Newland Blast Furnace And Attached Ancillary Buildings

Newland Blast Furnace and Attached Ancillary Buildings

Iron-making furnace with attached ancillary buildings, now either disused or used as stores. Dating from the late 18th century or earlier, with later additions, the complex was remodelled to facilitate firing with coke in 1874, closed in 1891, and underwent restoration commencing in 1991.

The blast furnace was originally intended for charcoal firing but was later adapted to coke firing. The site comprises the furnace itself, remains of a casting house to the south, a blowing house, a formerly charging house above to the west, and ancillary buildings to the east and south-west.

The buildings are constructed in roughly coursed Lakeland slatestone with sandstone quoining to some external walls, and green Westmorland slate roof coverings laid to diminishing courses.

The blast furnace itself is a now truncated, tapered square tower, with a tapered and bellied circular firebrick-lined furnace chamber within, now partially collapsed on the west side. The external walls to the north, east and west are enclosed by attached buildings; the south wall contains a tapping arch opening into the now roofless casting shed.

The north elevation presents a stepped range of buildings in three parts. A further roofless tower stands off-centre with massive regular quoins and a blocked inserted vent. To the east is a low two-bay, two-storey building of rubble stone and firebrick with an inserted 20th-century garage door and double opening above, now blocked. An inserted doorway to the west has firebrick quoining below a massive timber lintel. To the west of the furnace stands a taller three-storey range, with a profile indicating a former attached wheelhouse for a water-powered blowing engine; seatings for former roof timbers are visible. An opening for a water course overflow appears at the west end of the elevation. The north gable has a blocked double doorway to the upper storey from a ramped ground.

The south elevation includes partial reconstruction of the east end above courses of horizontally-set roof slate. A shallow brick arch springs from a low brick retaining wall at the angle of the main range and the east sidewall of the former casting house. The furnace bay features a massive segmental arch built in firebrick at the tapping opening, defined by splayed walling of great thickness. Further west is a wide, semi-circular arch-headed opening from the former blowing house, and a blocked, segmentally-arched opening further west. The west end bay contains a massive inserted timber beam supported by a cast iron column, with an inner wall one metre wide inside the line of the outer wall.

The interior comprises a firebrick-lined furnace with a tuyere arch and associated masonry that has collapsed on the west side and is undergoing restoration following insertion of a massive timber beam. Mounting blocks of the former blowing engine are located at the north-west corner of the blowing house, west of the furnace. Floor beams to the former charging floor above survive. Walls to the former casting house enclose an open area to the south, with two arched openings to the east wall and a shallow gable above. An attached ancillary building to the south-west has a single casement window to the west elevation and a blank wall onto the casting house area.

The Newland Furnace represents the late survival of charcoal iron-making on the west coast of Britain. In the mid-19th century, it exerted a controlling influence in the industry from sites at Newland, Bonall in Scotland, and Warsash on Southampton Water. The ironworks closed in 1891.