Ironworks at Cranbrook (tq 7736). In 1637 a petition of the inhabitants of Cranbrook (b) stated "This town and parishes adjoining have for many hundred years subsisted by the trade of clothing. John Browne (of Horsmonden) by the commission for making brass and iron ordnance and shot has seized upon the greatest part of such woods as were felled". Browne in reply, states that he only continues the use of one ancient furnace in Cranbrook. In a return made in 1573 (a) it states that 6,542 acres of wood in Cranbrook and seven other parishes adjoining had been felled in the last twenty years, 2,924 acres for ironmaking. (1) Cranbrook shown on a map of Wealden iron sites as a parish with ironworks in 1574. (2)

<1> SPD Eliz 93 37 (OS Card Reference). SKE49528.

<2> SP Dom Chas 1 1637 290 (OS Card Reference). SKE49527.

<3> Wealden Iron 1931 125 126 (E Straker) (OS Card Reference). SKE51284.

<4> Hist Metallurgy Soc Newsletter 8 Winter 1980 5 (OS Card Reference). SKE43911.