CHAT 2006 ABSTRACTS

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Forging Past? Archaeology and Memory at Wednesbury, West Midlands
Emma Dwyer and William Mitchell (Ironbridge Archaeology)

Wednesbury Forge has been in continuous use since 1597, when William Comberford had a “smithy for making iron”. In the eighteenth century gun barrels were produced there, and in 1817 Edward Elwell began to produce edge tools - an industry that would continue on the site for nearly two hundred years, until the closure of forging operations by Spear and Jackson plc in 2005. Ironbridge Archaeology were initially commissioned in 2001 to undertake an historic landscape appraisal, and our recommendations have informed the subsequent programme of archaeological recording, evaluation and excavation imposed by the local authority on the redevelopment process.

The nature of this particular site has enabled Ironbridge Archaeology to supplement the traditional methods of excavation and survey with techniques associated with contemporary archaeology. These processes were not built into the project design from the beginning, but have evolved out of the nature of the site we are excavating, and our relationship with the people who are still working in the forge. Continuity on the site has not just existed in the below-ground archaeology, indeed a sense of continuity has been a key part in modern day working practices and social relations at the forge. Informal interviews with the forge workers revealed practices, such as workers earning a ‘piece-rate’, that have not survived in other industries. In many cases conversations with the forge workers have cast new light on elements of the site that had been previously poorly understood by looking at the archaeological remains alone.

The techniques we have used in recording the oral testimonies of the forge workers and the later buildings on the site have not been formalised and have evolved as the project continues; the twentieth century buildings and the processes continuing within them have much to tell us about the evolution of forging activity, but were not covered by the original project brief. As a consequence they have not been recorded in the same depth as other, earlier, elements of the site. This paper will explore some of the problems we have encountered during this project, how we have attempted to solve them, and how (and whether) we can best introduce contemporary archaeology methods into the design of future projects.