South Yorkshire Ironmasters
The forges in the area south and west of Leeds were first drawn together when Sir Francis Fane, Earl of Westmorland, son of the ironmaster Sir Thomas Fane of Badsell, acquired the leases of Kirkstall Forge in 1618 and Wortley Forge in 1621.
By the 1640s, William and Gilbert Fownes were involved in the Yorkshire ironworks which comprised Wortley and Colne Bridge Forges, Barnby and Bank furnaces, with the lease of Kirkstall Forge being agreed in the late 1650s.
Between the mid 17th to 18th centuries,The Spencer family, of Cannon Hall, ran furnaces, forges, and slitting mills in the West Riding and their interests extended into Derbyshire and Lancashire. It was their policy to acquire, both by marriage and purchase, interest in one after another of these groups.
- Barnby Furnace, Kirkstall Forge, Leeds, Upper Bank Furnace. Nether Bank Furnace near Silkstone, Colnbridge Forge, Huddersfield
- Chapell Furnace, Sheffield, Rockley Furnace, Barnsley, Stainborough Forge.
- Wortley Forges Penistone.
- Barnage Furnace, Gloucestershire. Silkstone Forge and Slitting Mills, Barnsley, Yorks.
- Bretton Furnace, Barnsley, Kilnhurst Forge, Rotherham.
- The 'Sheffield group', associated with Chapell Furnace
- Wardsend Forge. Attercliffe Forge, Stone Forge, Masborough Slitting Mill, Rotherham.
- The 'Duke of Norfolk' group. Staveley Furnace, Chesterfield, Derbyshire. Staveley Forge. Foxbrook Furnace, Renishaw Slitting Mill, Derbyshire, Roche Abbey Forge,Maltby,Yorkshire, Carburton Forge, Notts
- Holme Chapel Furnace and Forge, Burnley, Lancs, Mousehole Forge. Seamer Forge. Seacroft Furnace.
The Spencer family withdrew from the iron trade by the middle of the century.
Kirkstall Forge passed into the hands of the Butler family and was still operating as Kirkstall Forge Engineering Ltd. in the 1980s.
The Spencers of Cannon Hall, Barnsley
Source: The South Yorkshire Ironmasters (1690-1750) A. Raistrick; E. Allen The Economic History Review, Vol. 9, No. 2. (May, 1939), pp. 168-185.
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