MORLEY PARK BLAST FURNACES
The site is a Scheduled Ancient Monument in the guardianship of the Derbyshire Archaeological Society. The Industrial Archaeology Section organises working parties to tidy and maintain the site.
The furnaces were built for Francis Hurt of Alderwasley to produce iron from iron ore and coal, both of which were mined in the immediate vicinity of this site. The first furnace (centre left in the photograph below) was built in around 1780, making it one of the earliest blast furnaces in Derbyshire to use coke rather than charcoal to smelt the iron. It was rebuilt in 1818 and the second furnace was added a little later. Power for the cold air blast was provided by a steam engine.
The furnaces were charged at the top with coke, iron ore, and limestone by using an embankment with possibly a small bridge. For the smelting process to work, the limestone was needed as a flux: it was obtained about three miles away at Crich. The furnaces produced both cast items and pig iron, some of which was converted at Alderwasley forge to wrought iron.