Monument record 2330/0/1 - Early-middle Saxon iron working sites, Hornstock Wood

Two iron working sites, located 100m apart, were investigated in 1999 which showed that both smelting and smithing were carried out here in the early-middle Saxon period.

{1} A survey of Hornstock Wood was undertaken in 1999 to locate smelting sites. It succeeded in locating six slag heaps where the remains of furnace sites were visible. Two of the sites were subject to further investigation. Site A (at TF02050035) had been partially destroyed by earthmoving, but enough evidence survived to suggest that it was the site of an iron smelting furnace. The furnace site consisted of an area of burnt clay over 1.5m in diameter, with mounds of burnt clay and slag overlying it. On the opposite side of a modern track was a slag heap comprising tap slag with frgaments of roasted ore and burnt clay. A charcoal sample from the site gave a radiocarbon date of AD 440 to 670.
Site B (100m to the SE at TF02060034) was located in an area of closely-spaced swallow holes. No definitve evidence of a furnace was found and little tap slag, but large and small plano-convex furnace bottoms and irregular pieces of slag were recovered, which along with slag spheres and hammerslag suggests smithing was taking place. The lack of hammerscale suggests it was a primary smithing site, rather than forging. A radiocarbon date of AD 620-880 also indicates a Saxon date.

{2} Lying apparently undisturbed within the woodland, seven areas of slag have so far been found within an area of
8000 sq m. Two of these were associated with fragments of furnace lining and the scattered remains of furnaces.
Charcoal was recovered from undisturbed layers at these sites and dated to AD 440-670 and AD 620-880.

<1> Bellamy B.; Jackson D.; Johnston G., 2000-01, Early Iron Smelting in the Rockingham Forest Area: A Survey of the Evidence, p. 122-3 (Appendix 1) (Article). SNN103947.

<2> Horne B. (Editor), 2001, South Midlands Archaeology: CBA Group 9 Newsletter (31), p. 38 (Newsletter). SNN112958.

Record last edited

Feb 25 2025 7:12PM