Stones, slates and tiles

Almost no handiwork is wrought without iron; no field
is eared, no tilling craft used, nor is any building constructed
without iron.
[Bartholomew of England, Franciscan, writing c. 1250]

Iron Axe head, Kirkstall Abbey
© Abbey House Museum
<click to enlarge>

Iron was an important resource and was required to make tools, fittings and horseshoes, clippers to shear sheep and everyday objects such as buckles, keys, pots and pans. It was even used for construction work. The monastic community therefore required a considerable amount of iron to provide for its needs, having its own forges to mine and smelt the ore.

A grant of an iron forge to the monks of Rievaulx in the 1140s is one of the earliest such grants known for England.(20) In the twelfth century, the community had several forges including those at Faweather and Halton (Harden), near Bingley, and at Hockton. Land in Shitlington was granted to the monks to build a forge and to make utensils for the community's use. The community was accorded the right to make iron and use dead wood for charcoal in Flockton and Shitlington.(21) Rievaulx mined the Tankersley ore at Stainborough and Blacker, near Barnsley; traces of the pits can still be seen in the landscape.(22)

Why did they burn charcoal rather than wood?
To process iron ore high temperatures and a reducing environment are needed, therefore charcoal, with its high calorific value and low ash content was ideal for burning

Forges were best sited near to woodland, so that an abundant supply of fuel that was required to power the forge was near at hand.(23) Current research conducted by the Department of Archaeological Sciences at the University of Bradford, is investigating and evaluating the importance of iron to the Rievaulx community and the effect of the monks' industry on the landscape. The project is exploring how precisely the community utilised its surroundings to acquire the vast quantities of charcoal needed to fuel its forges, and is analysing pollen and peat samples for evidence of coppicing.

The team is also attempting to recreate a furnace, to understand more clearly just how the monks' technology worked.

The team is just embarking on the first archaeological dig at Rievaulx for over eighty years, and is excavating the refectory to find remains of charcoal. It is thought that charcoal was stored here to supply the blast furnace that was built here following the dissolution of the abbey. The Bradford team believes that the sixteenth-century monks of Rievaulx were at the forefront of the metal industry and on the eve of the Dissolution were on the verge of developing blast-furnace technology. Their progress, however, was terminated by the dissolution of the abbey in December 1538, but a blast furnace was built on the site 1570-c. 1650.