output of wrought iron during those six years ranged from 92 to 141 tons per year; the snapshot provided by the year-end account taken on 27 March 1669, for example, reveals over 68 tons of cast iron and nearly 5 tons of wrought iron on the premises, together worth nearly £470, as well as 75 loads of charcoal worth over £78.35

This scale of operations was made possible by various improvements and additions to the site. Archaeologically, since the 17th-century ground levels were removed by later developments, the above-ground details of these improvements are not entirely clear. However, the evidence of the water management system, together with residual fi nds from later phases, suggests a period of expan-sion and improvements in productivity during the third quarter of the 17th century (Fig. 12).

The principal work involved culverting the formerly open tailraces leading from double-wheelpits 2 and 4. This involved partial removal of timber structures built by Coleman, and their replacement by brick arched culverts leading to the open watercourse. In both Tailrace 2 and Tailrace 4 existing base beams were used as foundations for the construction of new brickwork, and the new culverts exactly followed their predecessors’ line. In both cases the northern channel was kept in use whilst the southern channel was constructed, thus enabling the water-power system to remain in use.

In Tailrace 2 the brick culvert [1630, 1685, 1868, 2116] incorporated a square extension to the north, possibly a sluice or regulator. Abutting the south side of Tailrace 2 was a brick-built circular feature, 2.25m in diameter [1855], possibly a cistern for quenching; this had an outlet into the southern wall of the new culvert. The fi ll [1860] consisted of very heavily cemented dark silt with slag and

FIG. 9

Wednesbury Forge: carpenters’ numbering marks on one of the base beams of Tailrace 2.

FIG. 10

Wednesbury Forge: Wheelpit 2 looking west, showing timber base-boards (scale 2m).

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ash inclusions. Parts of the earlier timber structure (including the side-boards) were retained and built around; to the east this section of culvert stopped short of the main open watercourse. Finds from deposits in the now-redundant northern channel of Tailrace 2 [2061, 2135], principally coarse earth-enwares, suggest that it had gone out of use by the fi nal quarter of the 17th century. The culverting of Tailrace 4 to the south was achieved in much the same way, although here the walls of the culvert [1173, 1174, 1182, 1183, 1566] were built on the outer base-frame timbers of the tailrace, thus enclosing both channels (Fig. 13). Unlike its north-ern counterpart, culverting here extended to the edge of the main open watercourse. The new north and south culverts were linked by a further brick culvert oriented north–south [1856], incorporating the cistern [1855].

All of these new culverts and associated features were built of handmade clamp-fi red bricks bonded with sandy lime mortar. The base of these culverts was formed by compacting a mixture of forging waste, hammerscale and slag [2157] onto the underlying clay, creating an impermeable base.

Thus Philip Foley, with his manager William Spencer, had created an effi cient fi nery and chafery forge in an enlarged working area between two existing double-wheel installations. Equipment at the forge in 1669 included two pairs of fi nery and chafery bellows, two grindstones, hammer beams and a spare anvil.36 It was probably during this period that the old timber-framed Wheelpit 1 at the northern end of the site was abandoned. A period of intermittent water fl ow was suggested by the accumulation of fi ne silts with inclusions of decom-posed vegetation [2094]; this was overlain by clean

silty clay [2069], indicating that the water supply had ceased altogether. The 1669 accounts refer to ‘one pair of old fi nery bellows’, and these may relate to an installation associated with Wheelpit 1.

PHASE IV: LATE 17TH CENTURY

The culverting of the tailraces was only the fi rst stage in upgrading the forge. In 1676 the Foleys sub-let the site to Humfrey Jennens, who contin-ued to produce bar iron for the Foley concern. In 1677 Foley was granted the lease of ‘the leat to the forge . . . called Wednesbury Forge’,37 which evidently provided security of water supply and gave him the confi dence to embark on a series of further improvements to the water system. Repairs were recorded in 1678, and a further agreement was struck between Philip Foley and Humfrey Jennens the following year.38

BRICK WHEELPITS

The historical evidence supports the archaeologi-cal record, since it was at around this time that Philip Foley began to make a serious investment in the wheelpits themselves. Both wheelpits associ-ated with the newly-culverted Tailraces 2 and 4 were reconstructed in brick, presumably the 1678 repairs. In the case of the southern wheelpit (feed-ing into Tailrace 4), the existing timber structures were simply replaced by one in brick, on the same east–west orientation. Two severely-truncated walls [1641] at the very base of the later wheelpit survived from the 17th-century rebuild; these were curved, suggesting that the rebuilt wheelpit may have been signifi cantly wider than the pair of wheelpits which it replaced.

FIG. 11

Wednesbury Forge: water-wheel fragments from Tailrace 2 (sole board, left) and Tailrace 1 (bucket fragments, right).

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More dramatic was the redevelopment of the water-power installation to the north. The timber Tailrace 2 had already been replaced by brick culverts, but the replacement of the water-wheels was not as straightforward. Instead, the decision

was made to reorientate the wheelpit through 90°, and relocate it to the west. This new northern wheelpit could have been over 2.5m wide (ie. east–west); however its original extent was not clear due to later alterations — the extant wheelpit which

FIG. 12

Wednesbury Forge: Period 2, Phases III and IV. Overall site plan showing later 17th- century features.

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14 PAUL BELFORD

replaced it measured 2.8 × 5.5m. This later wheel-pit incorporated a 1.5m-high section of original 17th-century brickwork in its southern elevation [1730]. This was constructed of handmade clamp-fi red bricks bonded in lime mortar, and had been

curved to accommodate the water-wheel, just as its timber antecedent (Wheelpit 1) had done.

The reason for the reorientation of this fea-ture is not immediately clear. Possibly this was a way in which the new wheelpit could be constructed

FIG. 13

Wednesbury Forge: culverting the tailraces during Phase III. Top: fi nds from deposits associated with the infi lling of Tailrace 3 and the culverting of Tailrace 4. Bottom: west-facing view of Tailrace 2 during excavation showing how the

brick culverts rested directly on their timber antecedents (scale 2m).

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whilst keeping the old wheelpits in use. However, it may also refl ect the introduction of new processes to the forge, such as a rolling mill. Certainly the forge was being used for ‘plating’ by the fi rst de-cade of the 18th century.39

NEW BUILDINGS AND OLD RUBBISH

A substantial timber building was also erected on the site during this period, presumably to house the new and expanded machinery of the forge. Parts of this structure were reused during Phase VIII as a boring mill base. These timbers included reused sill beams [1473] and [1476] and joists [1487] and [2112]. This or another building incorporated a small brick-built cellar [1682], also constructed in the third quarter of the 17th century, and incor-porating into its fl oor [1449] in situ timbers from the long-infi lled former Tailrace 3. The cellar was reached by a curved brick staircase which showed considerable wear [1461].

As noted above, the old Wheelpit 1 was already redundant, and began to be fi lled during this period with waste and rubbish. The lower fi ll deposits [2091, 2147] of this feature contained charcoal and forging waste as well as general rub-bish, probably representing clearance of buildings on site and a consequence of the new building pro-gramme. Detritus included a 16th-century pewter spoon and a handmade brass thimble (Fig. 14).

The 1669 accounts showed ‘10 pair bedsteads’ in ‘workmen’s houses’ on the site, and at least that number would have been employed at the works.40 These included Nicholas Record, the hammerman between 1672 and 1685, William Whiston, the fi ner in 1679, and labourers including Ishmael Bomford, Richard Seamore and Roger Brisburn who appear in various records during the 1680s.41 No doubt they drank from blackware mugs, sherds of which were found in the silt of the tailraces; perhaps the handmade brass thimble came from one of their households.

When Humphrey Jennens died in 1690, his son John took over the lease.42 This would seem to be a period of decline, for the Foley accounts show that in 1692 only 32 tons of pig iron were purchased from Hales furnace.43 The extent to which John Jennens was directly involved with the forge is uncertain; he employed Joshua Spurr and Thomas Lowe at the site between 1693 and 1698.44 Jennens seems to have spent as much time fi lling in the old Tailrace 1 as he did producing iron. This fea-ture was deliberately fi lled in with clay, sand and other debris, pottery from these layers [2070, 2071, 2148, 2149, 2150] fi rmly pointing to complete abandonment by the later 17th century.

The Jennens’ initial 21-year lease would have expired in 1697, although the agreement of 1679 may have extended this to 1700. By this time, however, the Foley empire had been reorganized,

FIG. 14

Wednesbury Forge: fi nds from the Phase IV infi lling of Tailrace 1.

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and Wednesbury Forge formed part of the group known as the ‘Ironworks in Partnership’. This partnership was formed in 1692 and included four furnaces, four slitting mills, thirteen forges and a warehouse. These were mostly along the Stour, but also included sites in the Forest of Dean and others, such as Wednesbury, on the Tame.45 In the fi rst few years of the 18th century the ‘Ironworks in Partnership’ had given up their Midlands works in order to concentrate more on Sussex and the Forest of Dean.

PERIOD 3: WILLETTS’ FORGE (1704–1817)

The Foley partnership quickly divested themselves of Wednesbury Forge (and their other River Tame sites), and by January 1704 the site was in the occupation of John Willetts. Roger Colley and Joseph Beeche were forgemen in 1707 and 1708 respectively.46 At that time Richard Shelton still owned the site. An agreement between Shelton and Richard Parkes in 1708 shows John Willetts working the ‘iron mill commonly called Wednes-bury Forge . . . now used for plating’.47 This was possibly a rolling mill. Saw-making was the main activity on site during the fi rst half of the 18th century (Fig. 15).48

PHASE V: EARLY 18TH CENTURY

Willetts culverted more of the watercourse system, perhaps in order to accommodate the new plating facility. The main open watercourse was impres-sively culverted in brick; the resulting structure [1343, 1364, 1760, 1798, 1850] was slightly curved in plan, and ran across the entire site in a broadly north-easterly orientation. It was constructed of new and reused bricks, some of the latter partly vitrifi ed and presumably from earlier forge struc-tures. The culvert consisted of a single curved arch, varying in width but generally between 2.5 and 3.4m wide. The maximum height of the culvert was estimated around 2.8m. Until the abandon-ment of water power in the mid-20th century (Phase XIII) this 67m-long tunnel continued to drain the water away from the wheelpits and back to the River Tame. At the time of excavation it contained standing water, although the outlet to the river had been diverted.

The eastern end of Tailrace 2 was subsequent-ly culverted [1429, 1430, 2117] so as to connect with the main outfl ow. Again, the new culverts were built directly on the line of the timber tailrace. This 1.2m-wide structure had vertical side-walls and a shallow arched roof; it was consistently 1.2m wide until its junction with the main culvert.

‘MR WILLITS’ FOLLY’ (THE WINDMILL)

Probably one of the most unlikely of the many extraordinary metallurgical experiments seen in the West Midlands during the 18th century took place at Wednesbury. Already operating a fi nery and chafery, a rolling mill and various grinding wheels John Willetts, like his contemporaries, suffered periodic water shortages. He therefore chose to develop what was probably the only wind-powered grinding and boring mill in the history of ferrous metalworking. This structure was located in the space between the sluices serving the two wheelpits — a logical place for a power source, but an extremely diffi cult position from which to operate a windmill. As the Swedish industrialist Angerstein noted in the 1750s: ‘Willits [sic] was willing to spend a considerable amount of money to learn of a way to take in the sails without stop-ping the mill, because the stopping is very danger-ous in view of the position of the mill just above the water . . . [the mill was] . . . generally called “Mr. Willits Folly” by people living in the district’.49

Only the northern half of the windmill build-ing survived. The tapering walls [1578] stood to a height of around 2.15m, and were partly founded on redeposited natural clay. The extant structure was sub-circular in plan, with an angled south-eastern corner (Fig. 16 and Fig. 29). The external diameter was 7.98m. Although later strengthening had added some thickness to the wall, the original structure appeared to be fi ve bricks thick; these were bonded in a mixture of conventional and hydraulic lime mortar, and the whole exterior of the wall was rendered since it formed part of the sluice system.

Two elliptical-arched doorways provided access to the north and south sides of the building. The southern door was accessed from the outside by a set of steps [1693] which worked their way around the external wall; these were made of brick and edged with hard grey sandstone blocks. The remains of a third doorway survived on the truncated north-eastern end of the building.

Perhaps inevitably in view of its location, the windmill’s construction prompted some rebuilding of the sluices leading to the southern wheelpit. Elements of this work survived in the form of the south-western wall of the watercourse [1581] and a brick fl oor between it and the windmill wall. The watercourse wall [1581] was 0.35m thick and survived to approximately 7m in length; it curved slightly from the north-west to the south-east in order to direct the water into the southern wheelpit constructed in Phase IV (see above). This brick

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FIG. 15

Wednesbury Forge: Period 3, Phases V and VI. Overall site plan showing early 18th-century features.

wall was up to 1.95m in height, and stepped out in a series of fi ve steps to form a curved weir. A fl oor of bricks on edge [1692] was laid between this wall and the windmill.

BUILDING A (WILLETTS’ HOUSE)In addition to his ‘folly’, John Willetts also built a house (Building A), north-east of the main forging complex (Fig. 17). At its core was a roughly square

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18 PAUL BELFORD

brick building, 9.7x8.8m in plan. The surviving foundations suggest that the house was two rooms deep (east–west) and three bays wide (north–south). The main building was subdivided by a brick wall [1548] separating the northern third from the southern two-thirds. Fireplaces were located in the north-eastern corner of the northern room [1524] and the north-western corner of the southern room [1552]. Further subdivision of the main fl oors of the house above was indicated by a substantial sandstone column base [1554], halfway between the north and south walls of the southern room. The column base and buttresses to the central wall were slightly west of the centre line of the building; assuming that the larger rooms would have been the principal reception rooms at the front of the building, the house appears to have faced east (i.e. looking away from the forge).

A further range existed to the north, built at the same time as the main house but evidently a service range. Archaeologically this comprised a cellar [1432], the base of which was below the level of the main core of the building. The cellar was 8.7m long (east–west) and 2.5m wide, and was divided into two halves. The western half was approximately 5m long, and was accessed inter-nally by a brick-built spiral staircase in the north-eastern corner of the main building [1517]. This

part of the cellar had a brick fl oor [1520] which had been built on a series of levelling layers made up of forging waste and other rubbish, one of which [1738] contained 17th-century ceramics, including a Wednesbury ware jug handle. A doorway in the dividing wall led to the eastern room of the cellar, the fl oor of which was compacted earth [1542]. This end of the cellar was also accessed externally from the east via a set of brick and wooden steps [1533].

Domestic water was supplied by a 1m diame-ter brick-lined well [1464], located approximately 4m west of the house (in the back yard). This survived to a (truncated) depth of 3.48m. Child and adult leather shoes were recovered from the waterlogged primary fi ll [2110] at the base of the well (Fig. 17).

There is some evidence that Willetts applied his eccentric ingenuity to domestic sewage arrange-ments as well as forging operations. On the eastern side of the house was a feature possibly originally associated with the disposal of waste or foul water. This comprised a large brick-built circular tank [1820], 4.1m in diameter, with a neatly-laid fl oor of reused, handmade roof tiles [1849]. A narrow brick-built drainage culvert [1836] sloped down from the south-eastern side of this cistern into the nearby primary culvert [1364]. A brick fl oor

FIG. 16

Wednesbury Forge: Windmill. Plan (left) and internal elevation from A–B.

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FIG. 17

Wednesbury Forge: Building A (Willett’s House). Overall plan showing Phase V, VI and IX features (top), with fi nds from early occupation phases. All fi nds drawings to same scale.

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20 PAUL BELFORD

surface [1817] linked this to a rectangular brick drain [1508] with an iron grate adjacent to the house, and presumably collecting water from it. The primary fi ll of this drain [1509] included various tin-glazed and black-glazed earthenwares (Fig. 17).

BUILDING B

A series of relatively short-lived buildings were constructed at the far eastern end of the site, directly on top of the newly-built main culvert. These structures were evident as a series of heavily truncated quarry-tiled surfaces [1767], overlain in Phase VI by later industrial buildings. These are likely to have been domestic buildings, perhaps workers’ or servants’ houses.

PHASE VI: EARLY TO MID-18TH CENTURY

The enterprising John Willetts was succeeded in 1722 by his namesake son, who continued at the forge until his death in 1753. The younger John continued principally in the manufacture of saws; he was listed as a saw-maker in 1726,50 for example, although he was also involved in gun-making. Thomas Kester and Jonah Davis are recorded as working at the forge in the 1740s.51

No signifi cant alterations were made to the main complex during this period, most new build-ing being on the fringes of the site. This included the replacement of the short-lived domestic dwell-ings (Building B) with a series of hand forges. At the same time Willetts also constructed a series of boundary walls enclosing the eastern end of the site. The northern wall [1740, 1777], of which a 15.2m length survived, was of conventional brick construction. In contrast, the southern wall [1379, 1384, 1754], also of brick, was founded on a series of arches. These arches rested on brick piers; this system was devised to overcome boggy ground in this area, presumably a relic of the formerly open watercourse. At the northern-eastern end of this 21.5m stretch of wall was a gatehouse: a small square structure 1.64x1.71m in plan with a brick fl oor [1753].

HAND-FORGE BUILDINGS (BUILDINGS C AND D)

The production of small batches of high-grade iron for special purposes seems to have been widespread in the Black Country. Robert Plot described in 1686 how ‘the best iron of all’ was made from the ‘fi lings and pareings of the locksmiths’.52 Reinhold Rücker Angerstein described a similar process

in operation 70 years later in a ‘gun factory and saw-blade factory’ at Wednesbury, in which ‘iron fi lings and small pieces of iron . . . were put into crucibles that were placed in a reverberatory fur-nace . . . the resulting lump of iron was removed from the pot and forged’.53

Buildings C and D, at the far eastern end of the site, may have been involved in these processes (Fig. 18). Building C was a roughly square brick structure [1741] 6.4x7.2m in plan and oriented north–south, subdivided into four rooms. The western rooms each contained a small cellar [1757, 1758], with steps down from the former fl oor levels. In the southern cellar there were two sets of steps [1755, 1759] giving access from east and west; both cellars were paved with bricks and quarry tiles. The eastern part of the building contained ash pits for two back-to-back forging hearths [1748]. Finds included black-glazed earthenware and Midlands purple ware, suggesting a date in the fi rst half of the 18th century. Building C could be interpreted as a series of small reheating furnaces and adjacent forging hearths.

Immediately east of Building C were the foun-dations of another building, of which the central north–south wall [1795] survived to a length of 4.3m. This structure (Building D) contained a pair of rectangular forging hearth bases which mirrored those in Building C. Both of the hearth bases [1792] and [1793] were fi lled with a compact ashy-silt with charcoal inclusions [1796] and [1797], which also contained clay pipe stems. To the west was a mortar fl oor surface [1794].

DOMESTIC IMPROVEMENTS

Willetts also extended the house built by his father (Fig. 17) by adding a new southern wing. This survived as a substantial brick-built cellar measuring 7.7x2.7m [1424, 1427, 1432] and ori-ented north–south, partly overlying the culverted northern tailrace. The eastern elevation incorpo-rated an opening at below-ground level to take it over the culvert, and the area beneath the wall and around culvert was packed with material which included 17th- and early 18th-century pottery. This end of the building subsequently suffered serious subsidence, particularly in the cracked and bowing south-west corner. The cellar had a brick fl oor [1422], and was later subdivided into two rooms by a thin brick partition [1428].

Domestic rubbish from this period was dumped in a large pit to the east of the house, and to the south of Building C. This pit [1810] was up to 3m wide and contained a quantity of broken glass, animal bone, clay pipes, shells, brick rubble and a ceramic assemblage consisting of

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WEDNESBURY FORGE 21

black-glazed earthenware storage jars and salt-glazed wares all datable to the 18th century. It was also during this period that the possible former sewage system was abandoned, although the cis-tern continued in use for industrial water storage. Local physician Dr Richard Wilkes visited the Willett family in November 1736 for the treatment of colic;54 it can be speculated that the presence of a poorly-drained tank full of sewage may have had adverse effects on the health of the family.

PHASE VII: MID- TO LATE 18TH CENTURY

John Willetts’ son Benjamin survived the various health hazards encountered on the forge site, and took over the works on his father’s death in 1753.55 The saw-makers of Sheffi eld had developed a strong market position since the development of crucible steel,56 and their Midlands counterparts began to turn to other sources of revenue. Willetts

thus continued his father’s excursions into the increasingly lucrative gun-making trade. Wednes-bury Forge was one of three gun-making sites being used in the 1750s by Willetts, who was sup-plying guns to the Board of Ordnance.57 Iron was purchased from various sources throughout the period of the Willetts’ occupation, including local furnaces such as Hales and Aston as well as more remote suppliers based in Bristol and Hull. The site included a plating forge making skelps,58 a boring mill and a mill to grind off the outside of the gun barrels.59 Gun-making required substantial boring, grinding and forging facilities, as well as hearths and furnaces (Fig. 19).

REBUILDING THE NORTHERN WHEELPIT

The windmill experiment having proved unsuc-cessful, attention was paid to improving the effi -ciency of the water-power installation. This work

FIG. 18

Wednesbury Forge: Buildings C, D and E, overhead view looking north-west. Building C is bottom right (light brick square structure and fl oor surface just to the right of the shadow). Building D is represented by the two square hearths and associated walls and fl oors to the west of Building C and crossed by the shadow. The remaining walls are Building

E (Phase IX) (scale 2m).

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22 PAUL BELFORD

evidently resulted in some disruption to the neigh-bourhood; the owner of a nearby coal mine brought a case in 1756 claiming that his workings had been fl ooded by the temporary ‘diversion of a watercourse at the forge pool’.60

The rebuilding of the wheelpit involved the construction of new brick walls to the northern [2031], eastern [1732] and western elevations (Fig. 20). The western elevation included a semi-circular 5m length of brick wall in English Garden

FIG. 19

Wednesbury Forge: Period 3, Phases VII and VIII. Overall site plan showing mid- to late 18th-century features.

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Wall bond, which also acted as part of the forge pool retaining wall. Associated with this were two north–south brick walls [2026] and [2034], which, together with the second part of the western eleva-tion (another north–south wall [1591] to the east) formed part of the water regulation mechanism. These two western walls were joined by a brick fl oor surface [1729, 2064], which extended to the northern side of the windmill building. The eastern elevation [1732] was built of the same materials; neither of these side walls directly abutted the existing southern wall [1730], which had been built during Phase IV and was retained), but were separated from it by a thin lens of compacted demolition material and rubble.

The new wheelpit was served by an entirely new culverted tailrace, which exited from the north-eastern corner of the wheelpit [2031]. This brick culvert [2012, 2038] comprised an arched roof on vertical side-walls and was 1.30m in section; it survived to a length of approximately 32m. It ran in a north-easterly direction, truncating

the now long-abandoned Tailrace 1 and passing to the north of Willetts’ house. It fed back into the main culverted tailrace outside the site bound-ary. This new culvert rendered the old east–west tailrace (Tailrace 2) redundant.

NEW GRINDING AND BORING MILLS

The reconstruction of the northern wheelpit freed up a large area of the forge, and this was rebuilt as a grinding and boring mill, incorporating the earlier structures that had formed part of the ‘folly’ (Fig. 21). This new mill measured 20m north–south and 10m wide, and was divided into three sections: grinding mills to the north and south and a boring mill in the central section. Power was transmitted to the grinding mills along a narrow brick channel running north–south immediately to the east of the eastern elevation of the wheelpit.

The southern grinding complex reused the former windmill [1578]. The original doors to the mill were blocked and the interior was squared off

FIG. 20

Wednesbury Forge: northern wheelpit, eastern elevation showing Phase VII brickwork and Phase VIII iron framing and bearing box (scale rod in 0.5m divisions).

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24 PAUL BELFORD

by the insertion of a wall along the inside of the western elevation. Three new brick-built grinding wheel pits were located inside the building [1696, 1704, 1705], cooled and lubricated by water, which was led away from the grinding mill down a sloping central channel [1695] to a small iron chamber [1629] which fed into a small drain. There were slight variations in the size of the wheelpits, with internal measurements between 1.8m and 2.1m long and 0.35m to 0.55m wide. They extended up to 1m below the ground surface; the base of each pit was formed from timber seated on the natural clay. These grinding pits were partly fi lled with an accumulation of compacted wheelswarf [1716],61 thicker at each end of the pit due to the action of the wheel; indeed the whole interior of this building was covered with a thick lamination of oxidized wheelswarf adhering to the fl oor and walls. This archaeological evidence supports an 1831 document referring to a ‘grinding mill which had formerly been a windmill’.62

The boring mill and the northern grinding mill complex was a new build [2020], which origi-nally included three grinding wheel pits. These pits [1493], [1496] and [1498] were built in the same manner as those in the former windmill, albeit to a more consistent size, and were all partly fi lled

with oxidized wheelswarf [2027]. Again the bases of the pits were timber, and the northern end of this structure overlay the newly-built northern culvert. Further extensions were made to the grinding and boring mill in subsequent phases. No grindstones were found in situ, but a considerable number were encountered in late 18th- and 19th-century con-texts all over the site, where they had been reused in a variety of structures including buildings, hammer bases and a railway track. Grinding was an extremely dangerous occupation, due largely to the inhalation of dust, but also the explosion of grindstones. So in 1767 Joseph Stevens was killed at Wednesbury ‘by the breaking of a Stone on which he was grinding tools’.63

HEARTHS AND FLUES

To the east of the new northern grinding mill were a pair of forging hearths and associated underground fl ues (shown on Fig. 19). The eastern forging hearth [1505, 2010] was rectangular in plan and oriented north–south; it measured 3.5x1.64m and was built of fi rebricks. Vitrifi cation and heating were evident throughout, the thermal stresses requiring the later addition of buttresses [1502] to the southern corners and some internal

FIG. 21

Wednesbury Forge: grinding and boring mill, showing Phase VII and VIII features and Wilkinson token found under Phase VIII boring mill timber [1476].

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reconstruction. The western hearth was more severely truncated, and only the ashpit [2014] survived. This was constructed in a similar fashion, and had been modifi ed by the insertion of a divid-ing wall [2018]. Both ashpits contained primary deposits of charcoal and ash [2016] and [2017].

The hearths were connected to a further small-er hearth to the north-east [2010] by a system of underground brick fl ues [1073], [2009], [2011] and [2012], which extended for approximately 25m north-west to south-east. This early fl ue system had been truncated by later developments and only survived in fragments, including a substantial section only evident as a backfi lled robbing trench. Surviving sections indicated a single arch 1m in section, fi lled with successive layers of burnt ash, charcoal and silt deposits [2123]. No trace survived of the buildings which had housed these features.

GUN-FINISHING WORKSHOP (BUILDING H)

Building H was a substantial brick building situated to the north of the northern grinding mill and its adjacent hearths and fl ues. This fragmen-tary rectangular structure [2001, 2008], oriented north–south, was the most northerly set of build-ings during Phase VII, and was nearest to the

road to Wednesbury. There was a drainage chan-nel running along its eastern elevation. This was built of a single course of bricks and was roofed using alternate chamfered bricks to create a water-tight construction. Part of the drainage channel had collapsed and been allowed to silt up naturally. Within this fi ll [2005] were ceramics and gun fl ints of mid- to late 18th-century date.

Further fl ints were also found in the fi ll of Willetts’ domestic cistern [1825], and in some of the layers underlying the short-lived western extension to the south cellars. Taken together, this assem-blage of gun fl ints (Fig. 22) shows how sophisti-cated the Willetts’ gun-making enterprise had become. Although the historical record suggests that they were only making barrels, the archaeol-ogy shows that the fi rm was involved in the whole process during the second half of the 18th century. By this time such fl ints were partly machine-made (Rees’ Cyclopaedia shows ‘tools for cutting gun fl ints’),64 and, although they may have been made on site, the absence of unfi nished fl ints, cores or fl akes suggests that they were imported as fi nished items. Four types were identifi ed, from which it can be inferred that different weapons such as mus-kets, pistols and perhaps latterly rifl es, were being made.

FIG. 22

Wednesbury Forge: gun fl ints. A representative selection of the four types, featuring fl ints from contexts [1755] and [1825].

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FURTHER CHANGES TO THE CULVERTS

It was during this later 18th-century phase that further brick culverts were constructed in the southern part of the site. The precise function of these is not clear, since their origin lay outside the excavation area. However, they appear to have supplied water for grinding, boring and rolling processes in the southern part of the site rather than acting as tailraces for water-power installa-tions. These culverts [1342, 1353, 1567, 1568, 1569] were brick-arched and varied from 1m to 2.5m in width. They all ran from south-west to north-east and linked with the primary culvert built in Phase V. Meanwhile, the now-abandoned 17th-century culverts were all fi lled during this period. These deposits yielded mid- to late 18th-century ceramics, crucible fragments and other artefacts, including leather.

PHASE VIII: LATE 18TH AND EARLY 19TH CENTURIES

The presence of these new southern culverts refl ects investment in the southern pool. The pool was probably enlarged after the death of Benjamin Willetts in 1786, when the forge passed to his son, another Benjamin. He operated the forge in a partnership including his mother, the concern being known as Short, Willetts & Co.65 Unfortu-nately, the younger Benjamin’s tenure was short-lived; he died in 1794 and the forge was operated by his widow in another partnership with a Mr Holden. This sequence of events gave rise to the name ‘Mrs Willetts’ Pool’ which was used for the southern pool from the late 18th century onwards.66

IRON-FRAMED WHEELPITS

The improvements to the southern pool increased the supply of water to the forge, enabling modern-ization of the water-power system. The fi rst development was the rebuilding of the southern wheelpit, replacing the century-old brick structure constructed in Phase IV. Taking advantage of the latest developments in ferrous technology,67 one of the Mrs Willetts then in control of the forge decided to install an iron-framed wheelpit.

The iron framing consisted of vertical cast-iron columns, bedded into a brick base [1641] which incorporated elements of the earlier struc-ture (Fig. 23). These columns [1652] were 0.22m square in section and stood 2.5m high; they were situated 1.35m apart and the space between was infi lled in brick. The top of each side of the wheelpit was formed by a cast-iron horizontal beam [1638, 1639], socketed into the upright

columns. Integral to the casting of the horizontal beams was a pair of lugs to locate the bearing assembly. The water-wheel was also of cast iron, and a section of the sole board was recovered from the base of the wheelpit during excavation. This fragment was 30mm thick and 1.44m long; it contained ribs to house the wooden boards and represented a one-twenty-fourth section of the full wheel, which would have been cast in sections to enable easy transportation to site and assembly. The wheel had gouged an impressive scrape mark in the northern elevation, wearing away at the iron frame as well as the brickwork. The diameter of this breast-shot wheel was 5.5m.

The remainder of the wheelpit was of relatively conventional construction, the eastern elevation comprising a brick arch [1660] leading to the earlier culvert [1182, 1566]. The western elevation had been almost entirely removed during the later insertion of a turbine.

A similar iron-framed structure was inserted into the northern wheelpit at around the same time (shown in Fig. 20). Here the western elevation was partly rebuilt to allow the insertion of a cast-iron horizontal beam [1718] into the brickwork. In the eastern elevation the equivalent horizontal member was supported on a freestanding iron frame within the wheelpit itself [1731]. This arrangement meant that it was not necessary to rebuild the western wall of the grinding and boring mill. Here again both horizontal beams contained integrally-cast lugs to locate the bearing mechanism.

TIMBER BORING MILL BASE

The improvements to the water-power system prompted further alterations to the boring mill complex. The demolition of the substantial Phase IV timber building provided the raw materials for the base for a new boring mill. The installation of this facility necessitated the extension of the boring mill to the south and east, and the timbers were in fact incorporated into the foundations of this building.

The new structure contained a series of substantial parallel timbers which overlay the cul-verted (and now redundant) Tailrace 2 (Fig. 24). These timbers [1473, 1476, 1488] were over 5m long and 0.5 × 0.3m in section; they were laid horizon-tally in three parallel rows oriented east–west and joined by a series of north–south timbers [1472] and [1474]. A cast-iron beam [2144] was bolted to the eastern end of the structure; vertical iron bars were bolted to this beam, corresponding with similar iron bars bolted to the north–south timbers. A dark oily silt [1507] fi lled the area

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FIG. 23

Wednesbury Forge: the iron-framed southern wheelpit constructed in Phase VIII. Top: photograph showing the north-eastern end of the wheelpit and the water-wheel scar (scale 2m). Bottom: south-facing elevation.

between the timbers. Taken together, the form, ori-entation and nature of this substructure suggests that it supported a boring mill powered by the northern water-wheel. The installation of this machinery took place after 1788, since a Wilkinson

token of that date was found in the upper horizon of the levelling layer [2082], beneath timber [1476]. The token had been modifi ed by its owner, who had punched a hole in it, presumably to create a pendant or necklace. Given John Wilkinson’s

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28 PAUL BELFORD

association with boring mill technology, and the personalization of the token itself, it is tempting to suggest that this was a deliberate deposit by a former Wilkinson employee bringing knowledge gained under the ‘iron mad’ entrepreneur to Wednesbury Forge.

OTHER INDUSTRIAL ADDITIONS

Other additions included an extension of the earlier fl ue network to the south, presumably serving furnaces located over and beyond the southern culvert. This extension [1074] abutted the earlier fl ue [1073] and was straight-sided with a shallow arched roof with spread brick footings. At its northern end was an irregular series of roughly-built small brick fl ues or drains [1294], [1297] and [1298]. Meanwhile, the area around the Phase VI hand-forge buildings (C and D) was improved by the laying of a blue-brick fl oor surface [1750].

FURTHER DOMESTIC IMPROVEMENTS

The redoubtable Mrs Willetts no doubt had some input into the management of the house as well

as the water-power arrangements for the forge, and various improvements were made during this period. Perhaps the most signifi cant was the aban-donment of the old well, the area around which was being encroached upon by the northern forg-ing hearths and the new boring mill installation. The well was deliberately fi lled by a mixed sandy silt containing rubble fragments and ceramics suggesting a date post-1770. Water supply by this time appears to have been piped directly from the northern forge pool through a series of elm pipes (Fig. 25). These ran under the fl oor of the gun-fi nishing building (and may have been installed when that building was constructed). A length of 9m survived [2043], consisting of fi ve sections of hollowed out elm trunks with tapered ends. Each tapered end was wrapped in fabric and covered with pitch, before being slotted into the next section; the join was then bound with a wrought-iron strap to create a watertight junction.

The cellar walls were buttressed and thickened in the areas of subsidence [1523] and [1541]. Other modifi cations included blocking the western entrances and their associated stairwells [1562]

FIG. 24

Wednesbury Forge: timber-framed boring mill base during excavation (scale 2m).

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and [1437]. Rubbish from this period was also being dumped to the east of the house, in a large pit [1321], dug in what had originally been the front garden. Finds from both the garden soil [1312] and the pit fi ll [1322] included ceramics, glass bottles and clay pipes (Fig. 26); it is tempting to associate

FIG. 25

Wednesbury Forge: elm water pipes supplying Willetts’ house from the New Pool, seen here as they passed

beneath Building H (scale 2m). FIG. 26

Wednesbury Forge: fi nds from Willetts’ House.

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30 PAUL BELFORD

the mark ‘BW’ on some of the bottles with the late Benjamin Willetts. This evidence suggests that the former back yard on the western side of the building was no longer in domestic use, presum-ably due to the continuing enlargement of the forge.

PERIOD 4: ELWELL’S FORGE (1817–1929)

The name Elwell is still synonymous with Wednes-bury Forge, despite Elwell-branded garden and agricultural tools having been out of production since the 1970s. Various branches of the Elwell family were involved in the West Midlands metal trades during the 18th century. Edward Elwell was the son of West Bromwich ironfounder William Elwell.68 After a spell as an army surgeon with the Royal Artillery during the Napoleonic wars, Edward set up as an edge tool manufacturer. His business prospered, and having already moved from small premises in Walsall to a forge in Wednesbury, he jumped at the chance to take over the Wednesbury Forge lease when it became available in 1817.69

PHASE IX: EARLY 19TH CENTURY

Post-Waterloo peace reduced demand for Wednes-bury fl intlocks, guns having been the forge’s prin-cipal product during the later 18th century, since the decline of the Midlands saw trade.70 Elwell had begun to take advantage of the growing market at home and abroad for good quality agricultural tools, in particular edge tools such as axes, billhooks and pruning shears, and such items required different production methods. Thus Elwell embarked upon a substantial programme of investment, most of which probably took place after he bought the property outright in 183171 (Fig. 27).

FURTHER CHANGES TO THE WATER-POWER SYSTEM

Signifi cant changes were made to the sluices during the early 19th century, resulting in the arrangement shown on the 1847 Tithe Map, and which survived more-or-less unaltered until its early 20th-century abandonment. Their absence on the 1860s litho-graph (see Fig. 39 below) is probably the result of artistic licence, suggested by other inaccuracies in the illustration.

The 19th-century reconstruction involved the creation of a more extensive system of sluice gates which enabled very sensitive adjustments to be made to the water fl owing through the site (Fig. 28). The southern set of sluices [1582] reused

the existing watercourse wall [1581] and brick fl ooring [1692], which were incorporated into a larger set of gates. Three openings were con-structed, consisting of a set of two brick piers on either side of an open space containing two freestanding cast-iron uprights. The brick piers had cast-iron beams set into them to hold planks or sluice gates to regulate the height and fl ow of the water (Fig. 29). The northern set of sluices [1583] were constructed in a slightly different fashion; comprising four openings created using fi ve brick columns with inset cast-iron beams (Fig. 30). The reconstruction of both sets of sluices involved the insertion of a rough stone fl oor [1690] between the windmill building and the sluices themselves. This seems to have been created in order to make the two sluice fl oors level with one another. A 1.1m-high cast-iron fi lter grille was set on the pond (western) side of the north and south sluice gates to prevent debris from passing into the water-power system.

The sluice arrangement refl ected the historic division between north and south ponds, and north and south wheelpits. Thus the northern and southern sluices were divided by a low wall [1584] attached to the western elevation of the windmill building. This east–west oriented wall was 2.9m long and 0.5m wide, and the 19th-century rebuild-ing incorporated a cast-iron capping beam con-taining sockets for uprights. Part of the groove used as the runners for the sluice gates was made up of reused grindstones. Thus the division between the ponds was controllable, and presumably this arrangement meant that the water supply could be directed from either pond to either wheelpit through the manipulation of the various sets of sluices.

Some additional culverting also took place in association with the construction of buildings in the southern area (see below). However, the main emphasis was in expanding the site to the east, which resulted in the construction of two further large brick culverts [1357] and [1359]. The principal culvert ran roughly parallel to the existing main culvert. This originated in the south-west corner of the site [1355] and ran north-east, reducing in diameter from 2.35m to 1.15m after approximately 40m [1359]; it then continued out of the site [1752], presumably feeding back to the river Tame, although only c. 62m of the length of this culvert was extant. This was linked to the main culvert by a short length of culvert oriented north–south [1357], which was 5.7m long and 1.6m wide.

MODIFICATIONS TO THE BORING AND GRINDING MILL

The northern end of the grinding mill was extended to the east during this period, truncating and

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FIG. 27

Wednesbury Forge: Period 4, Phases IX and X. Overall site plan showing 19th-century features.

partly removing the Phase VII hearths and fl ues [2010]. This extension [1296, 1448, 1468, 1486, 1682] included a further set of three grinding pits [1500, 1501, 1502], constructed in a similar manner to their earlier counterparts (Fig. 21). The

construction of this north-eastern set of grinding pits meant the demolition of the forging hearth structure [2010] associated with the 18th-century fl ue system (see Phase VII). The southern end of the grinding mill [1580] was converted to a

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32 PAUL BELFORD

chimney. This ‘grinding mill . . . had formerly been a windmill’ according to a description in 1831, and the windmill served as the base of the chimney. This is clearly evident on a drawing used as the company letterhead (not illustrated here).72 In 1858 a visitor noted that ‘the tall and fi nely tapered chimney of the extensive Wednesbury Forge . . . and the adjoining capacious sheet of water (called Elwell’s Pool) form attractive objects of observation’.73

SOUTHERN AREA

The most signifi cant addition during this period was the southward expansion of the site (Fig. 31). Several buildings were constructed, partly overly-ing the Phase VII culverts, and creating a new eastern edge to the southern pool. These buildings occupied a total area of c. 30x30m. It was clear that above- and below-ground features had been

constructed at the same time, since elements of some of the fl ue superstructures also formed parts of the wall foundations. However, it was not possible to determine precisely original above-ground functions and layout.

The pool edge wall [1140, 1165, 1215] was up to 0.9m thick and built of dense semi-engineering bricks bonded in a cement-rich mortar. The west-ern (i.e. pool-side) edge of the wall was packed with redeposited clay. The southern wall [1215] was the western wall of a substantial square building which extended outside the excavation area. Both this and the curved wall to the west are clearly shown on the 1847 Tithe Map. The remaining walls varied between one brick (230mm) and three bricks (690mm) thick, bonded using cement mortar. In places original brick and tile fl oor surfaces survived [1034, 1105].

Within these buildings there was a complex network of fl ues. This appeared to be divided

FIG. 28

Wednesbury Forge: Phase IX sluices and associated features. Overhead view facing south-west and looking at the sluices from the pond side with the metal grilles in the foreground. The modifi ed Phase V windmill building is clearly

visible; beyond it the Phase VII grinding pits and the chimney for the Phase X steam engine. The large square structure at left is the modifi ed inlet for the Phase XII turbines (scale 2m).

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WEDNESBURY FORGE 33

into northern and southern elements, the southern part being served by a small chimney inside the building. The chimney [1217] was circular in plan, 2.5m in diameter and 3 bricks thick; it survived to a height of at least 1.06m and was fi lled with cinders and ash. The northern part of the fl ue system may have been connected to a second chim-ney (since destroyed), which also served Building F; this area, and the area where the two fl ue sys-tems met, was reconfi gured during Phase X and is dealt with below. The fl ues were straight-sided with a shallow arched roof; in some places the brickwork was sealed with a skim of reddish mortar to provide an airtight construction. The fl ues were all between 1.1 and 1.4m in diameter, and the foundations consisted of double brick footings sat upon a thin layer of crushed brick and mortar.

The nexus of the southern fl ue system was a large rectangular structure [1133], interpreted as a stoking/ashpit area serving a possible puddling furnace to the east. The furnace (being above ground) had been destroyed, but its foundation

walls [1136] survived together with its connection to the fl ue [1132]. The furnace room [1133] was a sub-basement reached via four brick steps; it was oriented east–west and survived to a depth of 0.92m, retaining its original fl oor surface (com-prised of a mixture of reused bricks and a broken grindstone). An iron door regulated access to the fl ue system (Fig. 32). This area also contained bases for heavy equipment, constructed with reused grindstones. A cemented platform of small grindstones in association with brick wall [1156] and [1158] was interpreted as a machine base. A more complex structure involved a setting of two large grindstones [2153, 2154], supporting a pad of reused timbers; this was the base for a hammer or press. Two large grinding pits were located at the western end of this part of the site [1145, 1879]; these were brick structures over 3.5m long and up to 2m wide, which survived to a depth of 0.8m, and were strengthened in the corners with wrought-iron straps.

The southern area was a purpose-built forging and grinding facility, specifi cally created for the

FIG. 29

Wednesbury Forge: southern sluices (scale 2m).

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34 PAUL BELFORD

manufacture of edge tools and thus largely replac-ing the earlier grinding and boring mills to the north which had been designed for saw and gun manufacture. Although the grinding and boring mills were subsequently refi tted and adapted (see Phase X below), the associated gun-fi nishing work-shop (Building H) was abandoned and demolished during this period.

BUILDING E

The new southern area rendered the now century-old hand-forge buildings C and D (erected in Phase VI) redundant. Consequently Elwell, determined to improve the effi ciency of administration as well as technology and process, used the area to create a central administration building. Buildings C and D were demolished and the ground levelled with a combination of demolition rubble and sandy silts and gravels.

As with the other activity ascribed to Phase IX, Building E was depicted on the 1847 Tithe Map. Building E (Fig. 18) consisted of a series

of rooms arranged around a central courtyard, and was built from a mixture of handmade and machine-pressed bricks. The original fl oor surfaces inside the building appear to have been tiled (a fragment of this, [1779], survived in the southern-most room), and the courtyard was originally paved in blue brick [1769, 1788]. Both internal and external fl oors were later resurfaced with concrete. Building E served as the main offi ce range until the late 1960s (see Phase XIV), whereupon most of it was demolished, although the western part (latterly in use as a toilet block) outlived the forge itself and was not demolished until July 2006. A detailed plan of the building74 made in the 1960s closely matched the layout revealed by excavation.

HOUSING

In 1831 the forge included thirteen cottages ‘which had been workshops but which Edward Elwell had reconverted into dwellings’.75 These appear to have been the group of small terraced houses excavated during the evaluation stage of the project in 2005

FIG. 30

Wednesbury Forge: northern sluices (scale 2m).

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FIG. 31

Wednesbury Forge: the southern area. Top: overhead photograph looking north (scale 2m). Bottom: plan of features as excavated.

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36 PAUL BELFORD

(Trench 7). Lightly constructed of handmade brick bonded with lime mortar, they had brick fl oors and small sub-basements. The houses are shown on the 1860s lithograph (see Fig. 38 below), and remained in use until the early 20th century, when part of the row was demolished and the remainder turned into the ‘Forge Arms’ public house. The census records John Marlow (grinder) and his young family, Isaac Ashton (engineer), Henry Russell, Benjamin and Richard Challoner (all blacksmiths) living in these houses in 1841.76

The Elwell family and their servants also lived at the Forge. At fi rst they occupied the Willetts’ old house (Building A), but between 1831 and 1847 Elwell constructed a new house slightly to the north. The new house was built in two stages, partly reusing earlier foundations; the evidence of the surviving cellar walls suggested that the new house originally connected with the northern end of Building A. The southern end of the house was built fi rst, and was a fi ve-bay three-storey structure of brick. The new house was in reverse orientation

to its predecessor; here the west-facing elevation was the front, with bay windows on the ground fl oor looking out over a lawn.

Most of the evidence for the superstructure of the house comes from photographic and docu-mentary sources, since it was comprehensively removed during Phase XIII. However, parts of the quarry-tiled brick-built cellars were incorporated into the basement of the 20th-century gatehouse building, and were latterly used to store ‘seconds’ (Fig. 33). The fl oor of the cellar incorporated a series of brick drains [2040] which fed into the northern wheelpit culvert [2012].

PHASE X: MID-19TH CENTURY

Edward Elwell handed over the business to his namesake son c. 1850, but the younger Edward died in 1857 and so the father resumed his role as director. The new house was extended quite soon after it was built, with a two-storey three-bay addition to the north. The northern wall of this

FIG. 32

Wednesbury Forge: the furnace room [1133]. View from the west showing entry to fl ue [1132] on the left and the iron door on the right (scale 2m).

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was encountered during the evaluation (Trench 9), cutting through 18th-century deposits of forge waste and general rubbish. The extension was cer-tainly completed by the 1860s, when it is depicted in a photograph showing a game of croquet in progress between some of the younger Elwells and their friends.77 The 1861 census records Edward Elwell (then aged 77), his wife Carew, and four of their grandchildren, together with three domestic servants and a governess.78

BUILDING A

The construction of the new house meant that Willett’s former house (Building A) could be con-verted to industrial use. This process had probably already begun in Phase IX. Some remodelling of the building took place, beginning with the deliberate infi lling of the southern cellar and the former cistern. This seems to have been an oppor-tunity to get rid of various domestic items. The fi ll of the cellar [1421] included early 19th-century creamwares and a Caughley porcelain teabowl from the 1780s. The fi lls of the cistern [1825] included a large quantity of creamware plates, dishes, sauceboats, a teapot and chamber-pot; there

were also bone china transfer-printed teabowls, saucers and cups, and large black-glazed platters and storage jars (Fig. 34). The building was then extended to the east [1335, 1815], partly over the

FIG. 33

Wednesbury Forge: cellars of Elwell’s house.

FIG. 34

Wednesbury Forge: fi nds from Phase IX clearance of Willetts’ former house, dumped in the cistern.

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former cistern, and also to the west, sealing earlier rubbish deposits including gun fl ints. The eastern extension included a brick platform [1337, 1819], oriented north–south, which may have been the base of a hearth. The western extension [1099] walls were heavily truncated, but the fl oor surface [1093] survived.

The north-eastern end of Building A, con-structed over the infi lled former cistern, began to subside. In response, the northern and eastern walls were strengthened with new brickwork [1338, 1816], and the original southern wall was demol-ished and rebuilt slightly to the north [1338]. At the same time, a new fl oor was inserted using a combination of old grindstones and new machine-made Staffordshire blue engineering bricks [1004, 1005] (Fig. 35). The grindstones varied between 0.65m and 1.72m in diameter and were made from local sandstone; this type of stone was infe-rior to ‘millstone grit’ and was prone to problems. Thus on 14 June 1869 the grinder William Marlow

‘was killed about 2.30 p.m. by a grinding stone’. Georgiana Elwell, Edward’s granddaughter, took time off from her croquet-playing to break the news to his wife and three young children.79 The 49-year-old William was the son of the grinder John Marlow noted above; the accident did not deter his son from working at the forge later in life, nor indeed subsequent generations: his great-grandson was still working there in 1972.

EASTERN AREA

The southern forging facility built in Phase IX was mirrored in Phase X with the construction of a similar and linked set of features in the eastern part of the site. The eastern area included at least two buildings, the eastern end of which was posi-tioned over the culverted tailraces. Its foundations incorporated a series of arches to carry the weight over the culverts. The north wall [1375] was 15.8m long and incorporated a single shallow relieving

FIG. 35

Wednesbury Forge: grindstone fl oor inserted into Building A during Phase X. Overhead view facing west. Note to the left the remains of the southern cellar (fi lled in during Phase IX), and also the Phase XI grindstone trackbed to the

south (scales 2m).

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arch [1387] running its full length. The western wall [1392] had originally been similar, although the superstructure had been rebuilt more than once and later insertions made.

The primary fl ue in the eastern area [1367] was oriented east–west and was 1.05m wide and 0.64m deep; it was built with vertical side-walls and a shallow arched roof bonded in lime mortar. The fl ue served a series of smaller fl ues [1368, 1371, 1377, 1405] inside the building. These fl ues were constructed in a similar fashion but were only 0.4m wide and were not so well built. The primary fl ue ran west into another forging area — presumably also within a building — but only the foundations of the northern and eastern walls [1311] and [1366] survived. To the north, and apparently outside the building, was a substantial rectangular brick structure [1340], which may have been the base of a chimney serving hearths in this area. This seems to have been relatively short-lived, since the fl ue had been blocked and the main east–west fl ue was extended west and south [1072] to connect with the fl ue system from the southern area. There the

north–south fl ue [1132] was extended northwards, and the two systems met at a complex junction just to the south of the culverted southern tailrace (Fig. 36). Here a third fl ue [1047, 1177] entered from the west, and there was also an above-ground network connecting on the eastern side and regulated by moveable iron plates [1077, 1345].

Above-ground arrangements in the eastern area were not easily determined. Only a small frag-ment of brick fl oor survived [1378], together with the truncated remains of below-ground features. These included brick pillars for machine bases [1372] and [1373], the ashpit of a small forging hearth [1069], as well as the base for a lightweight steam hammer constructed of four grindstones [1086, 1088, 1089, 1090] with a brick platform [1092] surrounding the anvil, which had been later removed.

STEAM POWER

Many of the extensions to the forge seem to have involved hand operations. However, the massive

FIG. 36

Wednesbury Forge: junction of fl ues [1072] and [1132] with iron grilles [1077] (scale 2m).

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extension of grinding operations required more power, and during the mid-19th century a steam engine was installed. As with the earlier attempt to supplement water power using the windmill, the new power-source was located centrally. This meant that the works could be run ‘with steam and water jointly, or . . . when there is a good supply of water, independently of each other’.80 The new steam engine was built partly over the old boring mill complex, so that power could be transmitted north and south to the two grinding mills. The steam engine complex included a boiler house, cylinder bed (truncated) and wheelpits from which power was transmitted around the site (Fig. 37).

The boiler house consisted of two parallel brick walls running east–west [1197, 1261], each constructed of machine-pressed brick bonded in cement mortar. These walls were up to 1.2m wide and survived to a height of over 1m; they were over 8.5m long. The boiler was situated at the eastern end of the boiler house building, stoked from the eastern end (subsequently truncated). A Lancashire-type cylindrical boiler was mounted horizontally on a specially-made curved brick base [1260], with fl ues to both sides and an access space beneath [1262] which contained some clinker and ash [1283].

The original engine was mounted on a brick base directly to the west of the boiler. It was prob-ably a horizontal engine, but its precise form could not be determined since the brick base had later

been severely truncated during Phase XI. A small circular chimney [1593] was situated to the west of the engine room. This was 2.43m in diameter and originally fed into the large chimney built on the base of the windmill. Wheelpits for the engine fl ywheel and power drive wheel were situated north-east of the chimney. These were housed in a single brick structure 3.58x3.42m in plan and 1.77m deep [1264], which contained two pits each 2.45m long, the northern one (for the drive wheel) being 1.1m wide and the southern one (for the fl ywheel) 0.62m wide. An iron pipe located in the north-west corner of this structure supplied oil to the wheelpits; excess oil was drained down into the watercourses. A brick fl oor to the north was also associated with this structure.

PHASE XI: LATE 19TH CENTURY

In the same year that William Marlow was killed by a grindstone, Edward Elwell himself passed away, albeit under more peaceful circumstances. According to the Walsall Observer, his funeral was attended by about 200 ‘stalwart wielders of the hammer, who gave vent to their sorrow in tears’.81 The forge thus came under the management of his 23-year-old grandson, Alfred.82 A lithograph was produced at around this time, showing the Elwell concern at its Victorian peak (Fig. 38).83 Despite minor inaccuracies and exaggerations the litho-graph provides a fair overall impression of the

FIG. 37

Wednesbury Forge: steam engine complex, showing original Phase X installation (black) and later Phase XI additions and modifi cations (light grey).

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site. The later Elwell period was characterized by a series of minor improvements to the site itself (Fig. 39), but several signifi cant interventions in the surrounding landscape. These included the construction of a church (St Paul’s) and housing for the workforce (Wood Green Square), together with a playing fi eld and other recreational facilities — unfortunately, outside the scope of this paper. Documentary evidence, in the form of census returns, directories and newspaper accounts, provides more detail about the forge and its surrounding landscape during this period.

By 1889 the site was said to have ‘steam engines of 200 horse power’.84 Although new engines were added elsewhere on site (outside the excavation area), this power increase also involved alterations to the steam engine serving the grinding mills. The boiler and engine house walls were strengthened by adding an external skin of blue engineering bricks [1194]. The original brick engine

base was replaced by a more substantial effort in concrete [1196]. Associated with this change was the demolition of the spectacular 67m-high chim-ney, said at the time to be the tallest in England. Unfortunately (but perhaps unsurprisingly, given that it was founded on a 120-year-old windmill built in a pond) it had suffered subsidence. The demolition of the chimney coincided with the abandonment of the southern grinding pits within the former windmill building. They were replaced by a new facility comprising a series of lightly-built walls and associated fl oor surfaces [1594, 1595, 1622, 1636, 1677, 1678 and 1683] to the north and west of the steam engine chimney, which evidently survived as a freestanding structure.

At the same time a new grinding wheel pit [1160] and associated machine base [1203, 1204] were inserted into the forging complex in Building I. Another lightweight steam hammer or press base was also constructed, employing reused

FIG. 38

Wednesbury Forge: lithograph c. 1869, from an Elwell’s catalogue. The large chimney is founded on the former windmill base; details of the house and pond arrangement are broadly accurate, including the east–west oriented

water-wheel. The overall outline of the forge buildings is also correct, as is the railway line leading to Bescot Junction in the background, although scales are distorted. The curve of the railway viaduct bottom left is entirely imaginary.

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FIG. 39

Wednesbury Forge: Period 4, Phases XI and XII. Overall plan showing late 19th- and early 20th-century features.

grindstones, to the west of Building A [1409, 1412, 1413].

The arrival of the railway network also affected the forge. In 1834 Edward Elwell had mobilized his workforce to prevent access to forge

lands by workers building the Grand Junction Railway.85 The South Staffordshire Railway fol-lowed in 1850, which was routed along a wooden viaduct over the pool. It was rebuilt in brick fol-lowing an accident in 1859 when a goods train fell

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into the pool, by which time the two routes were linked via the Bescot Curve (Fig. 2). Amalgamated into the London and North Western Railway in the 1840s, the Wednesbury railway network partly encircled the forge. Bescot Junction, located less than a kilometre away, developed as a signifi cant freight handling site, with the up marshalling yard completed by 1881 and further additions in the 1890s.86 A line was built from the forge to Bescot Junction during this period; it is shown on the lithograph (Fig. 38) and on subsequent mapping. It was also encountered archaeologically, in the form of two parallel lines of reused grindstones [1100, 1807] running east–west across the site (partly shown in Fig. 35). These grindstones were all between 0.67m and 0.84m in diameter, and were made of millstone grit; some had letters carved into them indicating their quarry of origin (M, O, P, T and W).87 The grindstones were bedded in a cindery levelling layer and formed the base for the track, which was also braced with wrought-iron straps, some of which survived in situ.

PHASE XII: EARLY 20TH CENTURY

Alfred Elwell died in 1902, and the fi rm became a private limited company (Edward Elwell Limited) under the direction of Alfred’s nephew, Charles Edward Elwell. Freshly returned from the Boer War, Charles apparently ‘restored discipline’ to the organization.88 He also made further improve-ments to the forging facilities, and modernized the water-power system by installing two simple single-jet Pelton-type turbines. The turbines were installed from c. 1904,89 and represented the fi nal phase of water power at Wednesbury Forge.

The northern wheelpit was modifi ed to accommodate the turbine by refacing most of the eastern elevation with machine-made engineering bricks [1733]. A cast-iron bearing box [1734] was set into the wheelpit wall, together with two iron I-section beams [1721] which crossed the wheelpit and supported the turbine superstructure. Two further parallel slots for timber beams were evident in both eastern [1736] and western [1719] eleva-tions. Modifi cations were also made to the sluice structure and water management system (Fig. 40).

FIG. 40

Wednesbury Forge: northern turbine inlet shaft. Overhead view with south at the top of the photograph (scale 2m).

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A wall [1728] was built at the northern end of the sluices to divert the water down into the turbine via a brick-built shaft. This shaft [1586] was con-structed on the western side of the wheelpit and cut through the earlier fl oor surface [1729]; it was 2.35x2.80m in plan and 3.45m deep, with an iron grille and timber sluice gate built into its western side. The turbine inlet sat at the base of this shaft and took the form of an inverted cone, made of thick rolled iron or steel plates riveted together. This channelled water through the wheel-pit wall and into the vertically-mounted body of the turbine.

The water regulation mechanisms for the southern wheelpit had been destroyed; however the lower part of the turbine casing again survived more or less intact (Fig. 41). Again iron beams had been inserted across the wheelpit in order to support the turbine superstructure. The turbine casing [1646] was 1.5m in diameter and constructed from wrought iron or steel plate riveted together. As in the northern turbine a curved inlet pipe led to a vertical turbine casing; this had a detachable

cover for inspection and repair of the turbine mechanism.

PERIOD 5: WEDNESBURY FORGE (1929–2006)

In 1929 Elwells merged with Chillingtons, a Wolverhampton-based tool maker with a similar range of products and markets. The two fi rms operated as Edge Tool Industries Limited, although maintaining their separate production facilities and brand identities. During this period the site underwent extensive modernization, with large-scale demolition of earlier buildings and the reori-entation of the site away from the historic core of the forge (Fig. 42).

PHASE XIII: EARLY TO MID-20TH CENTURY

The turbine-based swansong of water power was short-lived, and both turbines had been abandoned by the early 1930s.90 The sluices controlling the fl ow from the northern pool were demolished and the pool fi lled in, shortly after the Great War.91 It is of course possible that water from the south pool could have been routed round into the tur-bine, but by 1934 this too had been fi lled in. The fi ll of the northern turbine sluice, and the southern wheelpit both contained early 20th-century arte-facts. Thus ended four centuries of water power at Wednesbury. The sites of both pools were encroached upon by housing and, later, the playing fi elds of Wood Green School.

The former sluices and windmill were buried, and a brick wall was built [1587, 1701] along the western edge of the site. Everything to the east of this was cleared to below-ground level. Thus Building A was fi nally demolished and its northern cellar infi lled [1539, 1540]; most of Elwell’s house was also removed, along with what was left of the former boring and grinding mill. The area was then concreted over and a series of new buildings erected. These included a stamp shop (of which some of the brick-paved internal fl oor surface [1122] survived), stores, cycle sheds and a garage.92 A new gatehouse and time offi ce were also built, partly incorporating the cellars of Elwell’s house, as well as a small fi rst aid building attached to the stores (Fig. 43).

Some alterations were also made to forging operations in the eastern area. New fl ues [1024, 1062, 1070] were added at the western end, and new internal partitions were created at the eastern end. These walls [1370, 1380] were built of machine-pressed brick on lightweight spread concrete

FIG. 41

Wednesbury Forge: Southern turbine casing (Phase XII) in the Phase VIII iron-framed wheelpit (scale 2m).

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FIG. 42

Wednesbury Forge: Period 5, Phases XIII and XIV. Overall plan showing 20th-century features.

foundations. New concrete grinding pits were installed in the southern area [1143, 1149]. The alterations to Building E noted above — insertion of concrete fl oors and minor blockings — were also made during this phase.

PHASE XIV: LATER 20TH CENTURYThe site survived the Second World War undam-aged. Post-war aerial photographs show recently-infi lled pools and the building arrangement of 1937.93 Edge Tool Industries Limited was taken

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46 PAUL BELFORD

over by Eva Industries Limited in 1962, and Peter Elwell remained managing director until 1967.94 It was around this time that Edward Elwell Limited merged with Spear and Jackson and Brades and Tyzack. The ‘Elwell’ brand began to be discontin-ued in the garden tool ranges where it was super-seded by the group brand ‘Spearwell’, although the ‘Elwell’ name continued for agricultural tools and export lines.95 In 1970 Wednesbury Forge became wholly owned by Spear and Jackson, who were later subsumed into the James Neill group.96

This newly-merged concern started life opti-mistically with the construction of an offi ce block to replace the former Building E. This range (seen in the background of Fig. 31 above) was of rein-forced concrete construction, providing open-plan accommodation for design and marketing on the ground fl oor and boardroom and executive facilities on the fi rst fl oor.

On the production side, the Phase XIII stamp room was demolished, together with the Phase XI buildings formerly in the southern area. New

grinding and stamping facilities were installed in the eastern area. These included prefabricated grinding wheel bases [1328] and concrete machine bases [1021, 1025, 1065, 1356] for stamping and forging apparatus. In the later 20th century, pro-duction in this area was abandoned altogether, and the main focus of the forge moved to the east, outside the area of excavation. The buildings in the eastern area were demolished, and a new mainte-nance facility erected in a steel-framed, steel-clad shed on a concrete base. This facility stored dyes and tools and also included facilities for their repair.

The basic organization of the site established in the 1930s was retained through to its closure. The processes and functions were recorded during the historic landscape appraisal phase in 2001 (Fig. 44). However, between then and the fi eld evaluation of 2005 the scale of forging operations on site had contracted signifi cantly. Recording of forging processes was undertaken in July 2005 (Fig. 45). At this time the manufacture of spades,

FIG. 43

Wednesbury Forge: First Aid building constructed during Phase XIII and in use until 2006 (scale 2m).

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for example, required a 13-stage process using fi ve or six men.97 Billets of Swedish carbon steel were heated to 1,200°C, then cut into four on die-set tools. The same press spread one end to form the blade; then the other end was rolled fi ve times to form the socket. After reheating to about 1,100°C, between fi ve and seven blows with a forming tool shaped the socket, and, with the metal still hot, the blade end was widened further. The blade end was reheated again, and then subjected to four or fi ve passes in the blade rolling mill to thin the metal and draw out the spade shape. This was then blanked on another press, before being fi nally worked in

a hydraulic press to form the ‘dish’ in the blade and the curve of the socket. Although presses had replaced water-powered hammers, and the furnaces ran on gas rather than charcoal, the 16th-century forge workers would have recognized this process being carried on by their descendants fi ve centuries later.

Forging at Wednesbury ceased at Christmas 2005. The site continued in use for administrative, warehousing and maintenance functions during 2006, but the remaining buildings were removed in 2007 and the site was cleared.

FIG. 44

Wednesbury Forge: plan of the site in 2001, showing forging operations and processes. The area of the 2006 and 2007 excavation is shaded.

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DISCUSSION

The archaeology of Wednesbury Forge has raised a number of interesting questions about post-medieval ironworking technology. Key aspects include the long-standing use of water power, the early development of integrated production, and the fl exibility and adaptability of the site for changing market conditions.

POWER AND SPACE

Taken together, the evidence of the water-power installations suggests a sophisticated approach to water management. Comparable features have been encountered at other 16th- and 17th-century excavated sites, albeit on a smaller scale. The forge at Ardingly (Sussex), in use c. 1570–1660, consisted of two single parallel timber tailraces about 12m apart, driving a hammer and bellows situated between them.98 The layout and details of construc-tion echo the earliest phase at Wednesbury. Exca-vations at Chingley (Kent) revealed a curved-back

timber-framed wheelpit of 17th-century date, simi-lar to Wednesbury’s Phase I northern wheelpit.99 Excavation of a 17th-century fi nery forge at Blackwater Green (Sussex) revealed two parallel timber-framed double tailraces slightly over 12m apart and analogous to the Phase II and III arrangements at Wednesbury.100

The initial arrangement of water power determined the layout of the site for the next four centuries. When the water-power system was upgraded, great care was taken to ensure that the forge could continue in operation as much as possible. Fixed plant such hammers, anvils and furnaces were therefore worked around rather than relocated, and supplementary power sources (the 18th-century windmill and the 19th-century steam engine) located at the heart of the forge, where their power could be harnessed directly by the existing infrastructure. A similar motive can be detected in the culverting process, where the exist-ing base timbers were reused and the culverts built in stages to minimize disruption. The culverting process appears to have begun relatively early —

FIG. 45

Wednesbury Forge: making a shovel, July 2005.

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certainly during the later 17th century — and the main culvert of the early 18th century was built on an impressive scale. This enabled expansion of the site to take place.

Only in the 19th century did the operational focus begin to shift away from the historic core. The steam engine installation found during the excavation was too severely truncated to enable an accurate calculation to be made of its potential power output; however, it was clearly smaller than the ‘200 horsepower’ noted in 1889. A substantial engine house is shown on the lithograph at the eastern end of the site, outside the area of excava-tion, probably driving a rolling mill. This installa-tion provoked the eastwards migration of forging processes, which accelerated during the 20th century after the abandonment of the turbines.

Non-production elements of the forge also maintained a persistent layout. Access was proba-bly always from the west, the later-named St Paul’s Road forming the main route from the town of Wednesbury itself. Apart from the pools and chimneys, the approach would have been domi-nated by more polite buildings. Willetts’ house, Elwell’s house and the 19th- and 20th-century administrative and offi ce buildings were all located within the same general area; indeed the 20th-century gatehouse overlapped with the footprint of Elwell’s house, which partly incorporated the remains of Willetts’ house (Building A). There was also a cluster of workers’ housing to the north of the entrance during the 18th and 19th centuries. Assemblages of domestic artefacts from all periods and all social levels suggest very close connections between work and home for most of the forge’s history.

PRODUCTS AND MARKETS

When the forge was part of the Foley concern, its output was simply one part of a much wider chain of production. During the 18th century however, it developed as a site of increasing complexity. The archaeological evidence shows that serious expansion of the site took place during the early 1700s, and this would appear to have been associated with saw manufacture.

Saw-making involved a number of closely-connected processes. Even in the 20th century many of these defi ed mechanization; Simon Barley records fi fteen stages from steel ingot to fi nished product.101 One of the most crucial was creating the steel plate and then grinding it to produce a taper from saw-back to saw-edge. The teeth were then cut, set and sharpened before backs and handles were added. Wednesbury certainly emerged as a centre of this trade during the 18th century,

although the operations may not have been cen-tralized. Angerstein noted ‘a number of workshops for saw blades’ on his way to Wednesbury,102 and his fellow Swede Samuel Schröder, who had visited west Midlands saw-makers in 1749, recorded how forged blades were ‘sent to a grinding mill about fi ve miles away to be ground, then sent back for the teeth to be fi led’.103 One characteristic of the Midlands saw industry at this time was the adop-tion of rolling mill technology for creating the saw plate, rather than hammering it out, as had formerly been the case. This gave a much more homogeneous product, less prone to failure. The ‘plating mill’ at Wednesbury in the early 18th century would have been ideal for this process, and the newly-expanded site contained a wide range of small hand forges (Buildings C and D), as well as the grinding mills. It is therefore probable that all, or almost all, of the processes of saw-making took place on site at Wednesbury Forge, making it a very early example of an integrated saw factory.

Having established a site which could turn iron bar into fi nished products, the Willetts con-cern was well-placed to adapt to changing markets. The opportunity arose to turn the forging and grinding facilities to other uses, in this case gun-making. Wednesbury’s 18th-century contribution to gun-making has traditionally been associated with barrels, leading to the town’s later 19th-century specialism in tube-making.104 However, given the size of the Wednesbury Forge site and the wide range of processes which it was capable of undertaking, it is probable that the fi rm applied its experience of fully-integrated manufacturing to the new product. Barrel-making also involved a series of forging, cutting and grinding operations on steel plate,105 and the archaeological evidence suggests that the Willetts concern was involved in making components other than barrels. The large quantity of gun fl ints may have been brought in simply for testing the barrels, but again the tech-nology existed on site for making fl intlocks and assembling lock and barrel. Stocks may have been sourced from outside, although saw-making would have required woodturning capacity and if it already existed on site then it could have been adapted from saw handles to gunstocks. The installation of the post-1788 boring mill would have improved capacity, and it is tempting to think that the new boring mill may have been for rifl ing.

As with the transition from saws to guns, so the forge was well suited to its 19th- to 21st-century role as an edge-tool factory. For most of this time Elwells had a product line of over 1,200 items, including sickles, scythes, billhooks, axes, spades, shovels, forks, hoes and shears. Many of these were specialized products for colonial markets, such as

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50 PAUL BELFORD

the famous Elwell’s cocoa pruner, which was fi rst listed in the 19th century and still in production in 2005.

CONCLUSION

The programme of archaeology undertaken at Wednesbury Forge has revealed a unique site of national and international signifi cance. This small but powerful enterprise was built on trees that were growing when men were fi ghting at Agincourt. By the beginning of the 17th century it was already a substantial enterprise, and from the early 1700s developed as an integrated factory making a diverse range of products that were sold around the world. Wednesbury-made saws, guns and edge tools were literally at the cutting edge of imperial expansion in the 18th and 19th centuries. Wednes-bury Forge provided the means by which forestry, agriculture and industry could be undertaken around the world, and made the armaments with which these undertakings were defended. The story of Wednesbury Forge is a truly global one. Yet the site is also fi rmly rooted in its locality. Generations of Wednesbury families were associated with the forge during fi ve centuries of iron making, and it is their hard work, enterprise, courage and skill that are refl ected in the archaeology. The people of Wednesbury made the forge, and the forge made Wednesbury one of the most important centres of English industry during its most heroic period. Wednesbury forged the modern world.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Archaeological work was supported by the devel-opers Opus Land. Particular thanks must go to Geoffrey Barrett, of Crouch Butler Savage Limited, who facilitated archaeological investigations on behalf of his client. The wholehearted support of Sandwell MBC archaeologist Graham Eyre-Morgan was essential and much appreciated, together with that of his predecessor, Shane Gould. All of the staff at Spear and Jackson were enor-mously helpful before, during and after the closure of their long-established workplace. Documents held in the Spear and Jackson offi ces at Wednes-bury Forge (SJWF) were seen whilst fi eldwork was in progress 2005–7. Some were copied (copies are with the site archive) but the fate of the originals after site closure is not known.

Archaeological fi eldwork was managed by the author, and directed on site by the author and William Mitchell, who endured many vicissitudes (including marriage, buying a house and the birth

of his daughter) during the three years in which he was engaged on the project. All the drawings in this paper were prepared by Sophie Watson, except Figs 4, 11, 13, 14, 21, 22, 26 and 34, which were drawn by Sophie Watson and Keith Hinton. Photographs were taken by Paul Belford and William Mitchell. Staff who worked on the project over the years included Elizabeth Bishop, Emma Dwyer, Richard Elliot, Keith Hinton, Matthew Morgan, William Mitchell, Jonathan Prince, Kate Page-Smith, Suzanne Reeve, Jeremy Rogers, Simon Roper, Anna Wallis, Sophie Watson and Alex Wilkinson. Specialist contributions have been invaluable in refi ning the dating and sequence of activities on the site, and particular gratitude is extended to Dr Ian Tyers (Dendrochronological Consultancy Limited) and Stephanie Ratkai (ceramics). Local knowledge has been enhanced by Peter Knowles and the Wednesbury Local His-tory Society, and signifi cant contributions were made in research and discussion by Dr Peter King, David Cranstone, Dr Simon Barley, Dr David Dungworth and Ian Bott.

NOTES1 Greenslade & Jenkins 1967, 68–9.2 Gelling 1992, 91–3.3 Hackwood 1902; Hodder 1992, 98–112.4 Dilworth 1976,102.5 Hodder & Glazebrook 1987, 75–6.6 Ede 1962, 26–7, 30; Dilworth 1976, 111.7 Ede 1962, 108.8 Hodder 1992; Stephanie Ratkai, pers. comm.9 Belford et al. 2006; Hodder & Glazebrook 1987;

Hodder 1992.10 Dilworth 1976, 104–5.11 Dilworth 1976, 107.12 Dilworth 1976, 108.13 Hackwood 1902, 36.14 Dilworth 1976, 97.15 King 2006, 75.16 SHC: 1932, 298–9.17 Greenslade & Jenkins 1967, 113 fn.18 Belford & Mitchell 2009.19 Belford & Reeve 2001.20 Belford & Mitchell 2005.21 Greenslade & Jenkins 1967, 113 fn.22 Ede 1962, 124.23 King 1999, 59–76.24 Ede 1962, 124–5; Peter King, pers. comm.25 Lead 1977, 3–5.26 TNA: PRO C 2/James 1/C16/41; Ede 1962, 125.27 Dilworth 1976, 112.28 TNA: PRO C 2/JamesI/C16/41. It is possible that

further disturbances in Wednesbury by Comberford himself had caused disruption to the forge: he was

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fi ned by the Star Chamber in 1609 for misdemeanours causing personal injury to others (see CSPD James I, 1603–1610 (1857), 524–40).

29 Tyers 2007, 5–6; see also Belford & Mitchell 2009, Appendix 2.

30 TNA: PRO Probate 11/148, ff. 335–6.31 TNA: PRO Probate 11/239; Probate 11/246.32 Ede 1962, 82–3; Hackwood 1902, 68.33 Ede 1962, 112.34 Dilworth 1976, 113; Johnson 1952, 322–5.35 Schafer 1978, 23; Dilworth 1976, 113.36 Schafer 1978, 23.37 HRO: F/VI/KG/1-2.38 HRO: F/VI/KG/8.39 Ede 1962, 126.40 Schafer 1978, 23.41 Dilworth 1976, 113.42 Greenslade & Jenkins 1967, 118.43 Peter King, pers. comm.; see also King 2003, 182–

4.44 Dilworth 1976, 113.45 Johnson 1952, 326.46 Dilworth 1976, 114.47 Ede 1962, 126.48 Dilworth 1976, 111.49 Angerstein 2001, 50.50 Hackwood 1889, 80.51 Dilworth 1976, 114.52 Cited in Bagnall 1854, 110.53 Angerstein 2001, 48.54 SRO: 5350/44–5.55 Hackwood 1889, 51.56 Barley 2008, 96-101.57 Angerstein 2001, 49; Peter King, pers. comm.58 A skelp is a plate of metal that has been curved and

welded to form a tube (the basis for the gun barrels).59 Johnson 1960, 71–2; Belford & Reeve 2001, 11–12.60 SRO: D1798/617/87, D1798/617/92.61 Wheelswarf is an accumulation of fi ne particles of

metal and grindstone, which are produced during the grinding process.

62 Ede 1962, 165.63 Dilworth 1976, 114.64 Rees 1820 (3), Pl. 2 (many thanks to David

Cranstone for pointing out this reference).65 Belford & Reeve 2001, 13.66 Hackwood 1889, 52; SRO: Q/RPL/4/29.67 This wheelpit was built only a few years after the

erection of the famous Iron Bridge at Coalbrookdale in 1779, and anticipated the more ambitious Dither-ington Flax Mill of 1796.

68 William Elwell also had a signifi cant share in the Coalbrookdale Company as it was building the Iron Bridge and was sometime Mayor of Walsall. See Elwell 1964, 81–8; Greenslade & Jenkins 1967, 260; Abley 1990, 2; Baugh 1985, 36.

69 Abley 1990, 2; Elwell 1987, 6.

70 Barley 2008, 96-10271 Dilworth 1976, 115.72 In the private collection of Ian Bott, Wednesbury;

see also Belford & Mitchell 2009, fi g. 16.73 Glew, cited in Hackwood 1889, 51.74 SJWF; see also Belford & Mitchell 2009, fi gs 12

and 13.75 Ede 1962, 234.76 TNA: PRO Census HO107/984/1.77 Elwell 1976, 26.78 TNA: PRO Census RG9/2032.79 Elwell 1976, 47–8.80 Hackwood 1889, 52.81 Elwell 1987, 7.82 TNA: PRO Census RG10/2987.83 Illustrated in an Elwell catalogue of c. 1869

(reproduced by kind permission of Ian Bott). 84 Hackwood 1889, 52.85 Elwell 1987, 6–8.86 WLHC: 118/9, 23 Oct 1902; Greenslade 1976,

11–14.87 Tucker 1985, 51.88 Ede 1964, 286; Elwell 1987, 13–14.89 Dilworth 1976, 117.90 Elwell 1964, 88.91 SJWF: letter dated 10 January 1968; see also

Belford & Mitchell 2009, fi gs 10–11.92 SJWF: map of the site dated 1937.93 NMR: CPE/UK/2466 (March 1948); 541/29 (May

1948) and 82/780 (May 1953).94 Abley 1990, 5.95 Dreaper 1968, 36–9.96 Abley 1990, 5.97 This description is taken from oral recording

undertaken in 2005; there is insuffi cient space to provide more detail here, but this is preserved in the fi eldwork archive and will be available in the monograph currently in preparation.

98 Bedwin 1976, 38–50.99 Crossley 1975, 6–29.

100 Crossley 1994, 168.101 Barley 2008, 397–9.102 Angerstein 2001, 51.103 Schröder 2008, 208–10.104 Hackwood 1902, 15–25. 105 Wilkinson 1971, 19–20.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Abley, R.W. 1990, ‘A Brief History of Wednesbury Forge and the Elwell Connection’, unpubl. MS.

Angerstein, R.R. 2001 [1755], Illustrated Travel Diary 1753–1755, trans. T. & P. Berg, London: Science Museum.

Bagnall, J.N. 1854, A History of Wednesbury in the County of Stafford, Wolverhampton: William Parke.

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52 PAUL BELFORD

Barley, S.L. 2008, ‘Hand Tool Manufacture During the Industrial Revolution: Sawmaking in Shef-fi eld c.1750–c.1830’, University of Sheffi eld PhD thesis.

Baugh, G.C. (ed.) 1985, The Victoria County History of Shropshire 11, Oxford: University Press.

Bedwin, O. 1976, ‘The excavation of Ardingly Fulling Mill and Forge 1975–76’, Post-Medieval Archaeol. 10, 34–64.

Belford, P., Eyre-Morgan, G., Mitchell, W. & Roper, S. 2006, ‘Archaeological Investigations at Lower High Street, Wednesbury’, Ironbridge Archaeol. Ser. 175, unpubl. rep.

Belford, P. & Mitchell, W. 2009, ‘Archaeological Excavations at Wednesbury Forge, Wednes-bury’, Ironbridge Archaeol. Ser. 230, unpubl. rep.

Belford, P. & Reeve, S. 2001, ‘Historic Landscape Appraisal: St Paul’s Road, Wednesbury’, Ironbridge Archaeol. Ser. 106, unpubl. rep.

Crossley, D.W. 1975, The Bewl Valley Ironworks, London: Royal Archaeological Institute.

Crossley, D.W. 1994, Post-Medieval Archaeology in Britain, Leicester: University Press.

Dilworth, D. 1976, The Tame Mills of Staffordshire, London: Phillimore.

Dreaper, J. 1968, ‘Geared for export: three case histories’, Design 234, 30–9.

Ede, J. 1962, History of Wednesbury, Wednesbury: Simmons.

Elwell, C.J.L. 1964, The Iron Elwells, Ilfracombe: Stockwell.

Elwell, C.J.L. 1976, A Lady of Wednesbury Forge, Tipton: Black Country Society.

Elwell, C.J.L. 1987, ‘The workers of Wednesbury Forge’, The Blackcountryman 20:4, 6–14.

Gelling, M. 1992, The West Midlands in the Early Middle Ages, Leicester: University Press.

Greenslade, M.W. (ed.) 1976, The Victoria History of the County of Stafford 17, Oxford: University Press.

Greenslade, M.W. & Jenkins, J.G. 1967, The Victoria History of the County of Stafford 2, Oxford: University Press.

Hackwood, F.W. 1889, Wednesbury Workshops; or Some Account of the Industries of a Black Country Town, Wednesbury: Woden Press.

Hackwood, F.W. 1902, Wednesbury Ancient and Modern, Wednesbury: Ryder & Son.

Hodder, M.A. 1992, ‘Excavations in Wednesbury, 1988 and 1989: the medieval and post-medieval settlement, and the 17th-century pottery indus-try’, Trans. Staffordshire Archaeol. Hist. Soc. 32, 96–115.

Hodder, M.A. & Glazebrook, J.M. 1987, ‘Excava-tions at Oakeswell Hall, Wednesbury, 1983’, Trans. Staffordshire Archaeol. Hist. Soc. 27, 64–77.

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Johnson, B.L.C. 1960, ‘The Midland iron industry in the early eighteenth century’, Business Hist. 2:2, 67–74.

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King, P. 2003, ‘The Iron Trade in England and Wales 1500–1815: the Charcoal Iron Industry and its Transition to Coke’, University of Wolverhampton PhD thesis.

King, P. 2006, ‘Perry Barr and its water mills’, Trans. Staffordshire Archaeol. Hist. Soc. 41, 65–78.

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ABBREVIATIONS

CSPD Calendar of State Papers DomesticHRO Herefordshire Record Offi ceNMR National Monuments RecordSHC Staffordshire Historical CollectionsSRO Staffordshire Record Offi ceSJWF Spear and Jackson offi ces,

Wednesbury Forge.TNA: PRO The National Archives (TNA):

Public Record Offi ce (PRO)WLHC Walsall Local History Centre

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WEDNESBURY FORGE 53

SUMMARY IN FRENCH, GERMAN, ITALIAN AND SPANISH

Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust, Coach Road, Coalbrookdale, Telford, Shropshire TF8 7DQ, UK[[email protected]]

This paper is published with fi nancial assistance from Opus Land

RÉSUMÉCinq siècles de travail du fer: les fouilles de la Forge de Wednesbury Les fouilles archéologiques menées entre 2004 et 2008 à la « Wednesbury Forge » (une forge de feronnerie) à Wednesbury, West Midlands ont permis la mise au jour d’importants vestiges de bois, de maçonneries et d’autres structures. Les indices historiques et archéologiques ont révélé un complexe sophistiqué de travail du fer en place depuis 1600 environ, qui fut successivement adapté et redéveloppé de manière continue jusqu’à la fermeture du site en 2005. Les procédés incluaient des forges de raffi nement et de chaufferie, des pro-ductions de clous, de scies, d’armes et une taillan-derie. Des développements tardifs comprenaient un moulin à vent pour broyer, des réseaux de chemin de fer internes, des turbines à eau, des lami-noirs, des équipements domestiques et récréatifs pour les travailleurs. Les études archéologiques ont consisté en des recherches documentaires, des fouilles, des relevés en élévation, l’enregistrement de l’histoire orale et des procédés.

ZUSAMMENFASSUNGFünf Jahrhunderte Eisenbearbeitung: Ausgrabun-gen In der Wednesbury SchmiedeArchäologische Ausgrabungen, die zwischen 2004–08 bei der Wendnesbury Schmiede, Wednesbury, West Midlands, stattfanden, erbrachten ausgiebige Überreste von Holz- und Mauerstrukturen, sowie andere Elemente. Historische und archäologische Zeugnisse zeigen einen komplizierten Eisenbear-beitungskomplex, der ungefähr um 1600 begann und in der Folge bis zu seiner Schließung im Jahre 2005 kontinuierlich angepaßt und neu entwickelt wurde. Der Arbeitsablauf schloß Frischofen und Wulstbrand ein, Nägel- und Sägenproduktion, sowie die Herstellung von Gewehren und Schnei-dewerkzeugen. In späterer Zeit gehörten eine windgetriebene Schleifmühle sowie ein internes Eisenbahnnetz, Wasserturbinen, Walzwerke, sowie Arbeiterwohnungen und Freizeiteinrichtungen dazu. Die archäologischen Untersuchungen schlos-sen urkundliche Nachforschungen, Ausgrabungen, Bauunterlagen, mündliche Überlieferung, und schriftliche Herstellungsmethoden ein.

RIASSUNTOCinque secoli di lavoro del ferro: gli scavi nella fucina di WednesburyGli scavi intrapresi fra il 2004 e il 2008 presso la fucina di Wednesbury, a Wednesbury, nelle West Midlands, hanno restituito abbondanti resti di legno e di strutture in muratura, nonché altri mate-riali. Le testimonianze storiche e archeologiche hanno messo in luce un sofi sticato complesso per la lavorazione del ferro, già esistente nel 1600 ca. e che in seguito fu costantemente riadattato e risanato fi no alla chiusura del sito nel 2005. Il processo di lavorazione comprendeva forni di puddellaggio e riscaldamento, la fabbricazione di chiodi, seghe, fucili e utensili taglienti. Gli sviluppi successivi inclusero una mola azionata dalla forza eolica, una rete ferroviaria interna, turbine ad acqua, presse a rulli, strutture abitative e ricreative per i lavoratori. L’indagine archeologica com-prende la ricerca documentaria, lo scavo, nonché la documentazione degli edifi ci, delle testimonianze orali e del processo di lavorazione.

RESUMENCinco siglos trabajando el hierro: las excavaciones en la Forja de WednesburyLas excavaciones arqueológicas desarrolladas entre 2004 y 2008 en la Forja de Wednesbury en Wednesbury, West Midlands, descubrieron restos importantes de estructuras de madera y piedra junto con otros elementos de interés. La evidencia histórica y arqueológica descubrió un sofi sticado complejo para el trabajo del hierro; éste estuvo en existencia ya hacia 1600 y fue sucesivamente adaptado y desarrollado hasta su cierre en el 2005. Las labores allí desarrolladas incluyen la forja fi na y tosca, fabricación de clavos, sierras, armas y utensilios con fi lo. Algo más tardía fue la adición de un molino de viento, una red de ferrocarril interno, turbinas de agua, laminadores, y estructu-ras de recreo y alojamiento para los trabajadores. La investigación arqueológica incluyó la investig-ación de las fuentes escritas, excavación, estudio de paramentos, historia oral y estudio de los procesos de manufactura.

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