words of the late Mr. Bishop, communicated to the author,—
“As to fact, and made pig iron of good quality; but from the rude and insufficient character of their arrangements, they failed commercially as a speculation, the quantity produced not reaching twenty tons per week. The cokes were brought from Broadmoor in boats, by a small canal, the embankment of which may be seen at the present day. The ore was carried down to the furnaces on mules’ backs, from Edge Hill and other mines. The rising tide of iron manufacture in Wales and Staffordshire could not fail to swamp such ineffectual arrangements, and as a natural consequence Cinderford sank.
“Attempts still continued to be made from time to time in the locality, but the want of success, and the loss of large capital, placed the whole neighbourhood under a ban.
“Moses Teague was the day-star who ushered in a bright morning after a dark and gloomy night. Great natural genius, combined with a rare devotion to the interests of the Forest, led him to attempt a solution of the difficulty. In this he so far succeeded that he formed a company, consisting of Messrs. Whitehouse, James, and Montague, who took a lease of Park End Furnace about the year 1825, erected a large water-wheel to blow the furnace, and got to work in 1826. Having started this concern, Mr. Teague, who from constitutional tendencies was always seeking something new, and considered nothing done while aught remained to do, cast his eye on Cinderford, which he thought presented the best prospects in the locality; and after making arrangements with Messrs. Montague, Church, and Fraser, those gentlemen with himself formed the first ‘Cinderford Iron Company,’ the writer joining the undertaking when the foundations of the buildings were being laid. The scheme comprehended two blast furnaces, a powerful blast engine still at work, finery, forge, and rolling-mill, designed to furnish about forty tons of tin-plate per week, with collieries and mine work. Before the completion of the undertaking it was found that the outlay so far exceeded their expectations and means that the concern became embarrassed almost before it was finished, which, with the then great depression of the iron trade during the years 1829 to 1832 inclusive, led to the stoppage of the works, which had continued in operation from November, 1829, till the close of 1832, in which state they continued to 1835, when Mr. Teague again came to the rescue, and induced Mr. William Allaway, a gentleman in the tin-plate trade, of Lydbrook, to form, in connexion with Messrs. Crawshay, another company. Mr. Teague having retired from the management of the furnaces, that important post was filled by Mr. James Broad, a man of great practical knowledge, who for twenty years succeeded in making iron at Cinderford Furnaces of quality and in quantities which had never been anticipated. There are now four blast furnaces, three of which are always in use, and a new blast engine of considerable power is in course of erection, in addition to the old engine, which has been puffing away for twenty-eight years.”
As narrated in an earlier part of this account, Park End long since possessed a furnace and forge, though afterwards suppressed in 1674, and not resumed until 1799, the date of the oldest iron furnace there. It is situated about half a mile lower down the valley than the former one, and was carried on by a Mr. Perkins. The Works were eventually sold to Mr. John Protheroe, and by him disposed of to his nephew, Edward Protheroe, Esq., formerly M.P. for Bristol, who was likewise the possessor of several collieries near. In 1824 Mr. Protheroe granted a lease of the furnace and premises, and also sundry iron mines, to the Forest of Dean Iron Company, then consisting of Messrs. Montague, James, & Co. This arrangement continued until 1826, when Messrs. William Montague, of Gloucester, and John James, Esq., of Lydney, became the sole lessees. A second furnace was erected by these gentlemen in 1827, as well as an immense water-wheel of 51 feet diameter and 6 feet wide, said at the time to be the largest in the kingdom. Two extensive ponds, still observable, were formed higher up the vale, and
connected with the Works by a canal yet remaining. Little use was made, however, of these appliances, owing to the general introduction and superior advantages of steam power. A steam-engine was consequently put up for creating the necessary blast. Not being found sufficiently powerful to keep two furnaces in operation, each being 45 feet high, 9½ feet diameter at the top, 14 feet across at the boshes, and 5 feet diameter at the hearth, another steam-engine of 80 horse power was erected in 1849; but owing to a depression in the iron trade, and other causes, the two furnaces were not then worked together.
A few years after the decease of Mr. Montague, in 1847, Mr. James bought all his interest in the Works and became the sole lessee, until the year 1854, when he purchased from Mr. Protheroe the fee of the property, together with all the liabilities of the lease. Since that time the two furnaces have been occasionally worked together, under the superintendence of Mr. Greenham, one of the proprietors, the firm still continuing as “The Forest of Dean Iron Company.” They produce upwards of 300 tons of pig-iron per week, consuming in the meantime 350 tons of coke, and 600 tons of iron ore, obtained from the neighbouring mines at Oakwood and China Eugene; and from the Perseverance and Findall Mine, on the eastern side of the Forest. These operations give employment to something like 300 men; and the foundation is now being laid for another furnace.
Besides its iron furnaces, Park End is the site of Messrs. T. and W. Allaway’s extensive Tin-Plate
Works, erected at a large outlay by Messrs. James and Greenham in 1851. They find employment for some 200 work-people, by whom 500 boxes of tinplate are made per week. Two-thirds of the iron so used is obtained in the Forest.
Similar works, only on a larger scale, are carried on at Lydney by Messrs. W. Allaway and Sons. These are five in number, and bear the names of The Lower Mill, The Lower Forge, The Middle Forge, The Upper Mill, and The Upper Forge. About 400 hands are engaged at them, and turn out about 1,000 boxes of tin-plate every week, besides a quantity of sheet-iron. The materials supplied to these works from the Forest of Dean are pig-iron, coal, fire-bricks and clay, fire-stone and fire-sand, and cordwood for conversion into charcoal. Lydney has long been famed for its ironworks, which at one time belonged to the Talbot family.
Sowdley, in spite of its natural beauties and retired situation, has been occupied by ironworks since 1565, the ancient family of the Joneses of Hay Hill conducting them as wire-works drawn by power of hand. Messrs. Parnell and Co. then took to them; from 1784 to 1804 Dobbs and Taylor carried on the works; Browning, Heaven and Tayer followed in 1824, and Todd, Jeffries and Spirrin in 1828, converting a part of the premises into paint and brass works.
In 1837 they were raised to the dignity of blast furnaces by having two of them erected of the usual size, by Edward Protheroe, Esq., and worked by him for four years. The late Mr. Benjamin Gibbons purchased them in 1857; and in 1863 his representatives