B L A 



his furnace were frequently different from each other. Ex- 

 perience and obfervation would foon enable him to decide, 

 from wlience this had its origin. A fmall additional quan- 

 tity of fuel, beyond that he formerly ufed for forge-pig-irou, 

 he found, would confer a degree of fufibility upon the metal 

 tliat immediately pointed out the piaclicabilitv of cafting it 

 into (liape. Moulding from thence ivould moft likely enfuc, 

 and become equally an appendage to the blaft furnace as was 

 the bar-iron forgt. As this new manufacture became fami- 

 liar to the proprietor, he would iramediattly find his intcrcll 

 in dividing the produA of his bbit furnace into ffrev meltiu'r 

 iron or uito forge pigs, as the t.Mgencics of his moulding 

 (hop, or forge required. 



If credit could be given to the " Mctallum Martis" of 

 Dudley, in the 12th year of James, anno 1615, there were at 

 that period not Icfs than 3C0 blaft furnaces for fmelting iron- 

 ore with charcoal, each of uhicli had fuel, upon an average, 

 for 40 weeks per annum. The average produce in pig-iron 

 at each furnace of ij tons per week, or 600 tons per annum, 

 makes the total yearly quantity lSc,cco tons, being a greater 

 quantity than has ever fince been nianufatlured in Britain. 



However much this qirantity may be exaggerated, yet it 

 is highly probable, that even at this ear'v period, the iron 

 bufuiels in general, and the particular opcratit)ns of the blaft 

 furnace, had obtained an eminent rank in the manufactures 

 of the country. The progrefs of agriculture, and the in- 

 creafe of population under the reign ot the peaceable James, 

 had taught the hulbandman and the proprietor the value of 

 cultivated fields. Tlie great confumptiou of wood for the 

 navy and iron-works had greatly exhaulled the principal 

 forells of fupply ; tracks of country became cleared, and as 

 the fpirit of cultivation increafed, the annual quantity of 

 fuel for tlie manufacturing of iron diininifhed. 



It is probable that Mr. Dudley, in ellimating the quanti- 

 ties produced from each furnace, formed his average from 

 the winter and fpriiig months, when water was plcntit\il, and 

 he feems not to have made fufficient allowance lor the occa- 

 fional lloppages in fummer, during the time of cutting and 

 coUefting the wood for the eniuing wet fealon. If, therefore, 

 in place of making 600 tons yearly, the furnaces of thefe 

 days are fuppofed to have made each, upon an avei-agc, five 

 tons per week, or making a little allowance, 2<o tons 

 yearly, which is furcly nearer the truth, this (liU leaves 

 an annual amount of inanufacT:ured pig-iron equal to 7^.000 

 tons, which, exclufive of the operations of the forge, iorms 

 a very refpeftable Itaple at that early period of the liillory 

 of our mannfaflures. 



Pit coal had been long known before this period, and 

 wrought at Newcaftle prior to the year 1272. Annually 

 vail quantities of it were exported to Holland and the Low- 

 Countries, for the ufe of the fmithy, and other manufactures 

 requiring an intenfe ai'.d continued heat. Yet in England 

 prejudices ran fo ftrong againft its application to the manu- 

 facture of call -iron, that the projectors of this original imder- 

 takin"- met with everv obltacle which the narrow unen- 

 lightened minds of the ellablifhed manufafturers could devife. 



James granted feveral pate:!t3 for the exclufive right of 

 manufacturing iron with pit coal. None of the projcclors, 

 however, were fuccefbhil, till the year 1619, when Dudley 

 fucceeded in making coak pig-iron in a blall furnf.cc, though 

 only at the fparing rate o{ three tons per iL'teL At this period 

 many of the iron works were at a Hand for want of wood, and 

 thcconfeq'.ience was an adva;ice upon the price of iron: this 

 rendered it a lucrative bufintfsto thole manufacturers whole 

 fupoly of wood wqs Hill undiminiflied, and of courfe made 

 them holiile to any innovation, whereby the urcfcnt price of 

 ttovt was likely to meet with a reduction. 



Vol. IV. ' 



B L A 



This period of prejudice, fo unfavourable to innovation ia 

 the iron bufinefs, was followed by one more general and 

 m.ore calamitous for the nation : amidfl the diftrattion ccca- 

 fioned by civil war, neither innovation nor improvement 

 could be cxpedted. Patents, however, were granted to 

 fome during tiie common-wealth, for the exclufive manu- 

 facture in the new way, in one of which, it was at the time 

 believed, that Cromwell was a partner : thefe partly (hared 

 the fame fate with the fiilt inventor, and none fucceeded in 

 eftabhihing a manufactory either of extent or certainty. lu 

 1663, ''"'^ ''""i Dudley applying for his lad patent, and 

 fetting forth, that at one time he was capable of producing 

 feven tons of coak pig iron weekly, with an improved furnace 

 27 feet fquare, and bellows, which one man could work for 

 an hour without being much tired. 



It was not, till impelled by neccfiity, arifing from the rajiid 

 decline of the annual growth of timber, that pit coal becamie 

 an object of univerfal eftim.ation. V.'h.cn improvements ou ma- 

 chinery had attained a pitch of certainty, and experience had 

 taught the mechanic the manifold advantages of the fteam 

 engine ; the adventurous manufacturer found he pofTefied 

 an extent of means to which he was formerly a ftrarger. 

 Small furnaces, fupplied with air from leathcm bellows, 

 blown by oxen, hoife, or human labour, became exploded, 

 and an increafe of fize took place, together with an increafe 

 of the column of blaft neceflar)' to excite combuiHon. 



At this eventful era in the hiftoi7 of the blaft furnace, 

 when the amehorating hand of agriculture was progreffivcly 

 fweeping before it, what remained of the once immenfe 

 tracts of woodland dedicated to the fupply of the bhift fur- 

 nace ; when the general improvement in machinery, and 

 the introduction of the fteam engine threatened to give new 

 life and impulfe to manufactures in general, the iron-bufinefs 

 leemed dwindling into infiguificancy and contempt. The 

 demand of the country increafed for the manufadlured ar- 

 ticle, particularly bar-iron, while every year faw a gradual 

 but (leady diminution of the annual quantity. Recourfe to 

 foreign markets was had for a fupply of that article, of 

 which this country once was the greateft exporter, and the 

 immenfe annual importations from Rufiia and Sweden may 

 date their origin from that period. The flourifhing and ex- 

 tenfive detail of Dudley no longer exiiled, and the 300 blall 

 furnaces of his cay were now diminifiied to 59 in all ; the 

 total amount of whofe annual produce was 17350 tons, or 

 nearly 3^0 tons to each furnace. 



LIST of the Blaft Furnaces in England and Wales im- 

 mediately before the introduttion of pit coal, as a fubfti- 

 tute for the charcoal of wood ; the particular counties in 

 which they were fituated ; the colleftivc quantity of iroa 

 manufactured in each county, and the produce of each 

 particular blaft furnace. 



Cuuiuics. 2 5 H. Names of the Fuinacos. _ . 



5=3. 5 = : 



Brecon i Ynyikcdwyn - - 1 



1 Lanithv - - I 



-* - — I-, .;. o 

 2CO 

 .^CO 



Giamors:an 



2 furnaces. 



I Neath 

 I BerfiUy 



200 



2CO 



6co 



2 turnacef. 



Carried forward 4 

 4C 



4c o 



1000 

 Counties. 



