Steel in the Derwent valley: but enlightenment?
##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.main##
##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.sidebar##
Published
Nov 11, 2021
Abstract
The author’s 1980s excavation and research at Derwentcote are reviewed in the light of new information, and new ideas in archaeology more generally. The development of steelmaking in north-east England is seen as centered on the grafting of German and perhaps Swedish expertise on to the pre-existing English technology of cementation by William Bertram. The successful marketing of this product as ‘German’ steel involved an element of mystique and even deception as well as genuine innovation, and Derwentcote furnace can be seen as a projection of both sides of Bertram’s character; its date may be slightly earlier than previously thought. A model of ‘technological packages’ for the development of steelmaking, with similarities to the ‘punctuated equilibria’ model of biological evolution, is briefly outlined.
##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.details##
Keywords
References
Andren A 1998, Between artifacts and texts: historical archaeology in global perspective (New York and London).
Barker D and Cranstone D (eds) 2004, The Archaeology of industrialisation (Leeds: Society for Post-Medieval Archaeology Monograph 2).
Barraclough K C 1984, Blister steel: the birth of an industry (London).
Belford P and Ross R A 2007, ‘English steelmaking in the seventeenth century: the excavation of two cementation steelworks at Coalbrookdale’, Historical Metallurgy 41/2, 105–123.
Berg T and Berg P (trans) 2001, R R Angerstein’s illustrated travel diary, 1753–1755 (London).
Casella E and Symonds J (eds) 2005, Industrial archaeology: future directions (New York).
Cranstone D 1997, Derwentcote steel furnace; an industrial monument in County Durham (Lancaster).
Cranstone D 2004, ‘The Archaeology of Industrialisation - New Directions’, in Barker and Cranstone 2004, 313–320.
Cranstone D 2005, ‘After Industrial Archaeology?’, in Casella and Symonds 2005, 77–92.
Dungworth D and Cromwell T 2006, ‘Glass and pottery manufacture at Silkstone, Yorkshire’, Post-Medieval Archaeology 40/1, 160–190.
Flinn M W 1962, Men of Iron (Edinburgh).
Funari P P A, Hall M and Jones S 1999, Historical archaeology: back from the edge, (London and New York).
Gwyn D and Palmer M 2005, Understanding the workplace: a research framework for industrial archaeology in Britain (Industrial Archaeology Review 27/1).
Kirby D A 1971, Parliamentary Surveys of the Bishopric of Durham. Volume I (Gateshead: Surtees Society 183 for 1968).
Linsley S 1981–2, ‘Furnace Rediscovered – Provisional Note’, Industrial Archaeology Review 6/1, 69–72.
Linsley S and Hetherington R 1978, ‘A Seventeenth Century Blast Furnace at Allensford, Northumberland’, Historical Metallurgy 12/1, 1–11.
Mackenzie R J and Whiteman J A 2006, ‘Why pay more? An archaeometallurgical investigation of 19th-century Swedish wrought iron and Sheffield blister steel’, Historical Metallurgy 40/2, 138–149.
Malik K 2000, Man, Beast and Zombie: what science can and cannot tell us about human nature (London).
Meikle M M and Newman C M 2007, Sunderland and its origins: monks to mariners (Chichester).
Photos-Jones E, Dalglish C, Coulter S, Hall A J, Ruiz-Nieto R and Wilson L 2008, ‘Between archives and the site: the 19th-century iron and steel industry in the Monklands, Central Scotland’, Post-Medieval Archaeology 42/1, 157–180.
Plot R 1686, The Natural history of Staffordshire (Oxford).
Riden P 1993, A gazetteer of charcoal-fired blast furnaces in Great Britain in use since 1660 (2nd edition Cardiff).
Shennan S 2002, Genes, memes, and human history: Darwinian archaeology and cultural evolution (London).
Whitley D S 1998, ‘New Approaches to Old Problems: Archaeology in Search of an Ever Elusive Past’, in Whitley D S (ed) 1998, Reader in archaeological theory: post-processual and cognitive
approaches (London and New York), 1–28.
Barker D and Cranstone D (eds) 2004, The Archaeology of industrialisation (Leeds: Society for Post-Medieval Archaeology Monograph 2).
Barraclough K C 1984, Blister steel: the birth of an industry (London).
Belford P and Ross R A 2007, ‘English steelmaking in the seventeenth century: the excavation of two cementation steelworks at Coalbrookdale’, Historical Metallurgy 41/2, 105–123.
Berg T and Berg P (trans) 2001, R R Angerstein’s illustrated travel diary, 1753–1755 (London).
Casella E and Symonds J (eds) 2005, Industrial archaeology: future directions (New York).
Cranstone D 1997, Derwentcote steel furnace; an industrial monument in County Durham (Lancaster).
Cranstone D 2004, ‘The Archaeology of Industrialisation - New Directions’, in Barker and Cranstone 2004, 313–320.
Cranstone D 2005, ‘After Industrial Archaeology?’, in Casella and Symonds 2005, 77–92.
Dungworth D and Cromwell T 2006, ‘Glass and pottery manufacture at Silkstone, Yorkshire’, Post-Medieval Archaeology 40/1, 160–190.
Flinn M W 1962, Men of Iron (Edinburgh).
Funari P P A, Hall M and Jones S 1999, Historical archaeology: back from the edge, (London and New York).
Gwyn D and Palmer M 2005, Understanding the workplace: a research framework for industrial archaeology in Britain (Industrial Archaeology Review 27/1).
Kirby D A 1971, Parliamentary Surveys of the Bishopric of Durham. Volume I (Gateshead: Surtees Society 183 for 1968).
Linsley S 1981–2, ‘Furnace Rediscovered – Provisional Note’, Industrial Archaeology Review 6/1, 69–72.
Linsley S and Hetherington R 1978, ‘A Seventeenth Century Blast Furnace at Allensford, Northumberland’, Historical Metallurgy 12/1, 1–11.
Mackenzie R J and Whiteman J A 2006, ‘Why pay more? An archaeometallurgical investigation of 19th-century Swedish wrought iron and Sheffield blister steel’, Historical Metallurgy 40/2, 138–149.
Malik K 2000, Man, Beast and Zombie: what science can and cannot tell us about human nature (London).
Meikle M M and Newman C M 2007, Sunderland and its origins: monks to mariners (Chichester).
Photos-Jones E, Dalglish C, Coulter S, Hall A J, Ruiz-Nieto R and Wilson L 2008, ‘Between archives and the site: the 19th-century iron and steel industry in the Monklands, Central Scotland’, Post-Medieval Archaeology 42/1, 157–180.
Plot R 1686, The Natural history of Staffordshire (Oxford).
Riden P 1993, A gazetteer of charcoal-fired blast furnaces in Great Britain in use since 1660 (2nd edition Cardiff).
Shennan S 2002, Genes, memes, and human history: Darwinian archaeology and cultural evolution (London).
Whitley D S 1998, ‘New Approaches to Old Problems: Archaeology in Search of an Ever Elusive Past’, in Whitley D S (ed) 1998, Reader in archaeological theory: post-processual and cognitive
approaches (London and New York), 1–28.
How to Cite
Steel in the Derwent valley: but enlightenment?. (2021). Historical Metallurgy, 42(2), 100-111. https://hmsjournal.org/index.php/home/article/view/189
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Steel in the Derwent valley: but enlightenment?. (2021). Historical Metallurgy, 42(2), 100-111. https://hmsjournal.org/index.php/home/article/view/189