Lancashire hearth

Cookley Forge in the Stour valley also reverted to charcoal working in 1814, supplying wire and tinplate mills.

He had seen closed finery hearths in south Wales and near Ulverston, then in Lancashire (now Cumbria).

On his return to Sweden, Ekman experimented and built furnaces similar to what he had seen near Ulverston,[2] most probably at Newland ironworks.

In 1829-30, Waern installed a furnace of the south Wales type at Backefors ironworks, while independently Ekman built Lancashire hearths at Dormsjö and Söderfors.

Pig iron was charged through a door at the foot of the chimney and stacked on an iron-clad bridge so that it could be heated by the waste gases from the hearth.

Pig stacked on the bridge at the back of the hearth was then pulled forward with a hook and charcoal added.

Finally, the iron was gathered into a 'loop' which was lifted out of the hearth with a heavier bar and tongs, and taken to the shingling hammer.