1752-1784
Furnace Road
The Netherhall Blast Furnace was built in 1752 by a partnership between three gentleman from Furness who were involved in mining ore from that area, and would have been familiar with the making of iron from charcoal, and merchants from Whitehaven who probably provided the finance for the venture. They obtained a lease from Humphrey Senhouse II for a site adjacent to the River Ellen for the purposes of erecting furnaces and forges, with the power to deepen the river Ellen between the works and the harbour.
Building of the furnace was completed in 1754 and was reported by Humphrey Senhouse in his daybook:
“The Furnace erected by Messrs Gale, Gibson, Hartley, the two Postlethwaites and Lewthwaite began to blow on Friday, ye 12th of August 1754 and ran the first metal of Iron on Saturday ye 13th in the afternoon. Mr Curwen of Workington, Messrs Christian, Charles Lutwiche, most of the company and myself being present. The performance was much to our general satisfaction.”
The Netherhall furnace had the capacity of c2000 cubic feet, which made it the biggest iron furnace in the country. The coke ovens at the south end of Furnace Road are considered to be the oldest in the country and possibly the world. Their form is unique, being quite different from the normal beehive type, and documentary evidence dated to 1783 refers to them as being a new design. The failure of the enterprise in 1784 has been attributed to an unreliable water supply.
