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Re the comments last November on the list re magnetic ore near Rotherham, my colleague Trevor Lodge has asked me to put the following comments on line: 'I was interested in your note about this phenomenon, since, geologically the indigenous rock deposits in this part of south Yorkshire date from the carboniferous period, and do not allow for the formation of hematite veins or fissures. The only iron deposits hereabouts are clay band ironstone, found in association with carboniferous shale's, and 'ruddle', a rich red deposit of relatively pure iron oxide found near Braithwell - but quite distinct in form from hematite, which often displays a celebrated kidney shape (hence the term 'kidney ore'). If the discovery truly is hematite, then it can only have got here in moraine - debris carried from melting glaciers covering the Lake District in the last Ice Age brought down to Yorkshire and left as non-indigenous minerals in alluvium deposits on valley flood plains. I think it is more likely to be a massive piece of medieval iron-smelting furnace (bloomery) slag - maybe even the remains of a bloomery furnace hearth, i.e. a fused mass of iron and slag, in which the iron has rusted over the centuries to create the impression of a large 'boulder' of hematite. Would it be possible to meet with you so I can see the item at first hand? It should then be possible to identify it more categorically. Alternatively, could you give me the grid reference co-ordinates and a brief description to help me find the location unaccompanied? My thanks in anticipation, Trevor Lodge (Sheffield). Please reply off list to [log in to unmask] (member South Yorkshire Industrial History Society)