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Fig. 13.1: Pre-Roman ironworking sites in the Weald; named sites are mentioned in the text. — Figure 13 1: Pre-Roman ironworking sites in the Weald; named sites are mentioned in the text.

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Fig. 13.2: Remains of a 1st-century Roman bloomery furnace; Little Furnace Wood, Mayfield (photograph: author). High Weald for nearly 50 years, and the evidence indicates that native practices were allowed to continue. Although all iron at this time was produced in small furnaces, later called bloomeries, it is evident that there were local variations in their form and in the technical de to the extent that clear comparisons can be mad tails of how they were operated. Structures have seldom survived e, but the nature of the waste slag found on sites suggests that at least two variations in process were being utilised. One variation of t vermiform flow patterns on the upper sur he process is typified by slag faces. T that formed into flat masses with his is typically described as tap slag and would have been produced by periodically allowing the molten waste material to flow out of the bot tom of the furnace and across the ground away from the furnace. At some sites where this type of slag is found quantities of small cylinders of slag, about 10cm long and 1-2cm in diameter, have been recovered; the process from which they resulted remains uncertain, These were being produced by large smelting furnaces such as those seen at Little Furnace Wood, Mayfield (Fig. 13.2) (Butler forthcoming), and at Upper Wilting Farm, Crowhurst, which is still under excavation at the time of writing. The introduction though was probably related to air input.

Fig. 13.3: Diagrammatic cross section of a typical Wealden bloomery site (©estate of R. Houghton). the smelt; where tnis nas been recorded botn tne flat Slabs OF tap Slag and Ct cylinders are notable by their absence. There was probably a period from t ne Slag he late Iron Age into the Roman occupation where both practices were in operation, and the variety of the large number of furnaces excavated at Broadfield testifies to this. Sites were located where there was ready access to iron ore. The most common ore in the Weald is siderite, an iron carbonate, which occurs as nodules in thin layers within clay horizons in the Cretaceous Hastings Beds and surrounding Wea d Clay. The most abundant source is in the lowest levels of the Wadhurst Clay close to its interface with the older Ashdown Beds. This ore varies in quality because of the differing conditions that were prevalent when each bed was laid down in the geological past. In the early modern period writers noted that some beds of ore were easier to smelt than others and it would be surprising if the operators of bloomeries during the Roman occupation did not have the same experience, restricting ironmaking to certain locations. Prospecting for ore was probably easiest where layers outcropped on the sides of the narrow valleys, or gills, which are a feature of the High Weald landscape. Although water was not an essential element in the iron-making process, as it was to become after the 15th century, it had many uses that made the location of sites near water advantageous. These included puddling clay for furnace construction, as well as safety and refreshment. Prior to smelting, the ore was burnt on open fires to oxidise the carbonate, to break the lumps into smaller pieces, and to make the ore more porous for the hot gases in the smelting furnace. Because of the occurrence of ore in the Wealden clays and preponderance of iron sites close to streams, it has been observed that the organisation of sites often follows a pattern (Fig. 13.3). The tendency is for sites to be found on better-drained, sandy soils, sometimes at a distance from

Fig. 13.5: Major Roman iron sites in the Weald with sites of Classis Britannica tiles.

Fig. 13.6: Detail of a Classis Britannica stamped tile from Beauport Park (photograph: author). on opposing sides of the Channel, at Boulogne and initially at Richborough, though (Cleere 1977). As well as transportation the fleet also appears to ater at Dover tiles stamped These were at port site at Kit one or more b at a site would was probably the case at Bardown, where the found have sourced raw materials to the Hastings-Rochester those sites where they h organisation it for the developing province. At five locations in the Weald that were either directly or indirectly associated with ironmaking, roofing with the fleet’s logo, CLBR, have been found (Figs 13.5 and 13.6). Beauport Park, at Bardown, at a port on the south bank of the River Rother at Bodiam, at Little Farningham Farm, near Cranbrook, which is adjacent Roman road, and most recently at another probable tchenham Farm, near Ninfield. Roofing tiles imply the presence of uildings, which in turn imply a permanent presence by the fleet at ave been found. As the fleet was primarily a transport excavated. At Cranbrook there was evidence of sma the location of the tiles did not necessarily imply t might be reasonable to assume that be connected with that role, such as an office or a warehouse. This the sort of building it erected ations of timber buildings were | but more robust buildings but heir use thereon. At Bodiam, as at Bardown, a timber building was noted. As excavations at Kitchenham are still

Figure 1 – uploaded by Jeremy Hodgkinson

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