Duddon Iron Furnace

Image: © Humphrey Bolton Taken: Unknown

This was built in 1736 and operated until 1867. It has been restored and there is an information panel. There were eight rural blast furnaces in the area, at Duddon Bridge, Nibthwaite (by Coniston Water), Penny Bridge, Newland (near Ulverston), Backbarrow, Low Wood, Leighton (Carnforth) and Cunsey (Windermere). The iron ore (haematite) was mined in the Lindal and Dalton area and came by barges that also took away the iron. The furnaces used charcoal made from coppice wood, and power was obtained using water wheels. The charcoal and iron ore were heated together to 1500 degrees C, using bellows to increase the intensity of the fire, and the carbon combined with the oxygen in the ore leaving pure molten iron and slag. Production was continuous for periods of 20 to 30 weeks, and ten tons of iron was drained off every twelve hours into moulds to make ingots known as pigs. These rural furnaces became obsolete when coke supplanted charcoal as the source of carbon. The buildings were intact until the 1900s. These included storehouses for the iron ore and the charcoal, an office, cottages and a stable.

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