South Yorkshire Ironmasters
There had been smelting of iron in various parts of Yorkshire from early times; the Romans smelted it during their occupation. Later, the Cistercians had forges in use at more than one of their eight houses, and notably at Kirkstall, while the Augustinian Canons had a celebrated forge at Bolton Priory. Iron working doubtless began in the Sheffield-Masbrough-Rotherham district at a period not far removed from the Norman Conquest. In the Inquisition of 1332, there is a clear indication that iron had been worked in the Manor of Sheffield for some time.
In 1160 Richard de Busli made a grant to the Cistercians of Kirkstead Abbey of sufficient land in Hallamshire for the erection of four iron-works, two for smelting ore. By the beginning of the 15th century the iron-workers and knifemakers of the area were increasing considerably in number.
Leland, who travelled in South Yorkshire during 1536-40, wrote of the coalpits and forges, and of the smiths and cutlers, and the cutting tools which he observed about Rotherham and in Hallamshire.
Sir Francis Fane, Earl of Westmorland, acquired the leases of Kirkstall Forge in 1618 and Wortley Forge in 1621.
By the 1640s, William and Gilbert Fownes were involved in the Yorkshire ironworks which comprised Wortley and Colne Bridge Forges, Barnby and Bank furnaces, with the lease of Kirkstall Forge being agreed in the late 1650s.
Between the mid 17th to 18th centuries,The Spencer family, of Cannon Hall, ran furnaces, forges, and slitting mills in the West Riding and their interests extended into Derbyshire and Lancashire. It was their policy to acquire, both by marriage and purchase, interest in one after another of these groups.
- Barnby Furnace, Kirkstall Forge, Leeds, Upper Bank Furnace. Nether Bank Furnace near Silkstone, Colnbridge Forge, Huddersfield
- Chapell Furnace, Sheffield, Rockley Furnace, Barnsley, Stainborough Forge.
- Wortley Forges Penistone.
- Barnage Furnace, Gloucestershire. Silkstone Forge and Slitting Mills, Barnsley, Yorks.
- Bretton Furnace, Barnsley, Kilnhurst Forge, Rotherham.
- The 'Sheffield group', associated with Chapell Furnace
- Wardsend Forge. Attercliffe Forge, Stone Forge, Masborough Slitting Mill, Rotherham.
- The 'Duke of Norfolk' group. Staveley Furnace, Chesterfield, Derbyshire. Staveley Forge. Foxbrook Furnace, Renishaw Slitting Mill, Derbyshire, Roche Abbey Forge,Maltby,Yorkshire, Carburton Forge, Notts
- Holme Chapel Furnace and Forge, Burnley, Lancs, Mousehole Forge. Seamer Forge. Seacroft Furnace.
The Spencer family withdrew from the iron trade by the middle of the century.
Kirkstall Forge passed into the hands of the Butler family and was still operating as Kirkstall Forge Engineering Ltd. in the 1980s.
The Spencers of Cannon Hall, Barnsley
The Walker family of Grenoside and Rotherham
Source: The South Yorkshire Ironmasters (1690-1750) A. Raistrick; E. Allen The Economic History Review, Vol. 9, No. 2. (May, 1939), pp. 168-185.
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