Events

Open Weekend at the Fernhurst Furnace

Following the completion of the repair project in 2022 and to prepare the site for future events The Fernhurst Furnace Preservation Group have reluctantly decided not to have an Open Weekend Event in 2023.

The next Open Weekend Event will now be held on the 14th and 15th September 2024, with new ideas, contributors and displays.

The Open Weekend is held as part of the UK Heritage Open Days scheme.
Free entry - Free parking - All donations are welcome

All proceeds go towards the conservation of Fernhurst Furnace

Click image to view Photo Album - Typical Open Weekend Event on the Furnace Facebook page
(Opens in new window)

Step back in time to an age when Fernhurst was home to important iron works which manufactured cannons – the Fernhurst Furnace

FREE ENTRY – FREE PARKING – All Donations Welcome

Dog owners – beware of musket and cannon fire!

A unique, free, historical event at the site of the Fernhurst Furnace

Open Weekend Event Programme:-

  • Guided tours of the remains of the furnace site
  • Musket, cannon and longbow demonstrations by the Sealed Knot
  • Butser Ancient Farm
  • Educational Display
  • Chestnut products
  • Displays and crafts by the Gosport Living History Society
  • Local Lamb Roast and Veggie Food
  • Woodland Crafts
  • Blacksmithing
  • Spinning
  • Target archery
  • Pole lathe - wood-turning demonstrated
  • Folk Singing (Sunday only)
  • Falconry Display by Kevin Lochner of Hawking About
  • Local beer
  • Refreshments - Tea and cake stall, Soft Drinks and bacon butties
  • Activities for children including den building
  • Books for sale
  • And Lots More …… Come and See!

    • For information: telephone: 01428 654088 or for this event only email barnes@vanlands.co.uk

    For location of Open Weekend event

    The Open Weekend event is held on private land with free entry and free large parking area. Access to the site is opposite the first ‘T’ junction approx. 60m east along Vann Road from Lower Lodge Candles (not the red location marker shown on this map). Entry to the site is clearly signposted during the event. View map (opens in new window)

    Books for Sale

    Fernhurst Furnace and other industrial sites in the western Weald
    Chichester District Archaeology 2
    by John Magilton and other contributors

    Hammer and Furnace Ponds, Relics of the Wealden Iron Industry
    An introduction and guide
    by Helen Pearce

    Books are available from The Fernhurst Furnace Preservation Group (FFPG) stand at the annual open weekend event and other associated events in the area.
    Also available by post from the FFPG. Please see Contact details at the bottom of this page.

    For more books on the Iron Industry see the Wealden Iron Research Group website