DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1398#0230
PLATE 175.
PARK GATES AND RAILING,
BY MESSES. E. W. KENNARD & CO., LONDON.
AS was naturally to be expected from the reputation of the firm, the Messrs. Kennard & Co.,
of Falkirk and London, took a high place among the exhibitors in Class 33, and were awarded
a prize medal by the International Jury "for excellence of work in iron castings." The cast-iron
gates which we have selected for illustration were forty-three feet in length, and the height of the iron
railing about 7 feet 6 inches. They were designed by M. Lienard, of Paris, for the palace of Vista
Alegre, belonging to the well-known Spanish capitalist Salamanca; an important work in a somewhat
florid style of art, but very beautifully cast. Besides this fine work, the Messrs. Kennard exhibited
a cast-iron verandah of good design, containing views of the great railway works executed by them
—the Crumlin viaduct, Monmouthshire; the Veletri viaduct, Italy; the immensely long Burraker
bridge in India; and the bridge over the Tagus, on the Lisbon and Badajoz line of railway. The
ornamental castings for panels, windows, and balustrades, the groups of animals, &c, contributed
by the firm, were specially deserving of commendation; and their moulded chains were of very
ingenious construction.
Although the art of smelting and working iron is of great antiquity in this country,
yet iron cast in the mould appears to be of comparatively recent origin. It is stated in
Ure's "Dictionary of Arts and Manufactures," that the iron ores of Monmouthshire and
Gloucestershire were extensively worked by the Eomans during then' occupation of this country;
immense beds of iron-cinders have been discovered in Sussex and in the Forest of Dean; and
it appears probable that Bath was the principal seat of the trade. Relies of their operations,
in the form of cinders and coins, have likewise been found in Yorkshire and other counties.
During the Anglo-Saxon period, the manufacture of iron and steel was continued; and the army
of Harold is stated to have been well supplied with iron armour and steel weapons. During the
reign of William the Conqueror, the forging of iron was principally carried on at Gloucester, where
up to late years iron-works existed, the Forest of Dean supplying both the iron ore and fuel.
Henry II. (1154—89) gave to the Cistercian abbey of Flaxley, in Gloucestershire, an iron forge
in the Forest of Dean, and two oaks weekly to supply it with fuel. This grant was revoked
by Henry III. (1216—72), as it was found prejudicial to the forest. Among the patent-rolls of
Henry III., A.D. 1238, is one entitled "De forgeis levandis in foresta de Dean;" and in the reign
of Edward I. (1272—1307), seventy-two furnaces for melting iron are recorded to have been built
here. Other remains of ancient furnaces have been noticed in Lancashire, Staffordshire, and York-
shire. Sussex also was largely employed in the manufacture. Mr. M. A. Lower, in the " Transactions
of the Sussex Archajologioal Association," refers to nearly a hundred different sites of extinct
smelting-furnaces. The wrought-iron work for the tomb of Henry III. was executed by Henry of
Lewes; and ornamental works in iron of a later date, executed in Sussex, which abounds in
ferruginous material and in fuel obtained from the Weald, are scattered throughout that county. In
Rymer's "Fosdera" it is stated that cast iron was first made by Ralph Page and Peter Baude
in Sussex, A.D. 1548. Camden, writing in the year 1586, speaks of the county as being full
of iron mines and furnaces; but this prosperity was not to be of long duration. In the reigns
of Henry VIII. and Queen Elizabeth, restrictions had been placed by the legislature on the
destruction of the forest timber and the erection of new iron-works prohibited. In the succeeding
reigns, owing to these enactments, attempts were made to smelt iron with pit coal, but without
success. The consequence was, the entire abandonment of the business in some parts of the
country, and its decrease in other parts. In Hasted's " Kent" we find that the noble iron palisade
and gates round St. Paul's were cast at Laniberhurst, in that county, about the year 1700.
This, although the first authenticated example of cast iron in England, was a work of such
importance, and requiring so much technical experience, as hardly to have been the result of
unpractised hands; and we must conclude that though not specially mentioned, sand-mould casting had
been some time in use, as stated by Rymer. After the successful application of pit coal for smelting,
by Mr. Abraham Darby, at Coalbrookdale, in the year 1713, the manufacture of cast iron has increased
in a wonderful manner; and whereas in 1740 there were only fifty-nine blast-furnaces at work in
England and Wales, there were in the year 1858 in England 332, in Wales 153, in Scotland 133—
total 618; producing 3,456,064 tons of pig iron, representing a money value of £13,824,256
sterling.
PARK GATES AND RAILING,
BY MESSES. E. W. KENNARD & CO., LONDON.
AS was naturally to be expected from the reputation of the firm, the Messrs. Kennard & Co.,
of Falkirk and London, took a high place among the exhibitors in Class 33, and were awarded
a prize medal by the International Jury "for excellence of work in iron castings." The cast-iron
gates which we have selected for illustration were forty-three feet in length, and the height of the iron
railing about 7 feet 6 inches. They were designed by M. Lienard, of Paris, for the palace of Vista
Alegre, belonging to the well-known Spanish capitalist Salamanca; an important work in a somewhat
florid style of art, but very beautifully cast. Besides this fine work, the Messrs. Kennard exhibited
a cast-iron verandah of good design, containing views of the great railway works executed by them
—the Crumlin viaduct, Monmouthshire; the Veletri viaduct, Italy; the immensely long Burraker
bridge in India; and the bridge over the Tagus, on the Lisbon and Badajoz line of railway. The
ornamental castings for panels, windows, and balustrades, the groups of animals, &c, contributed
by the firm, were specially deserving of commendation; and their moulded chains were of very
ingenious construction.
Although the art of smelting and working iron is of great antiquity in this country,
yet iron cast in the mould appears to be of comparatively recent origin. It is stated in
Ure's "Dictionary of Arts and Manufactures," that the iron ores of Monmouthshire and
Gloucestershire were extensively worked by the Eomans during then' occupation of this country;
immense beds of iron-cinders have been discovered in Sussex and in the Forest of Dean; and
it appears probable that Bath was the principal seat of the trade. Relies of their operations,
in the form of cinders and coins, have likewise been found in Yorkshire and other counties.
During the Anglo-Saxon period, the manufacture of iron and steel was continued; and the army
of Harold is stated to have been well supplied with iron armour and steel weapons. During the
reign of William the Conqueror, the forging of iron was principally carried on at Gloucester, where
up to late years iron-works existed, the Forest of Dean supplying both the iron ore and fuel.
Henry II. (1154—89) gave to the Cistercian abbey of Flaxley, in Gloucestershire, an iron forge
in the Forest of Dean, and two oaks weekly to supply it with fuel. This grant was revoked
by Henry III. (1216—72), as it was found prejudicial to the forest. Among the patent-rolls of
Henry III., A.D. 1238, is one entitled "De forgeis levandis in foresta de Dean;" and in the reign
of Edward I. (1272—1307), seventy-two furnaces for melting iron are recorded to have been built
here. Other remains of ancient furnaces have been noticed in Lancashire, Staffordshire, and York-
shire. Sussex also was largely employed in the manufacture. Mr. M. A. Lower, in the " Transactions
of the Sussex Archajologioal Association," refers to nearly a hundred different sites of extinct
smelting-furnaces. The wrought-iron work for the tomb of Henry III. was executed by Henry of
Lewes; and ornamental works in iron of a later date, executed in Sussex, which abounds in
ferruginous material and in fuel obtained from the Weald, are scattered throughout that county. In
Rymer's "Fosdera" it is stated that cast iron was first made by Ralph Page and Peter Baude
in Sussex, A.D. 1548. Camden, writing in the year 1586, speaks of the county as being full
of iron mines and furnaces; but this prosperity was not to be of long duration. In the reigns
of Henry VIII. and Queen Elizabeth, restrictions had been placed by the legislature on the
destruction of the forest timber and the erection of new iron-works prohibited. In the succeeding
reigns, owing to these enactments, attempts were made to smelt iron with pit coal, but without
success. The consequence was, the entire abandonment of the business in some parts of the
country, and its decrease in other parts. In Hasted's " Kent" we find that the noble iron palisade
and gates round St. Paul's were cast at Laniberhurst, in that county, about the year 1700.
This, although the first authenticated example of cast iron in England, was a work of such
importance, and requiring so much technical experience, as hardly to have been the result of
unpractised hands; and we must conclude that though not specially mentioned, sand-mould casting had
been some time in use, as stated by Rymer. After the successful application of pit coal for smelting,
by Mr. Abraham Darby, at Coalbrookdale, in the year 1713, the manufacture of cast iron has increased
in a wonderful manner; and whereas in 1740 there were only fifty-nine blast-furnaces at work in
England and Wales, there were in the year 1858 in England 332, in Wales 153, in Scotland 133—
total 618; producing 3,456,064 tons of pig iron, representing a money value of £13,824,256
sterling.