The Duddon furnace (Grid Reference SD 197883) is a surviving charcoal-fuelled blast furnace near

Broughton-in-Furness Broughton in Furness is a market town in the civil parish of Broughton West in the South Lakeland district of Cumbria, England. It had a population of 529 at the 2011 Census. It is located on the south western boundary of England's Lake District ...

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. C ...

. It is on the west side of the

River Duddon The Duddon is a river of north-west England. It rises at a point above sea level near the Three Shire Stone at the highest point of Wrynose Pass (). The river descends to the sea over a course of about before entering the Irish Sea at the Du ...

in the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

Millom Millom is a town and civil parish on the north shore of the estuary of the River Duddon in southwest Cumbria, historically part of Cumberland, England. It is situated just outside the Lake District National Park, about north of Barrow-in-Furnes ...

and formerly in Cumberland.

History

The furnace was originally established as a joint venture of the Cunsey Company and the Backbarrow Company in 1736,

Lancashire Record Office The Lancashire Archives, previously known as the Lancashire Record Office, is a county record office located in the city of Preston which serves Lancashire, England. It was established in 1940. Early history In 1808 the Lancashire Justices firs ...

, DDSa 38/3. but the Backbarrow Company sold their share to the Cunsey Company in 1741. The Cunsey Company already owned Cunsey Furnace and Spark Forge, but they closed Cunsey Furnace in 1750, thus becoming the Duddon Company. The partners in the Cunsey Company in 1737 were Edward Hall of Cranage, Warine Falkner of

Rugeley Rugeley ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Cannock Chase District in Staffordshire, England. It lies on the north-eastern edge of Cannock Chase next to the River Trent; it is situated north of Lichfield, south-east of Stafford, nort ...

, Thomas Cotton of Eardley ( Cheshire) and Edward Kendall of

Stourbridge Stourbridge is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands, England, situated on the River Stour. Historically in Worcestershire, it was the centre of British glass making during the Industrial Revolution. The ...

. Following the deaths of several partners, the firm became Jonathan Kendall & Co. They also built Argyll Furnace (also called Craleckan or Goatfield) in 1755. The ironworks was managed by William Latham, who between 1772 and 1775 was shipping pig iron to Warren Sayes of

Chepstow Chepstow ( cy, Cas-gwent) is a town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales, adjoining the border with Gloucestershire, England. It is located on the tidal River Wye, about above its confluence with the River Severn, and adjoining the wester ...

, but the sales were managed by Jonathan Kendall. Henry Kendall (a partner) died at Ulverston in 1787. William Latham's sons Richard and Joseph renewed the lease in 1790. They continued the works until 1828, when they sold it to

Harrison Ainslie The firm of Harrison Ainslie & Co. was a British firm of ironmasters and iron ore merchants, selling high quality haematite from their mines on Lindal Moor to smelters in Glasgow, Scotland, South Wales and the Midlands. From a 21st-century persp ...

and Co., who operated it until 1867.

Remains

The furnace stack, of local stone, is intact to its full height of 29 feet, but the hearth has been removed. It was powered from a leat from the River Duddon and was blown (at least latterly) by blowing cylinders, described by Morton. The bridge, leading to the charging platform, has rooms under it used for workers' housing. The charcoal barn is 100 feet long, and the iron ore store also survives. The site was investigated archaeologically in the 1980s, but only interim reports from this have been published.''Post-Medieval Archaeology'' 18, (1984), 321-2 & 19, (1985), 185.

References

{{commons category, Duddon furnace Ironworks and steelworks in England Ruins in Cumbria Tourist attractions in Cumbria Grade II* listed buildings in Cumbria Blast furnaces in England