Bloomery Forge - Waltham Abbey, Essex, UK
N 51° 41.337 W 000° 00.056
30U E 707289 N 5730701
This forge was constructed during the 12th/13th century and was used to create tools and items required by the nearby abbey. All that remains today are the foundations of where the forge used to be.
Waymark Code: WMJB2C
Location: Eastern England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 10/22/2013
Views: 1
An information table, in front of the forge, tells us:
Bloomery Forge c1200AD
This 'Bloomery Forge' was used to smelt iron ore to produce metalwork needed
for the Abbey and its farm.
Horseshoes, nails, hooks, keys, locks, spurs, knives, arrowheads, chisels
and other carpenter tools, as well as buckles for fastening clothing were
made. Lead and bronze were also smelted on a smaller scale. The internal
well supplied water needed in the forge.
It was built around 1200 AD and is documented up to 1608, surviving Henry
VIIIs dissolution of the monastery by over 60 years. The forge was
accidentally discovered in 1972, leading to its excavation and conservation
by Waltham Abbey Historical Society.
The Blacksmith's forge would have been a dirty, noisy and extremely hot
place in which to work.
The information table shows some sketches of how the forge would have looked.
This website
describes a "bloomery forge" as:
Bloomery (or Bloomary) Forge -- A place where iron ore
was smelted in small quantities to produce blooms. The blooms were then
reheated and hammered into a more malleable form known as wrought iron.