History of the Ironworks

First possible reference to North Park being the site of an ironworks

The earliest certain documentary reference is the Lynchmere and Shulbrede Roll for 1615 (W.S.R.O. Cowdray MS.)

Item the hommage do present the honorable second Viscount Montague and Thomas Gray, Gent., for buildinge an iron mill on the above said coppiehold called Peerish and for makinge of highwaies through the said ground and for digging myne pius and for makinge of sawe pitts and coale pitts to the great advantage of the tenant to the same.

Since the works had been completed it seems reasonable that 1614 is the year in question. No reference is made to the damming of the stream to form a bay; was this an oversight or because the works had been built on an older site? The first Viscount Montague had considerable interests in iron and the 1574 lists of Ironworks refer to “one furnace in Haselmore or thereabouts also a furnace called Pophall”. The unnamed furnace has still to be identified but may be North Park. The site could also have been one of the unnamed ironworks in Anthony Viscount Montague’s will of 1592 (PROPROB 11/81/22).

In 1632, W.S.R.O. 38663 for Vanlands (part of the Hollist Estate) Montague to Robert Shotter grants William Yalden the ironmaster the right to take wood, timber, underwood and coals. In 1643 William Yalden, Steward to Viscount Montague had leased Northpark. It is not clear whether this included the furnace but Yalden operated several sites. In 1659 he became M.P. for Midhurst.

Breakout of the first English Civil War

Northpark is known to have been operative in 1653 and in 1660 is shown in a clear map (W.S.R.O. Cowdray 1640) but in a 1664 list is described as ruined. Stent’s map of 1680 shows the pond in water. W.S.R.O. Cowdray 96 dated 1683/4 itemised carriage of iron to Pophole lists names of carriers several of which correspond with those of adjoining landholders to Northpark furnace but the source of the iron is not recorded.

In the eighteenth century papers from the Hollist collection (W.S.R.O. 38663/7 and specifically 38666) refer to rights to take ore and myne; these documents are dated 1708 to 1712. W.S.R.O. 38664 of 1712 a Court Baron of Lynchmere states the right of the Cowdray Estate to take iron ore for the furnace built on Hatch Hill (i.e. Northpark Furnace). The 1717 Iron List does not refer to Northpark and Budgen’s map of 1724 does not indicate the site but then it misses out other notable features in the vicinity.

First coke-fired furnace at Coalbrookdale in Shropshire

E.S.R.O. S.A.C.RF15/25 refers to John Butler buying 18 lb guns in 1738. The Butler family had lived at Stanley Farm in Fernhurst for three generations and he was a careful and astute businessman with iron interests in various sites. Butler worked with a partner named Eade for some years. Eade’s christian name is not given but contemporary with this is the partnership of Jonathan Eade and William Wilton, suppliers of government ordnance. They seemed to have purchased guns from other founders including Fullers (Heathfield Furnace) and William Clutton (Gravetye Furnace). A link between Butler and Eade & Wilton would explain Butler’s gunfounding business and the absence of his name from the transactions of the Board of Ordnance. Difficulties were encountered in finding skilled workers and according to the “Butler Family Memoir” of 1815 Butler brought craftsmen from the north country. His purpose in 1738 of purchasing guns must have been to fulfil an order. The family memoir refers to his starting work in the iron industry in his middle years during the wars with Spain and with America. In 1729 the war with Spain was over and the Jenkins Ear episode occurred in 1739. Butler became very rich on the proceeds of his business. He purchased the Chiltley Estate in Liphook with the proceeds of one blast and several other valuable estates in the neighbourhood.

W.S.R.O. Cowdray 1443 of 1769 is a 21 year lease with seven year options to Joseph Wright and Thomas Prickett and refers to John Butler as the previous tenant of Northpark and Pophole. Wright & Prickett were gunfounders and were based at Southwark. W.S.R.O. Cowdray 1664 of 1775 is a map which shows the working sluices to Furnace Pond and the water system serving it from due north.

In that year a James Goodyer of Guildford takes on the tenancy of Northpark with Pophole. He went bankrupt in 1777 and he had a lease of Abinger Hammer from 1766-80. One of the assignees of his bankruptcy was Richard Crawshay, a London ironmonger who had a connection with a large gunfounding business in South Wales. It is not yet known if this is significant to the history of Northpark.

In 1776 the Carron Ironworks of Falkirk, after a long struggle to produce guns which were not only as good and reliable as those made of Sussex iron but also cheaper finally secured the Naval Contracts and iron-making in Sussex effectively came to an end. The Sussex Weekly Advertiser of 13th January, 1777 carries an advertisement for the sale of Northpark together with Pophole. It is not yet known for sure when Northpark finally ceased but by 1785 the title papers in the Hollist Collection no longer contain iron industry related clauses (W.S.R.O. Add. MS 38665).