The Old Furnace is a colloquial name given to an historic site in

Oakamoor Oakamoor is a small village in north Staffordshire, England. Although it is now a rural area, it has an industrial past which drew on the natural resources of the Churnet valley. Iron was smelted from medieval times. Copper and lumber were also ...

, Staffordshire, England, that supported the development of

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

and post-medieval

iron smelting Smelting is a process of applying heat to ore, to extract a base metal. It is a form of extractive metallurgy. It is used to extract many metals from their ores, including silver, iron, copper, and other base metals. Smelting uses heat and a c ...

. The furnace was situated in the Churnet Valley in the Staffordshire moorlands. A later Elizabethan-era blast furnace once stood on the site of the present Old Furnace Cottage. That furnace, the first in the north of England, was constructed in 1592 by Lawrence Loggin."Oldfurnace Cottage, Oakamoor"
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Wessex Archaeology Wessex Archaeology is a British company that provides archaeological and heritage services, as well as being an educational charity. Apart from advice and consultancy, it also does fieldwork and publishes research on the sites it surveys. The comp ...

The stone was brought three miles from Hollington by mule down an ancient trackway. This path can still be seen in the field next to the cottage. Problems arose from the outset, and after nine months the site was abandoned, which gave way to its ''old furnace'' name. An archaeological evaluation undertaken in 2004, in unison with an episode of the British archaeology television programme ''

Time Team ''Time Team'' is a British television programme that originally aired on Channel 4 from 16 January 1994 to 7 September 2014. It returned online in 2022 for two episodes released on YouTube. Created by television producer Tim ...

'', revealed that iron smelting using the bloomery process, with associated pottery of the 13th and 14th century dates, was well established on the site in the medieval period. An "unstratified sherd of late Saxon pottery" hinted that iron working on the site may date back to the 10th or 11th centuries.

George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury, 6th Earl of Waterford, 12th Baron Talbot, KG, Earl Marshal (c. 1522/1528 – 18 November 1590) was an English magnate and military commander. He also held the subsidiary titles of 15th Baron Strange of ...

, whose seat was two miles away, owned rights to many mineral-extraction sites in the area. His business affairs passed to his wife,

Bess of Hardwick Elizabeth Cavendish, later Elizabeth Talbot, Countess of Shrewsbury ( Hardwick; c. 1527 13 February 1608), known as Bess of Hardwick, of Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire, was a notable figure of Elizabethan English society. By a series of well-made ...

, upon his death in 1590.History of The Old Furnace
- OldFurnace.co.uk The firm of Thomas Bolton, a copper extruder, had a works at Oakamoor. In 1869 he built the home now known as Old Furnace Cottage for his workers.

Gallery

File:Old Furnace Cottage.jpg, Old Furnace Cottage in 2018

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Old Furnace, The Blast furnaces in England Ironworks and steelworks in England Buildings and structures in Staffordshire Houses in Staffordshire History of Staffordshire Industrial archaeological sites in England Industrial buildings in England 1592 establishments in England