ABSTRACT
‘Waterloo may have been won on the playing fields of Eton, W but the British supremacy in the economic war … was certainly engineered at Fontley Mill in Hampshire where Henry Cort revolutionised the art of making wrought iron.’ So writes Dr. Mott. 1 In 1788 a total of 105 charcoal forges in Britain were producing on average 3 tons of bar iron weekly. In the Weale MSS there is a list which gives the output by county: it is the last trace of an obsolescent industry: List of Forges where the method of making Bars upon the old Plan still exists, with the number of Fineries and Quantity of Iron which they annually made, taken as average, 1788
| Forges | Fineries | Total output (tons) | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Cumberland, Westmorland and Durham |
5 |
9 |
450 |
|
Yorkshire |
11 |
25 |
1,750 |
|
Lancashire and Cheshire |
8 |
11 |
770 |
|
Nottingham, Derbyshire, Warwick and Hereford |
9 |
20 |
1,500 |
|
Shropshire |
14 |
28 |
2,520 |
|
Staffordshire |
10 |
13 |
1,170 |
|
Worcestershire |
8 |
20 |
2,600 |
|
Gloucestershire |
4 |
8 |
600 |
|
Sussex |
4 |
4 |
120 |
|
Monmouthshire |
12 |
26 |
2,340 |
|
South Wales |
12 |
29 |
1,740 |
|
North Wales |
7 |
12 |
600 |
|
Scotland |
1 |
3 |
240 |
|
Total |
105 |
208 |
16,400 |
|
There are now about 60 melting fineries making 5 tons of bars a week |
15,600 |
||
|
Total quantity of bar iron made |
32,000 |
||
