The invasion of AD 43 began the Romans’ settlement of Britain. The Romans brought with them a level of expertise that raised iron production in Britain from small localised sites to an enormous industry. Rome thrived on war and iron was vital to the Roman military establishment as well as to the civil population.In this pioneering work, David Sim combines current ideas of iron-making in Roman times with experimental archaeology. The Roman Iron Industry in Britain stretches far beyond dry theory and metallurgy alone; it covers all the stages of this essential process, from prospecting to distribution, and describes the whole cycle of iron production.Photographs and line drawings illustrate the text well enough to allow keen readers to reproduce the artefacts for themselves. Fascinating to the general reader and all those with an interest in Roman history, this book is invaluable to students of archaeology and professional archaeologists alike. Dr David Sim is an archaeologist who has combined studies of the technology of the Roman Empire with his skills as a blacksmith.

This book stretched far beyond dry theory and metallurgy alone; it covers all stages of this essential process from prospecting to distribution and describes the whole cycle of iron production. Clear photographs and line drawings illustrate the text well enough to allow keen readers to reproduce the artefacts for themselves.

For two periods of British history - the first part of the Roman occupation and the Tudor and early Stuart periods - the Weald of south-east England was the most productive iron-producing region in the country. Looking across the tranquil Wealden countryside, it is hard to identify anything that hints at its industrial past. Yet 400 years ago, nearly 100 furnaces and forges roared and hammered there, the smoke from charcoal-making curling up from the surrounding woods and the roads bustling with wagons laden with ore and iron sows. Many British naval campaigns, including the Spanish Armada, the wars against the Dutch and The Seven Years' War, relied on Wealden iron cannon; the pressures of conflict driving forward the development of iron-producing technology. For a time the economy of the whole area was dominated by the production of iron and its raw materials, providing employment, generating prosperity and shaping the landscape irrevocably. Drawing on a wealth of local evidence, this book explores the archaeology and history of an area whose iron industry was of international importance.

Arguably, Britain's valuable and abundant supplies of iron were one of the principal attractions to its Roman invaders.

The ancient counties surrounding the Weald in the SE corner of England have a strongly marked character of their own that has survived remarkably well in the face of ever-increasing population pressure. The area is, however, comparatively neglected in discussion of Roman Britain, where it is often subsumed into a generalised treatment of the ‘civilian’ part of Britannia that is based largely on other parts of the country. This book aims to redress the balance. The focus is particularly on Kent, Surrey and Sussex account is taken of information from neighboring counties, particularly when the difficult subsoils affect the availability of evidence. An overview of the environment and a consideration of themes relevant to the South-East as a whole accompany 14 papers covering the topics of rural settlement in each county, crops, querns and millstones, animal exploitation, salt production, leatherworking, the working of bone and similar materials, the production of iron and iron objects, non-ferrous metalworking, pottery production and the supply of tile to Roman London. Agriculture and industry provides an up-to-date assessment of our knowledge of the southern hinterland of Roman London and an area that was particularly open to influences from the Continent.

The ancient counties surrounding the Weald in the SE corner of England have a strongly marked character of their own that has survived remarkably well in the face of ever-increasing population pressure. The area is, however, comparatively neglected in discussion of Roman Britain, where it is often subsumed into a generalised treatment of the ‘civilian’ part of Britannia that is based largely on other parts of the country. This book aims to redress the balance. The focus is particularly on Kent, Surrey and Sussex account is taken of information from neighboring counties, particularly when the difficult subsoils affect the availability of evidence. An overview of the environment and a consideration of themes relevant to the South-East as a whole accompany 14 papers covering the topics of rural settlement in each county, crops, querns and millstones, animal exploitation, salt production, leatherworking, the working of bone and similar materials, the production of iron and iron objects, non-ferrous metalworking, pottery production and the supply of tile to Roman London. Agriculture and industry provides an up-to-date assessment of our knowledge of the southern hinterland of Roman London and an area that was particularly open to influences from the Continent.

The story of the origins of the British and the Irish peoples, from the end of the last Ice Age around 10,000BC to the eve of the Norman Conquest - who they were, where they came from, and how they related to one another.