IRON. 479 



disused by private persons, though even in the dockyards 

 purchases were made of finished goods. 



Two kinds of raw iron are designated, Spanish and forest, 

 the latter being probably Sussex produce, this county being for 

 some part of the seventeenth century the principal source of 

 the best English iron. In course of time the exhaustion of the 

 forests caused the abandonment of the industry. There is a 

 story that the last considerable contract for Spanish iron was 

 the supply of the rails which were put round S. Paul's 

 church in the time of Anne, and remained there till recent 

 memory. 



Raw iron is bought by the ton, the hundred-weight, and the 

 stone of (I conclude) fourteen pounds. Shuttleworth buys by 

 the ton four times, his accounts informing us that on the third 

 occasion (1591) he bought his Spanish iron at Liverpool. The 

 four prices are 15 8*. &/., 14 43. nd. y 12, and 12, and on 

 the first occasion it is stated that the Spanish iron came in 

 bars of fifty to the ton, i.e. from 44 to 45 Ibs. a-piece. The 

 rate seems to indicate a dropping market, though there was 

 war between England and Spain during the years in which 

 the last two purchases were made. The dockyards between 

 1591 and 1625 buy iron in bulk, both Spanish and forest, 

 distinguishing the former as small and great, by which I 

 presume is meant the size and consequently the handiness of 

 the bars purchased. The small is generally about 2os. a ton 

 dearer than the large. In 1590 a considerable quantity of 

 Spanish iron is bought in London at 12. There is no 

 material difference between the price of Spanish and forest 

 produce, a fact which confirms me in the belief that the latter 

 is Sussex iron. In 1605 and 1610 Shuttleworth buys his iron 

 at York. He was then engaged in rebuilding Gawthorp Hall, 

 and his purchases are very large. 



Sometimes the Spanish iron is described as fashioned into 

 spikes, bolts, and other articles needed for ship fittings. Such 

 are the purchases at Deptford, Chatham, Limehouse, London 

 and Portsmouth in the years 1599 and 1600. These have 



