Herefordshire Through Time
Herefordshire Through Time
Historic Environment Record reference 370, Ordnance Survey grid reference SO 3400 5900
The site lies on the river Arrow, four miles west of Pembridge and 13 miles from Bringewood Forge, the nearest source of pig iron. A forge at this location is mentioned in a document of 1695. It was also noted as working in 1717 but had ceased by 1736.
Inspection of the site suggests that it may have been a bloomery and not a forge. A bloomery is a type of furnace used for smelting iron from its oxides. It is operated at temperatures below the melting point of cast iron, and so instead of molten iron it produces a spongy mass, called a bloom.
Until sometime before 1936 the site was occupied by a corn mill known as Forge Mill. In 1931 a local recalled that ore for the forge was brought from Wales by mules on a track that crossed the river Arrow. At the nearby railway crossing there were once muleries (open sheds for the animals).
HER 834, SO 5500 1800
Whitchurch or Newmill Forge is first mentioned in 1633. A furnace (and by implication a forge) near to Goodrich Castle is mentioned in 1575. R. Jenkins of the Newcomen Society assumes that these references concern a site at Whitchurch where extensive slag deposits have been found on the left bank of the Garren Brook. There is a house known as Old Forge to the south of Goodrich on the Whitchurch Road, and on the site there is a dense concentration of typical Tudor-type cinder and slag.
HER 10664, SO 5660 3490
This is the site of a 17th century forge that does not appear to have been completed and, as such, never went into production. The foundations and ground layout appear still to have been evident in the late 1980s.
HER 1488, SO 3960 2750
Pontrilas Forge is on the river Monnow. It is mentioned in a document of 1695 and accounts exist for the year 1677-8. Taylor's 1754 map of Herefordshire shows it marked by a forge or watermill symbol. It appears to have been established by the first quarter of the 17th century. In 1623 it was leased by James and Walter Baskerville to Benedict Hall for 12 years at £60 per annum. In 1677 it was owned by Paul Foley of the Stoke Edith Estate. It had disappeared by 1700, which was probably partly due to its isolated location.
HER 1487, SO 3768 2528
Situated on a tributary of the river Monnow with a possible leat from the main stream. Accounts exist for this forge from 1677-8. It is mentioned as being at work in 1717, 1736 and 1750, and is also marked on Taylor's Map of 1754. No remains of the forge or the leat can be seen on the ground today.
The forge was leased to John Scudamore by Thomas and Amy Cavendish in 1637 for three years. The works consisted of weirs, ponds, dams, watercourses, houses and buildings, which indicates that the forge was well established by this time. The forge is also shown on Bowen's Map of 1778 but the tithe map of 1839 shows that it had become disused. Only one building of the forge complex can be identified from the tithe map, and John van Laun has sited the actual forge as being 50m east of this building. There are large amounts of slag and clinker on the site.
HER 1105, SO 3420 3890
What was presumably once the forge is now a cottage, cattlesheds and fishponds on the eastern bank of the river Dore. The building probably dates back to the late 16th to early 17th century. The forge is mentioned in documentation of 1695 and 1717, and accounts are available for the year 1677-8.
The power provided by the river Dore was contained in a massive holding pond called Old Mill Pond.
Paul Foley of Stoke Edith Estate bought out the Scudamore interest in the local iron industry, and by 1677 several of the Herefordshire furnaces and forges - including Peterchurch, Llancillo, Pontrilas and St Weonards - were under his control. These were transferred to the "Ironworks in Partnership" group, which controlled much of the iron industry in the Forest of Dean and the Stour Valley. In 1692 Paul Foley used wood coppiced from his estate at the Peterchurch Forge.
No remains exist of the forge today and the working life of the works appears to have been short lived.
[Original author: Miranda Greene, 2005]