Apart from any other evidence, the field names would conclusively prove that Brede was once an important centre of the iron working industry. We have such names as: Furnace field, Furnace brooks, Forge field, Hammer field, Pond field, Cindrell field, Ironhouse brook and Braze field.
Iron ore formerly abounded in the parish -probably quite near the surface, as we can find no trace of deep mining. It is generally thought that the ore was obtained from bottle- shaped holes, about six feet in diameter at the top and widening towards the bottom, and from twelve to twenty feet deep. One can find remains of hundreds of these mine holes in the woods at the present time. They were anciently called Scowles, the name being derived from the Danish Skal and German Schale meaning a hollow or pit.
There is ample proof that iron smelting by the bloomery process was extensively carried on at Chitcombe on the north side of the parish during the Roman occupation, nearly 2,000 years ago Formerly, there were immense heaps of ancient cinders, close by the Tillingham river, but most of them have now been carted away, also traces of a well- constructed road composed of broken clinkers, used by the workers, but now covered by a foot of soil. The plough has brought to light numerous pieces of Saurian and other pottery of the Roman period, portions of red brick, two inches thick, and tiles an inch thick, some of the latter marked with a pattern of small wavy lines and others with radial lines.
Quite recently an important discovery has been made of trumpet-shaped Tuyere caps, formed of baked clay, which served to conduct the air by bellows to the furnace, and are similar to the caps used at an early date by the natives of Africa in their iron smelting furnaces.
In a hedge-row are the remains of the foundations of a Roman building, consisting of loose stones, brick and tile, bound firmly together with a kind of concrete.
On Pick Dick farm there are extensive deposits of cinders covering several acres, probably dating back to Roman or earlier times. Sites of bloomeries are also to be found in the Roughter and North woods, and on Loneham Barn farm. The bloomery hearths mentioned were of a primitive type; they were probably superseded in the early part of the 16th century by blast furnaces.
At Conster Manor (the home of the Austens for several generations) are the remains of a pond bay in front of the house, consisting of cinders, it was partially removed some years ago. In a ditch between the upper and lower ponds I found, when a boy, several cannon balls, and the top part of a cannon ball mould. I also remember portions of the large pond bay -now removed -which divided the Old Cow brook adjoining the Trivet.
The first casting of cannon at Buxted, in 1543 brought the Sussex industry into prominence. Both Henry VIII and Elizabeth were constantly at war with Continental powers, and cannon and shot in abundance were needed. After the death of Elizabeth, England for a long period was practically at peace abroad, and the demand for guns and shot slackened.
The Civil War caused a great revival in the industry, and as the iron masters in Brede at that time had blast furnaces and forges in full working order, they experienced a period of great prosperity, especially as the Parliamentarians drew their main supplies from this parish and Horsmonden.
Brede, in those days, was a centre of feverish activity with the blowing of furnaces and clanging of hammers; and the glare of the fires in the night would add weirdness to the scene. There was also the preparatory work of digging and carting the ore to the furnaces, the cutting down of timber and dragging it to the charcoal hearths, and the building of workshops and houses for the men.
It was during Elizabeth’s reign that the Brede Furnace was built by three Kentish men: David Willard, Michael Weston and Robert Woddy. They owned similar works in the Tonbridge district. A complaint was made to the Privy Council on June 29, 1578, by the towns of Hastings, Rye and Winchelsea against its erection on the ground of waste of wood, but one suspects the real reason for their opposition was resentment at the intrusion of foreigners. However, nothing was done to stop them.
Two years later, however, in 1580, instructions were given by the Corporation of Rye to Mr. Henry Gaymer and Mr. Robert Carpenter, Barons to the Parliament for Rye, for a bill to the drawn up for the passing of a statute for the preservation of woods in the district. They stated that one of the causes of the destruction of these woods was an iron forge in the Parish of Brede distant five miles from Rye, and one mile from Brede Bridge, at which place the woods were laden with lighters and so brought down, to Winchelsea and Rye. The said iron forge is nearer Winchelsea than Hastings.
In the Brede Churchwardens’ accounts for 1583, there is a reference to Gerrad, the furnise-man, paying one penny towards an assessment for the clerk’s wages for that year. Possibly, Gerrad held an important position at the newly erected Brede furnace.
There is a deed is existence, dated November 24, 158641 which recites that Robert Oxenbridge of Hurstborne Priors, Hants, intendeth to make, erect, build or new sett up... within the parish of Brede one fornis or hammer for iron to be supplied with wood from his own proper soil. It is thought that this proposed furnace never materialized, as there is no record of it in the ancient Manor Rolls.
The most noted tenants of the Brede furnace were the Lenards. Lawrence Lenard died in 1605 and was succeeded by his eldest son, Richard. It was Richard who produced a famous fireback in 1636 showing the interior of a furnace, with a representation of himself and his dog and surrounded by various implements of trade.
Several of these firebacks are still in the parish. The Museums at Hastings and Lewes also possess specimens.
The Lenards were of French origin; members of the family were iron workers in Staffordshire and Monmouth and from the latter place James and Henry Lenard went out to America about 1650 and established iron works in Massachusetts. There is an old saying about them in America: Where you find good iron-works, there you will find a Lenard.
Brede furnace came into possession of the Sackville family during the early part of the 17th century. By the time of the Civil War it was controlled by John Browne of Horsmonden. It was sold in 1693 to the Westerns of Essex, and remained in their possession until the works closed down in 1766.
John Fuller, the noted iron master of Heathfield in a M.S. dated 1749 mentions that Brede, Beckley, Lamberhurst, Robertsbridge, Ashburnham and his own, are the only furnaces which can make great guns. The output about this period averaged 200 tons per annum for each furnace.
At Beckley furnace-some two miles lower down the Tillingham river from Chitcombe are evidences of iron workings of an early date. Mr. Ernest Straker thinks it was originally called Conster or Constance Furnace.43 Though situated close to the Beckley boundary, both furnace and forge were located within the parish of Brede. A revival of the industry took place during the Commonwealth; there is reason to believe the works at that time formed part of the Brede estate of Peter Farnden, the noted ironmaster of Sedlescombe. A handsome pair of brandirons ornamented with the Tudor rose and marked with the initials P.F. (formerly belonging to my ancestors) now stand in my old- fashioned fireplace. They were probably cast by Peter Farnden at Beckley Furnace.
In the 18th century the iron works were in the possession of the Gott family through the marriage of Samuel Gott of Battle to Joan, daughter of Peter Farnden in 1642.
Beckley Furnace was blowing in 1653; the forge was also at work, but ruined by 1664. In 1717 the production was about equal to the Brede furnace, viz., 200 tons per annum.
Several times during the 18th century difficulties occurred in working the furnace owing to shortness of water. John Fuller writes, in February, 1744: We have not had two hours’ rain these six weeks... furnaces are blown out for want of water... they tread the wheel44, at Waldron, Robertsbridge and Beckley, which is an excessive charge. If the weather continues, want of water will blow out all the furnaces in the county.
The cannon made at Beckley furnace were tested by firing shot into the bank of the Forge Field on the opposite side of the river (on Conster Manor Farm). Many of the cannon balls were found some years ago when ploughing and draining the field for hop-planting. Another speciality at these works during the 18th century was the manufacture of brass skillets by a man named Rumens.
The iron works finally closed down in 1770. The most important factor in the decay of the local iron trade was the high price of charcoal as compared to the cheap pit-coal then being used in the North, and the rising costs of labour. It came to an end (not as popularly supposed, by exhaustion of woods), but from purely economic causes. Another contributory cause may have been the bad roads, which were often made impassable by the heavy cartage of ore.
A survey of 1787 states that the furnace -now owned by Miss Gott -might work again in case of war.
In the Tillingham stream are still to be seen heavy timbers and the remains of the trough which carried the water to the forge wheel. When the Furnace House was enlarged recently, several cannon balls and a large iron ladle were discovered.
At Brede Bridge an Iron House was erected for storing cannon and shot, pending shipment by barges to Rye, thence to be transferred to sea-going vessels for London or the Continent. Some of the guns were smuggled into Spain and used on the Armada ships which fought against us in 1588.
In those days, Sussex-made iron had no equal, owing to the superb workmanship and excellent quality of the iron. The cannon did not burst in firing as frequently happened to Spanish and French made guns of that period.
An interesting side-light on these shipments is found in an old M.S. book formerly belonging to James Sparrow, and now in the Rye Museum.
Sparrow was in the Preventive Service at Rye, is the early part of the 19th century. It was his duty in 1817 to take evidence from old men who formerly ran barges between Brede Bridge and Rye. He records that from 1747 to 1766 barges came up the river from the Strand Wharf, Rye, loaded with iron ore for the furnaces, also groceries for the village shopkeepers, R, Thomas and Stephen Adds (and later on Thomas Noakes), and loading back with guns brought from the Brede furnace. We are told that in 1757 Jockey Gibbs drove six stallions belonging to Mr. Richardson of Brede; he loaded the guns at the furnace, unloaded them at the wharf, and drove the said team entirely by himself. As the guns weighed anything between 35 and 55 cwt. each, this must have been a wonderful feat. Accidents occasionally took place. Miles Chandler had both his legs broken during this period and was afterwards killed, when unloading guns at the wharf.
The Sacrists’ Roll of Battle Abbey show that in 1509 lead bought in London for the roof of the Lady chapel of the Abbey was brought by water as far as Brede Bridge. Barge building was carried on at Brede by a man named Tansitt.
The old ironmasters loved their work to the very end and some of them made provision in their Wills for iron monuments to be placed over their graves. During the 18th century a farmer in an adjoining village, who was also churchwarden, built a house and requiring a fireback for his kitchen went secretly one night to the churchyard and took away an iron monument and fixed it in his chimney. There it remained until about 50 years ago, when a new tenant took possession of the house. The farmer’s wife, noticing the charred and dirty state of the fireback, determined to clean it. Soon she began to decipher the words: Sacred to the memory of, . . . She was horrified at the discovery, and hurriedly stopped her cleaning; nor could she rest until the iron fireback had been restored to the churchyard.
Extract from Brede: The Story of a Sussex Parish by Edmund Austen (1946) - reproduced by kind permission of Adams of Rye
