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Ironmaking in a Roman Furnace*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 November 2011

Henry Cleere
Henry Cleere
Affiliation:
50 Madeira Road, London, SW16 2DE
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Extract

In the past few decades, the spread of the knowledge of ironmaking technology from its origins in the Near East throughout the Old World has been the subject of considerable study. Archaeologists and metallurgists have collaborated in the investigation of technological material, notably furnace remains, slags, and iron artefacts. Slowly a coherent picture is beginning to emerge, but many questions remain unanswered.

Type
Articles
Information
Britannia , Volume 2 , November 1971 , pp. 203 - 217
Copyright
Copyright © Henry Cleere 1971. Exclusive Licence to Publish: The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies

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Footnotes

*

The author wishes to express his sincere gratitude to all those who helped with the planning and execution of the trials and to those who generously provided specialist information about the results of those trials: Dr. Adam Mazur (Academy of Mining and Metallurgy, Krakow, Poland), Mr. James H. Cleland, Jnr. (University of Strathclyde), Dr. M. S. Tite and Mr. C. Mullins (University of Essex), and Mr. D. T. Hemsley (Laboratory of the Government Chemist) formed the team for the trials and combined hard and often dirty physical labour with careful scientific observation. Dr. Radomir Pleiner (Archaeological Institute, Prague), Mr. R. Thomsen (A/S Varde, Denmark), and Dr. R. F. Tylecote and Mr. J. N. Austin (University of Newcastle upon Tyne), provided full details of their own experimental work, with much helpful practical advice. Dr. R. G. Thurrell (Institute of Geological Sciences, London) located the ore source and commented on the material, whilst Messrs. Hudson Ltd. of Sharpthorne readily granted access to their quarry and transported the ore to Horam. Major M. R. R. Goulden of Horam Manor Farm first suggested that the trials might be carried out, provided the site and the clay, and together with the Rev. A. H. Way, Vicar of Horam, gave unstinting help and encouragement.

The trials would not have been possible without a generous grant from The British Steel Corporation, for which Dr. H. M. Finniston, F.R.S., and Mr. P. A. Matthews were instrumental. The Committee of the Historical Metallurgy Group also made a grant towards the expenses as part of its policy of supporting research in the field of historical metallurgy. Johnson Matthey and Co. Ltd. (via Dr. L. B. Hunt), the Pyrene Company Ltd., Woodall Duckham Ltd. (via Mr. R. O. Richards, D.S.C.), and Astbury Silica Ltd. (via Mr. R. H. Clark) provided valuable material aid, and Professor E. C. Ellwood (University of Strathclyde) made available an Orsat apparatus for gas analysis.

BISRA—the Corporate Laboratories of BSC—loaned the electric blower and its Teesside Laboratory (via Dr. R. Wild) cairied out ore and slag analyses. The British Steel Corporation Midland Group Research and Development Department, with the agreement of Dr. J. H. Chesters, F.R.S., gave help at all stages of the project: Mr. J. R. Lakin examined the Horam clay and compared it with the Holbeanwood furnace material: Mr. D. C. Goldring canied out petrological examinations of the ore and slags; and Dr. F. B. Pickering made metallographic and X-ray examinations of the iron produced. Mr. D. S. Butler (Post Office Research Centre) also gave valuable metallurgical help and advice. Finally, the author's wife. Mrs. Dorothy Cleere, examined and identified the charcoal samples, as well as offering encouragement and understanding throughout the planning and execution of the trials.

References

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7 Wynne, E. J. and Tylecote, R. F.: Journ. Iron and Steel Institute, 190 (1958), 339–48Google Scholar; R. F. Tylecote, J. N. Austin and A. E. Wraith, ibid, 209 (1971), 342–63.

8 Cleere, H. F.: Vita pro Ferro (Festschrift für R. Durrer), Schaffhausen, 1965, 91–102; and Sussex Archaeological Society Occasional Paper No. 1 (1970).Google Scholar

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19 E.g. CIL xiii, 1811.

20 Webster, G.: The Roman Imperial Army, London, 1969, 158f.Google Scholar

21 Cattell, C. S.: Bull. Hist. Met. Group, 4 (1) (1970), 18–20; H. F. Cleere, op. cit. (note 15); M. C. Lebon, op. cit. (note 18); and information from A. G. Brodribb and J. H. Money.Google Scholar

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26 However, more recent studies by the writer (Bull. Historical Metallurgy Group 5 (ii), 1971, in the press) suggest that ore-roasting and smelting were not carried out simultaneously, and so the manning figure could be 5-6 per furnace.