Wortley Top Forge

A general view inside the main forge

My day out with the Sheffield U3A Geology Group to explore Wharncliffe Crags finished with a guided tour of Wortley Top Forge, the only surviving water-powered heavy wrought iron forge with its water wheels and hammers in situ.

A general view of Wortley Top Forge

Dating back to 1640, with various additions over the years, it is a site of national importance and is protected as a Scheduled Monument and the main forge is a Grade I Listed building. There buildings themselves aren't of great architectural merit, but they provide a good example of the vernacular use of local sandstone - probably Greenmoor Rock from one of the quarries nearby.

An introduction to wrought iron

As soon as we arrived, we all found a place to eat out packed lunches and after an introduction to the processes and materials involved in the production of wrought iron, we proceeded on an hour and half tour provided by a very entertaining tour guide.

A demonstration in the main forge

We were first shown the workings of the main forge and then taken to former workshops, which are now full of a wide variety of fully operative machines that have been donated from all over the world and are maintained by volunteers.

A general view in the main forge

I was too preoccupied trying to take a set of reasonable photographs in often dim lighting conditions to hear everything that our guide was saying, but I saw enough to get a reasonable understanding of the operation of the forge.

A general view in the main forge

Like other parts of Sheffield, the Upper Don Valley had access to ironstone, coppiced timber for charcoal and water for power and iron has been worked in the valley on a small scale since the 1300’s - long before the Industrial Revolution.

Various workshops

When our formal tour had ended, everyone seemed in a hurry to get in the their cars and get back home and I didn’t have time to have a good wander around the site. The forge forms the centre of an Industrial Museum, with a large collection of steam engines and large items of plant that have been salvaged from now demolished works.

Miscellaneous plant and machinery