User:Obscurasky/Bromley Hill Ironworks

Bromley Hill Ironworks, also referred to as Bromley Hill Furnace, Bromley Furnace and Oakwood Furnace, was a coke-fired furnace and associated mines, built in 1849, at Bream, in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, England.

Background
The first coke-fired blast furnace had been constructed in 1709, at Coalbrookdale in Shropshire. Despite the presence of both extensive iron-ore reserves and coal measures, Forest of Dean coal did not produce coke which was ideal for smelting and local ironmasters were reluctant to invest in the new technology. At the end of the 18th century, three large ironworks were built almost simultaneously in the Forest, but they all suffered severe technical dificulties, almost certainly due to the unsuitability of the local coke, and closed within a decade of their opening.

Around 1820, however, Moses Teague, whilst borrowing the cupola furnace at Darkhill Ironworks, discovered a way to make good iron from local coke. To exploit his discovery he re-opened Parkend Ironworks in 1824 and Cinderford Ironworks in 1829, greatly advancing the Forest of Dean iron industry.

History
It was against this backdrop that Charles Jarvis the elder and John Passand Lichfield opened the Bromley Hill Ironworks in 1849, trading as 'Bromley Hill Iron and Coal Co'.

It is not clear what went wrong, but the London Gazette reported that Charles Jarvis appeared before the County Court of Warwickshire, in Coventry, on 1 June 1852, his "Estate and Effects [having] been vested in the Provisional Assignee by Order of the 'Court for Relief of Insolvent Debtors'. Jarvis is described as having been 'out of business' and living in Birmingham for about ten months, having formerly been manager the Bromley Hill Iron Works for about five years.

The assets of the Bromley Hill Iron and Coal Co. were purchased by the Ebbw Vale Co. Ltd., in 1854 after 'the management had become bankrupt'. The assets then consisted of the Bromley Hill Iron Mine and the Bromley Hill and Midsummer Level Collieries.

It was re-opened in 1856, by the Ebbw Vale Steel & Iron Works, but was out of use by 1877. The chimney was blown up in 1939, the stones being taken to Redbrook to build a retaining wall. Some of the stones however were re-used in buildings near Bream Schools.