Mineral
Dressed iron ore
Iron ore → Dressed iron ore → Iron bloom → Wrought iron → Axe
Picture to come.
Iron ore that has been prepared for smelting. Before going into a bloomery furnace, ore was normally roasted in a fire, broken to a suitable size and picked over to remove unwanted rock. This made it richer, lighter to carry and easier to smelt with charcoal. In 12th-century England the main iron districts were the Weald, the Forest of Dean and Northamptonshire.
Caveats (confidence: high)
Exact local methods of sorting and roasting varied and are not documented in detail for this century.
Sources: historicengland.org.uk
Made by
- Dress iron ore by hand
- Dress iron ore at the stamps
Used to make
- Smelt a bloom from dressed ore