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ON THE MANUFACTURE OF STEEL. 765 
above, the parish register at Ebchester Church containing the following entry, 
by which it will be seen that the name even then had undergone a change :— 
« Elliner, the daughter of Mathias Wrightson Oley, was baptized on the 17th 
day of June, 1628.” It shows also that the grandfather of the child then 
baptized had probably married into a family of the name of Wrightson, at 
that time resident in the neighbourhood, as appears by several entries in the 
parish register of the period, clearly marking a third generation. 
In all probability the next works of this nature established in this locality 
were those of Sir Ambrose Crowley, who is described as an ironmonger, and 
afterwards Alderman and Lord Mayor of the city of London, and who 
appears to have commenced a manufactory at Winlaton Mill in the year 
1691. The names of Landells and Chambers are mentioned as being in this 
trade at an early period, after whom came Cookson, Spencer, and others, 
whose works are carried on at the present time. 
The manufacture of steel, as at present carried on in this district, com- 
prises the following descriptions :—Blistered, shear, spring, and cast steel, to 
produce which the following materials are required:—Iron, carbon in the 
shape of charcoal, manganese, coal, coke, fire-bricks, and fire-clay ; of these 
the iron and manganese are imported into the district, the former, for the 
best qualities of steel, being brought from Sweden. The charcoal, coal, coke, 
fire-bricks, and fire-clay are produced in almost inexhaustible quantities, and 
of most excellent quality, in the immediate neighbourhood. A small pro- 
portion of the fire-clay, however, is brought from a distance for admixture 
with that found in the locality. 
The mode of manufacture in use here is that known as the cementing or 
converting process, the furnaces used being large enough to contain from 
10 to about 23 tons of material at one time; this material consists of 
selected iron, known to the manufacturer as being most suitable for the 
purpose for which it is ultimately intended. It is placed in the cells of the 
furnaces with bruised charcoal in alternate strata, the whole being covered 
with a vitreous material to effectually exclude the air; and heat is applied 
for a period of about eight or ten days, according to the degree of carboniza- 
tion required. The mass is allowed to cool for several days, and the bars 
are then taken out in the form of blistered steel. The change that has 
taken place in its structure since it was placed in the converting furnace is 
very marked ; for instead of being of a fibrous nature, it is now quite of a 
crystalline character, and it must be reduced or drawn out under rolls or 
heavy hammers to bring back to it something of its former nature. It is, 
however, used in the blistered state for many purposes, such as for welding 
into hammer faces, and for welding to iron for edge tools and for spades and 
shovels, although cast steel is now fast superseding its use even for these 
purposes. Spring steel is made by simply reducing with rolls the blistered 
bars ; and shear steel is made by repeatedly drawing down and welding the 
blistered bars. This last-mentioned description is also being fast superseded 
since the introduction of mild welding cast steel. 
The most important of what may be termed the secondary processes of 
this manufacture is that for producing cast steel, and it is (among the old 
methods of making steel) of the most recent introduction. Cast steel is 
different from all the other descriptions of steel in its fineness of grain, 
greater strength, and its homogeneity. The first steel used in this country 
partaking at all of the nature of this description of steel was the Indian 
Wootz, which was much prized by users of steel, especially by the makers of 
dies for coining-presses, who, it is said, paid the almost fabulous price of five 
