Iron ore for Newent Furnace

Abstract

In the study of iron-smelting before the large-scale production of the 19th century, it is tempting to assume that the ores came from well known sources quoted in standard works on iron deposits. There is however, considerable evidence that some charcoal furnaces, not to mention bloomeries, obtained supplies from small local outcrops that have been long since forgotten. Bog iron ores were exploited, and rarely have left any tangible evidence behind them. The source of ore for the Newent Furnace, Gloucestershire, c. 1639-1751 (also known as Elmbridge or Oxenhall Furnace) and for long owned by the Foley family, was presumed to be hematite from the carboniferous limestone in the Forest of Dean, 6 or 7 miles to the south. However, it is conspicuously absent from a list of prices for Forest ore delivered to named furnaces as ordered by the Court of Mine Law on 27th April 1680, at which period it was certainly in
blast. The enigma was eventually resolved by the Foley Partnership Accounts, where many references to 'myne (ore) from Mr Foley's land at Aston' may be found.