Pit 2, Section through pit with top air-inlet vent & sideindet vent Initially, both pits appeared to begin to burn freely, but tl sreenery-cover smothered the fire in Pit 1, and extinguished witho -onsuming much of the fuel. Pit 2 burnt thoroughly, consumit ill the fuel and most of its covering of leafy branches. The mt -~overing baked dry and fell in regularly from the centre — outward Unsurprisingly, the ore in Pit 1 seemed largely unchanged, whil hat in Pit 2 was shattered, and mostly the ox-blood red of roast re. Each pit was then cleaned out and the ore re-weighed. Fig 5: ‘Dutch’ style fireback at Lewes Fig. 6: Fireback at Rottingdean Grange Fig 8: The Lenard fireback 7 ME MI, aa Sk Se ee ee ee The Squerryes fireback would have been made from a single wooden pattern onto which the entire image had been carved. Surviving examples of such patterns show them to have been constructed of a number of planks battened together, and it is noticeable on some firebacks that lines indicating the joins between such planks are clearly visible. Although it is inconceivable that the pattern for a plate the size of the one at Squerryes would have been made from a single piece of wood, no ‘plank lines’ are visible on he fireback. This attests to a high degree of care in the preparation of the pattern, and also to its probable uniqueness. The wooden planks of re-used patterns would have dried out over time, causing shrinkage which opened gaps between the planks, resulting in the ines seen on some firebacks. Fig 9: German fireback at Maison de la Métallurgie, Liége Fig 10: German influenced fireback at Guildford Fig 12: Fireback portraying the ‘Brede Ogre’ Fig 11: Forgeback in Hastings Museum
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