Wealden Iron Industry - Prehistoric Ironmaking

Prehistoric Ironmaking

So far only about two dozen sites have been identified where iron was made before the Roman invasion, mostly scattered across East Sussex and the Vale of Kent. A large site at Broadfield, Crawley is the westernmost place where smelting has been ascertained, although there is a possible site associated with an Iron Age enclosure at Piper's Copse near Northchapel in the western Weald. Continuity of pottery styles from the Iron Age into the early Roman period makes precise dating of many sites to before or after the Roman conquest difficult. Carbon dating has identified a site at Cullinghurst Wood, Hartfield to between 350 and 750 BC.

During his invasions of Britain in 55 and 54 BC Julius Caesar noted iron production near the coast, possibly at known sites at Sedlescombe and Crowhurst Park near Hastings.