Iron in the Middle Ages

Iron came to Britain long before the reign of William the Conqueror. There is evidence that the forging of iron was the chief trade of the city of Glousester. Yet iron continued to be scarce in England.

For some hundred years after the Norman Conquest considerable quantities of iron and steel were exported to Britain by Germany and other continental countries. The merchants who brought metals were known as “German merchants of the Steelyard”. The great quantities of iron and steel were sold at the Steel Yard in London.

According to the Act of Parliament no iron was to be carried out of the country. Some iron was manufactured in England in the reign of Henry III, but much was still imported from Germany and later from Spain.

During the reign of Edward I (1239 - 1307) there were seventy-two hearths in the Forest of Dean - a source of iron ore. By the time of Edward III (1312 - 1377) the chief centres were Kent and Sussex. That iron was still of great value is shown by an inventory of the king’s possessions, in which his iron pots, pans, and other household utensils are classed as jewels and valuables.

No sensational developments in the manufacture of iron and steel had taken place; the local smiths converted the raw ore into wrought iron by means of charcoal obtained by burning timber from the forest round about and worked up this iron into the required shapes.

In the 14th century the direct extraction of wrought iron from the ore was gradually displaced by first carbonizing the metal, so turning it into cast iron. This displacement method has continued steadily up to the present day.

During the 14th and 15th centuries England continued to import iron and steel from the continent. The growing importance of the industry gave its owners a political influence that grew steadily from that day to this. Improvements in the manufacture of iron had taken place during this period, and the ironmasters succeded in getting Parliament to make laws prohibiting the importation into England of any iron or steel goods already made there. In 1483, for example, an Act was passed prohibiting the importation of knives, tailors’ shears, scissors and irons, grid-irons, stock-locks, keys, hingers, spurs, bits, stittups, buckles for shoes, iron wire, iron candlesticks, grates and many other such objects.

Minor advances in the art of making iron continued up to the times of Elizabeth I and James I. Production increased, especially in Sussex. By this time the blast furnace had established itself for the smelting of iron. It continued slowly to rise higher and increase in diameter. The immediate problem confronting the iron manufacturer of the 16th century was the growing shortage of wood from which to make charcoal.

Task 1