Site of Forge at Furnace End Mill

Description of this historic site

The site of a forge, where cast iron was made into wrought iron during the Post Medieval period. It was situated at Furnace End, 75m east of Furnace End Bridge.

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Notes about this historic site

1 In 1658 Humphrey Jennings, the great iron master, possessed very extensive forges at Furnace End.
2 Poole Bank Furnace at Furnace End appears in a list of 1711 and had a capacity of 300 tons per year. Charles Blick visited the petrol station on the site of the watermill and observed some garage extensions that were being carried out. A digger disturbed a large mass of charcoal blast furnace slag about 3m wide and about 2m deep. Adjacent to this were foundations, possibly of the furnace stack. Behind was a wheelpit, with lower courses in good ashlar. This had obviously been latterly used as a watermill, but formerly was an iron foundry.
3 The site was visited when the garage was about to be demolished in 1987 and the leat and buildings were recorded in advance of destruction.
4 Beighton has Iron mineral extraction marked at this point on his map of 1725