The Forest of Dean: An Historical and Descriptive Account Part 23

"_Cinder Shovels_, iron shovels for taking up the cinders into the boxes, both to measure them and to fill the furnace.

"_Moulding Ship_, an iron tool fixed on a wooden handle, so formed as to make the gutters in the sand for casting the pig and sow iron.

"_Casting Ladles_, made hollow like a dish, with a lip to lade up the liquid iron for small castings.

"_Wringers_, large long bars of iron to wring the furnace, that is to clear it of the grosser and least fluid cinder which rises on the upper surface, and would there coagulate and soon prevent the furnace from working aright.

"_Constable_, a bar of very great substance and length, kept always lying by a furnace in readiness for extraordinary purposes in which uncommon strength and purchase were required. I suppose this name to have been given to this tool on account of its superior bulk and power, and in allusion to the Constable of St. Briavel's Castle, an officer heretofore of very great weight and consequence in this Forest.

"_Cinder Hook_, a hook of iron for drawing away the scruff or cinder which runs liquid out of the furnace over the dam plate, and soon becomes a solid substance, which must be removed to make room for fresh cinder to run out into its place.

"_Plackett_, a tool contrived as a kind of trowel for smoothing and shaping the clay.

"_Buckstones_, now called Buckstaves, are two thick plates of iron, about 5 or 6 feet long, fixed one on each side of the front of the furnace down to the ground to support the stone work.

"_Iron Tempe_ is a plate fixed at the bottom of the front wall of the furnace over the flame between the buck-staves.

"_Tuiron Plate_ is a plate of cast iron fixed before the noses of the bellows, and so shaped as to conduct the blast into the body of the furnace.

"_Tuiron Hooke_, a tool contrived for conveying a lump of tempered clay before the point of the tuiron plate, to guard the wall from wearing away as it would otherwise do in that part, there being the greatest force of the fire.

"_Shammel Plate_, a piece of cast iron fixed on a wooden frame, in the shape of a ---|, which works up and down as a crank, so as for the camb to lay hold of this iron, and thereby press down the bellows.

"_Firketts_ are large square pieces of timber laid upon the upper woods of the bellows, to steady it and to work it.

"_Firkett Hooks_, two strong hooks of square wrought iron fixed at the smallest end of the bellows to keep it firm and in its place.

"_Gage_, two rods of iron jointed in the middle, with a ring for the filler to drop the shortest end into the furnace at the top, to know when it is worked down low enough to be charged again.

"_Poises_, wooden beams, one over each bellows, fixed upon centres across another very large beam; at the longest end of these poises are open boxes bound with iron, and the little end being fixed with harness to the upper ends of the firketts are thus pressed down, and the bellows with it by the working of the wheel, while the weight of the poises lifts them up alternately as the wheel goes round."

No. V.

Dr. Parson's description of the mode of making Iron.

"After they have provided their ore, their first work is to calcine it, which is done in kilns, much after the fashion of our ordinary lime-kilns; these they fill up to the top with coal and ore untill it be full, and so putting fire to the bottom, they let it burn till the coal be wasted, and then renew the kilnes with fresh ore and coal: this is done without any infusion of mettal, and serves to consume the more drossy part of the ore, and to make it fryable, supplying the beating and washing, which are to no other mettals; from hence they carry it to their furnaces, which are built of brick and stone, about 24 foot square on the outside, and near 30 foot in hight within, and not above 8 or 10 foot over where it is widest, which is about the middle, the top and bottom having a narrow compa.s.s, much like the form of an egg. Behind the furnace are placed two high pair of bellows, whose noses meet at a little hole near the bottom: these are compressed together by certain b.u.t.tons placed on the axis of a very large wheel, which is turned round by water, in the manner of an overshot mill. As soon as these b.u.t.tons are slid off, the bellows are raised again by a counterpoise of weights, whereby they are made to play alternately, the one giving its blast whilst the other is rising.

"At first they fill these furnaces with ore and cinder intermixt with fuel, which in these works is always charcoal, laying them hollow at the bottom, that they may the more easily take fire; but after they are once kindled, the materials run together into an hard cake or lump, which is sustained by the furnace, and through this the mettal as it runs trickles down the receivers, which are placed at the bottom, where there is a pa.s.sage open, by which they take away the sc.u.m and dross, and let out their mettal as they see occasion. Before the mouth of the furnace lyeth a great bed of sand, where they make furrows of the fashion they desire to cast their iron: into these, when the receivers are full, they let in their mettal, which is made so very fluid by the violence of the fire, that it not only runs to a considerable distance, but stands afterwards boiling a great while.

"After these furnaces are once at work, they keep them constantly employed for many months together, never suffering the fire to slacken night or day, but still supplying the waste of fuel and other materials with fresh, poured in at the top.

"Several attempts have been made to bring in the use of the sea coal in these works instead of charcoal; the former being to be had at an easy rate, the latter not without a great expence; but hitherto they have proved ineffectual, the workmen finding by experience that a sea coal fire, how vehement soever, will not penetrate the most fixed parts of the ore, by which means they leave much of the mettal behind them unmelted.

"From these furnaces they bring the sows and piggs of iron, as they call them, to their forges; these are two sorts, though they stood together under the same roof; one they call their finery, and the other chafers: both of them are upon hearths, upon which they place great heaps of sea coal, and behind them bellows like those of the furnaces, but nothing near so large.

"In such finerys they first put their piggs of iron, placing three or four of them together, behind the fire, with a little of one end thrust into it, where softening by degrees they stir and work them with long barrs of iron till the mettal runs together in a round ma.s.se or lump, which they call an half bloome: this they take out, and giving it a few strokes with their sledges, they carry it to a great weighty hammer, raised likewise by the motion of a water-wheel, where applying it dexterously to the blows, they presently beat it into a thick short square; this they put into the finery again, and heating it red hot, they work it under the same hammer till it comes to the shape of a bar in the middle, with two square k.n.o.bs in the ends; last of all they give it other beatings in the chaffers, and more workings under the hammer, till they have brought their iron into barrs of several shapes, in which fashion they expose them to sale.

"All their princ.i.p.al iron undergoes the aforementioned preparations, yet for several other purposes, as for backs of chimneys, hearths of ovens, and the like, they have a sort of cast iron, which they take out of the receivers of the furnace, so soon as it is melted, in great ladles, and pour it into the moulds of fine sand in like manner as they do cast bra.s.s and softer mettals; but this sort of iron is so very brittle, that, being heated with one blow of the hammer, it breaks all to pieces."

No. VI.

Being Minutes, &c., of the Court of Mine Law.

"Forest of Deane to witt.Att a Court of Mine and Miners of Our Sovereign Lord the King, held att the Speech-ouse, in and for the Forest of Deane, on Tuesday the 13th day of December, in the year of Our Lord one thousand seven hundred and forty-eight, before Christopher Bond, Esqr, and Thomas James, gentleman, deputyes to the Right Honourable Augustus, Earl of Berkeley, Constable of the Castle of St Briavels, in the County of Gloucester, Christopher Bond, Esqr, gaveller of the said mines, and Phillip Elly, deputy gaveller of the said mines.

"_The names of the Jury_.--Richard Powell, Simon Bannister, George Thomas, Frances Dutheridge, William Kerr, Richard Hawkins, Joseph Cooper, Samuel Kerr, Henry Roberts, William Meeke, Richard Tingle, James Teague.

"William Gagg otherwise Smith, and his Vearns, _against_ James Bennett and his Vearns.

"I complaine against William Gagge and his Vearns for hindering our levell and doing of us willfull trespas, whereby we have sustained great damage, att a stone (lime) coale worke called Churchway, otherwise Turnbrooke, in the Hundred of Saint Briavels, (as this,) they hindered the levell, and deepwall they would not bring forward to our new pit that was then just downe. We leave this to the best proof & the order.I asked them the reason, and they told me it was to make coale scarce and men plenty; they went back sixteen or eighteen weeks into their scale, contrary to the rule and custom of all free miners beneath the wood with us; and likewise before, they hindered the levell in their new deepit.

And wilfully more they cut up to their land gutter, and tooke in the water by a single sticken gutter in their backer deep pit, and turned it across the bottom of our deep pit into our air gutter, which we prepared for ourselves and them, whereby our lamping the charks was swelled downe, and have destroyed the air, and filled our gateway with water and sludge, and very likely to destroy the levells, and put us by getting a scale of coale there. And by their so doing, I and my vearnes are dampnified thirty pounds. All this I will prove myself and by evidence in the King's mine."

Another suit, dated 20th January, 1753, is also subjoined:--

"William Dukes and his vernes, plaintiffs, _against_ William Keare and his vernes, defendants.

"We complain against William Keare and his vernes for wrongfully forbidding us out of a stone coal work, called the Gentlemen Colliers, within the Hundred of St Briavels, that we should not get any coal of the deep side of our former work, which coal our levell drains, and ours being the most ancient level. We leave this to the best evidence.We have attended the place, and burned our light, according to our laws and customs, and through this wrong forbidd we are dampnified five pounds.

And whereas several forbidds have been given before, we, the aforesaid plaintiffs and defendants, left the same to the determination of Charles G.o.dwin and Richard James, and we the said plaintiffs have duly observed the said determination, and that the said defendants have gone contrary to an order made by 48 free miners in getting of coal that our levell would have drained, and have dampnified our levell, whereby they have forfeited the penalty of the said Order. And this we will prove by evidence, and the damages in getting coal we will leave to the Order in Ct.

"We deny the forbid given to him or his vernes. We forbidd them in getting any coal betwixt our work and theirs, except their levell could dry it fairly. There was an agreement betwixt us, and they went contrary to the agreement, and this we will prove ourselves and by witnesses."

Here is a copy of an Agreement, resembling no doubt the one mentioned above:--

"August the 8th.--In the ear of our Lord 1754. Aun award, or an Agreement, made by Richard Powell, John Jenkins, Wm Thomas, Thos Worgan, and James Elsmore, betwixt James Bennet and his vearns, belonging to a coale work called by the name off Upper Rockey, and Robert Tingle and his vearnes, belonging to the Inging Coale Work near the Nail Bridge, within the Hunderd of Saint Bravewells; and we have farther agreed that the fore said James Bennet and his vearns shall have the liberty of getting what coale their leavel will dry without being interrupted, but they shall not get coale by the strength of hauling or laveing of water within the bounds of Robert Tingle and his vearns, except to drowl their work, under the forfet of the sum of five pounds; and we do farther agree that Robert Tingle and his vearns shall com in at any time to see if they do carry on their work in a proper manner without trespa.s.sing them; and if the foresaid James Bennet and his vearns do interrupt them for comming in to see their work, they shall forfeit the sum of five pounds. And we do order the partys to stand to their expenses share share alike, and the viewers to be paid between both partys, which his fifteen shillings.

"The mark of X RICHD POWELL.

"The mark of X JOHN JENKINS.

"The mark of X JAMES ELSMORE.

"The mark of X Wm THOMAS.

"The mark of X THOS WORGAN."

The following is a specimen of an official "Forbid:"--

"Thomas Hobbs. I do hereby, in his Majesty King George the Third's name, being owner and chief gaveller of his Majesty's Forest of Dean, in the county of Gloucester, and of the coal and mines therein, forbid you, your verns, your servants, agents, or workmen, for getting, diging, or raising any more stone coal out of any fire pitt or pitts, or water pitt or pitts, a deep the Majors suff level gutter in the said Forest, or to permit or suffer any stone coal to be got, dug, or raised out of any such pitt or pitts, untill you have satisfied and paid me his Majesty's gale and dues for working and getting coal in such pitts for two years last past, and untill you agree with me for the gale and dues of such pitt and pitts for the future. If you break this forbid, you will incur the penalty of an Order made by forty-eight free miners.

"Dated this 22d day of } JOHN ROBINSON, &c., May, 1775. } deputy gaveller."

In the terms of a Memorandum, apparently of this date, or perhaps earlier, it is said:--

"The place of gaveler within the Forest of Dean is held by patent from the Crown, & by vertue of his office the gaveler hath a right to put a man to work in every coalwork or work for iron mine within the limitts of the Forest, or within any private person's property in the hundred of St Briavels (but not in any stone quarry that is belonging to Ld Berkeley).