THE SHROPSHIRE WROUGHT-IRON INDUSTRY c1600-1900 A STUDY OF TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE by RICHARD HAYMAN A thesis submitted to The University of Birmingham for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Centre for Lifelong Learning The University of Birmingham July 2003 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. Abstract Wrought-iron manufacture in Shropshire is studied over three centuries, encompassing changes in technology arising from the use of vegetable and subsequently mineral fuel. It describes the charcoal-using forges of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, discussing their rural locations on tributaries of the River Severn, and their principal market in the Midland manufacturing district. Comparison with other ironworking districts establishes that the industry had a regional rather than a national base. Early processes using coal and coke are discussed, in particular the patent awarded to Thomas and George Cranage, two Shropshire workmen, in 1766, before the adoption of the puddling process in the late eighteenth century. The industry in the nineteenth century is discussed with reference to the market and workplace structure, examining their influence on the technology of iron production. In the light of this, it is argued that in the nineteenth century ironmaking retained a strong regional character, structured by particular historic and geographic circumstances, and that national trends offer a limited understanding of the industry in that period. The thesis also challenges conventional interpretations of technological change, whereby new technology replaces old, arguing for increasing technological diversity until the decline of ironmaking in the late nineteenth century. Acknowledgements This study really began at Ironbridge in 1996. Wendy Horton, then my colleague in the archaeology team, suggested I was the right person to write up the Upper Forge in Coalbrookdale. I have never really left the subject since. Throughout my period of study Peter Leather has ensured that all the administrative procedures have run smoothly. My academic supervisor, Dr Barrie Trinder, has been consistently encouraging and has always made the right kind of criticisms. Thanks are also due to the staff of numerous libraries and record offices, in particular at the John Rylands University Library, Manchester, the Shropshire Records and Research Centre, and John Powell, librarian at the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust. Contents A note on measurements 1 INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Topography and trade of Shropshire 3 1.2 Early historians of the iron industry 3 1.3 Economic histories 4 1.4 Technological histories 9 1.5 Cultural histories 10 1.6 Previous studies of the Shropshire iron industry 12 1.7 Aims and methods of the present study 15 1.8 Sources 16 1.9 Structure of the thesis 17 2 THE SHROPSHIRE FORGE TRADE TO 1750 19 2.1 Technology 19 2.2 Development of the forge trade in Britain 21 2.3 Development of blast furnaces and forges in Shropshire 27 2.4 Geography of Shropshire forges 34 2.5 Ownership and management of Shropshire forges 36 2.6 Sources of pig iron 38 2.7 Shropshire in the Midland iron trade 38 2.8 Transportation 42 2.9 Market for Shropshire bar iron 42 2.10 Development of regional markets 44 2.11 Conclusion 47 3 THE INTRODUCTION OF MINERAL FUEL, c1750-1800 49 3.1 The introduction of coke-smelted pig iron 49 3.2 New finery forges 1750-90 53 3.3 Early refining techniques using mineral fuel 54 3.4 The Cranage patent, 1766 55 3.5 Stamping and potting 62 3.6 Stamping and potting at Coalbrookdale 70 3.7 Steam power in Shropshire forges 71 3.8 Old Park Ironworks 74 3.9 Horsehay forge and rolling mill 77 3.10 Integrated ironworks in the late eighteenth century 80 3.11 Rural forges in the late eighteenth century 82 3.12 Conclusion 84 4 THE TRANSITION TO PUDDLING, c1790-1815 86 4.1 Antecedents of puddling 86 4.2 Puddling and rolling 89 4.3 Trials of puddling in Shropshire 92 4.4 The ‘Welsh Method’ 93 4.5 The introduction of puddling to Shropshire ironworks 94 4.6 Further investment in Shropshire puddling forges 101 4.7 Rural and Severn Valley forges in the early nineteenth century 105 4.8 Stamping and potting in the early nineteenth century 108 4.9 Charcoal iron and scrap iron at Horsehay and Coalbrookdale 113 4.10 Conclusion 116 5 IRON TRADE CULTURE, c1790-1830 118 5.1 Business relationships 118 5.2 Organisation of production 123 5.3 Language and custom of the iron trade 128 5.4 Quality of iron 131 5.5 Transportation 138 5.6 Conclusion 142 6 IRONMASTERS AND IRON WORKMEN 145 6.1 Finery forges 145 6.2 Skill in the transition to puddling 148 6.3 The puddling era – organisation of work 149 6.4 The puddling era – workplace culture 154 6.5 Conclusion 158 7 THE IRON INDUSTRY IN PEACE, c1815-1840 159 7.1 Recession and recovery in the coalfield 159 7.2 Charcoal iron manufacture – Rural and Severn Valley forges 165 7.3 Charcoal iron manufacture – coalfield forges 167 7.4 Conclusion 173 8 THE MATURE IRON INDUSTRY, c1835-1880 175 8.1 Improvements in transport – the railway age 175 8.2 Expansion after 1850 177 8.3 The character of the Shropshire iron trade 182 8.4 The wire industry 184 8.5 Diversification by Shropshire ironworking companies 185 8.6 Shropshire in the British wrought-iron industry 186 8.7 Conclusion 193 9 DECLINE OF WROUGHT IRON IN SHROPSHIRE, c1870-1900 194 9.1 New technology after 1850 194 9.2 The end of wrought-iron making in Shropshire 201 9.3 Factors in the decline of Shropshire forges 208 9.4 Conclusion 212 10 CONCLUSION 214 Appendix 1: Workmen and women at Horsehay forges and rolling mill, July 1796 218 Appendix 2: Workmen at Old Park forge, 1807-8 219 Appendix 3: Principal workmen at Old Park forge and mill, 1832-3 220 Appendix 4: Principal workmen at Stirchley forge and mill, 1849 222 Appendix 5: Finers at Hampton Loade forge, 1831-6 226 NOTES AND REFERENCES 227 BIBLIOGRAPHY 253 List of Illustrations Figure 1 An eighteenth-century finery 24 Figure 2 An eighteenth-century forge hammer 25 Figure 3 An eighteenth-century rolling and slitting mill 26 Figure 4 Shropshire ironworks of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries 29 Figure 5 Shropshire and Midland forges, c1750 35 Figure 6 Plan and section of an air, or reverberatory, furnace 52 Figure 7 Shropshire forges, c1810 69 Figure 8 Ironworks in the East Shropshire coalfield, 1872 179 List of Tables Table 1 Output of Shropshire Forges listed in national surveys of 1715-1749 32 Table 2 Forges and mills in Shropshire, c1790 66 Table 3 Pots and piles delivered to Horsehay and Coalbrookdale Forges, 1796-8 and 1802-7 112 Table 4 Prices of iron from Old Park forge, delivered at Stourport, 1803 125 Table 5 Payments to John Hyde & Co and George Brazier & Co for heating and rolling iron at Old Park forge, 1832 126 Table 6 Output of Hampton Loade forge, 1829-44 172 Table 7 Shropshire forges in 1873 178 A Note on Measurements Imperial units are used throughout the text and a conversion table is given below. In the case of distances and building dimensions, an approximate metric equivalent is given. Precise measurements of iron sections are given without metric equivalent. When expressing weights, a distinction is made where relevant between shortweight tons of 2240 lb (with 112 lb to the hundredweight) and longweight tons of 2400 lb (with 120 lb to the hundredweight). Most sources, however, do not state which unit has been used. Prices and wages are expressed as £/s/d without decimal conversion. Metric Conversion Table 1 inch 25.4 mm 1 foot 0.3048 m 1 mile 1.609 km 1 lb 0.454 kg 1 cwt (120 lb) 54.48 kg 1 cwt (112 lb) 50.85 kg 1 ton (longweight) 1.089 tonnes 1 ton (shortweight) 1.017 tonnes 1 INTRODUCTION ‘The second manufacture in the kingdom’ was how the ironmaster John Crowley described the iron industry in 1717, acknowledging only the woollen industry as making a greater contribution to the nation’s wealth.1 By the end of the century iron was an important industry in most of Britain’s coalfields and epitomised the new technological society of the industrial revolution. The industry was dispersed into several regions. It encompassed the smelting and refining of raw material, and the manufacture of a wide range of finished products. These included large-scale items such as engines and ordnance, and smaller items like nails, horseshoes and steel cutlery. Demand for iron exceeded domestic supply, however, and the import of wrought iron reached its peak as late as 1793.2 Shropshire had become established as an important centre of ironmaking in the eighteenth century, a period chronicled and interpreted by numerous historians. Nevertheless, this is the first detailed study devoted to the history of wrought-iron manufacture in Shropshire, the main secondary branch of the industry after the smelting of iron ore. Concentrating on a single branch of the industry requires a justification.