In reply to Steve Gray's comment, I am not sure whether I meant I should
have said 'English' or 'Welsh', but the basic answer would be the same.
Iron was made in both; parts of the Elizabethan industry south Wales was in
decline in the following century. Please see my article in Economic History
Review on the output of the iron industry of England and Wales. I can
provide an electronic offprint to any one wanting one who contacts me
off-list to request this.
I doubt that an estimate of American production has been made. There are
returns dated about 1751 of ironworks in several colonies in the Public
Record Office, class CO 5 (and transcripts in the Library of Congress, but
how complete they are is not clear.
My impression (based on some, but not very extensive, research) is that the
northern colonies were reasonably self-sufficient in iron by the Revolution,
but the southern colonies were dependent on imported iron. There is also a
difference between producing iron (that is bars) and manufacturing finished
ironware. The Iron Act of 1750 was designed to limit the growth of
manufacture in America, while encouraging the export of pig and bar iron to
Britain. In practice the amount of bar iron exported from America was
comparatively small, while a significant amount of pig iron was exported
from 'Virginia', which in this context includes the whole of Chesapeake Bay.
Britain sent iron goods to its colonies, at least as far north as
Pennsylvania.
I suspect that the armaments industry before the Revolution was probably
modest; both guns and swords were made in Birmingham. Guns were certainly
sent to Africa (to trade for slaves). I am not clear how America obtained
guns, but suspect that they were made in England and exported, or perhaps it
was the metal parts for assembly.
Peter King
49, Stourbridge Road,
Hagley,
Stourbridge
West Midlands
DY9 0QS
01562-720368
[log in to unmask]
-----Original Message-----
From: Arch-Metals Group [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of
Bart Torbert
Sent: 24 January 2007 20:42
To: Peter King
Subject: Re: Falling Creek IW
This discussion brings up a side question.
What was the iron production in pre-Revolutionary America? The question is
relative to the Americans ability to provide war needs from native sources.
Bart
-------------- Original message ----------------------
From: Steve Gray <[log in to unmask]>
> The precursors of the furnaces are more likely to be Welsh rather than
English,
> from such counties as Carmarthenshire, Glamorgan and Gwent.
> Yours Steve Gray
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Peter King
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2007 10:08 AM
> Subject: Re: Falling Creek IW
>
>
> The precursors of the furnace would inevitably be English. I cannot
think of
> evidence from 1620s or earlier, but later English furnaces had systems for
> draining water from below the furnace, but I think the foundations would
have
> been in stone. However, at that period, timber-framing of buildings was
still
> common in England, with lath and plaster between the timbers. It is thus
quite
> possible that other parts of the furnace buildings would be of timber, not
to
> mention the waterwheel.
>
> The traditional view is that furnaces went into blast in the autumn and
blew
> until the early summer. While this was not invariably done in places
where the
> water-supply was good enough, it almost certainly has an element of truth
in it.
> I would have expected May to be the anticipated end of the first blast,
not its
> start. On the other hand, if the furnace was in blast at the time of the
> massacre, I would expect it still to be (or have been) there and full of
its
> large charge.
>
> This is of course all speculation.
>
> Peter King
> 49, Stourbridge Road,
> Hagley,
> Stourbridge
> West Midlands
> DY9 0QS
> 01562-720368
> [log in to unmask]
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Arch-Metals Group [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf
Of
> James Brothers
> Sent: 23 January 2007 02:47
> To: Peter King
> Subject: Falling Creek IW
>
>
> Lyle Browning, the Falling Creek IW archaeologist, has proposed a
number of
> possible explanations for the timbers recently discovered at the site.
While
> much of the equipment at an ironworks (e.g. wheel, bellows, anvil, and
hammer)
> rested on substantial timber structures, is there evidence elsewhere for
heavy
> wood foundations for blast furnaces? Or is this more likely to be part of
the
> wheel support/foundation or some other part of the water power system? Or
is
> there another possibility that hasn't been thought of yet? If Winchester
> Cathedral could be built on a raft, why not a blast furnace?
>
>
> James Brothers, RPA
> [log in to unmask]
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