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Archaeology of Judy Woods

History of Judy Woods

Events in 2006 by Friends of Judy Woods Group


Following the various Acts of Enclosure in the 18th century land ownership was defined by boundaries of hedges or more substantial walls. © fojw copyright
A clay pipe, identified as made in Bradford in 1830, was found during wall rebuilding in Judy Woods © fojw copyright
This stump was prepared to aid ring counting. A last coppising date of 1810 was indicated. Beechtree bark was used in tannery dying and the wood used in extensive charcoal productionin the 17th and 18th century. © fojw copyright
Engine hauled mineral trackways were a feature of coal/iron mining within Bradford during the 18th century © copyright O.S. 1893
An illustration of the bloomery process of iron production in medieval times. 1) Coagulation of the reduced ore.2) Removeing the



   
   
Archaeology of Judy Woods
 Location: Bradford

ARCHAEOLOGY

Boundaries
Most of the walls within the woods date from the late 18th Century. At that time it was the practice for dry stone wallers to leave a token within a completed wall as recognition of their work. The sketch shows details of the decoration on a clay pipe bowl found during recent rebuilding work. The pipe was manufactured by a local pipe maker Joshua Denton of Westgate Street Bradford in the 1830' s. a date that coincides with the last Act of Enclosure for this area.

Beech Trees
Beech trees were introduced into northern managed woodlands during the 18th century as a cash crop


Recent evidence has confirmed that these trees were stripped of their bark to produce leather tanning dye and subsequently coppiced to produce charcoal for the local iron foundries.

The photograph illustrates the ring count as denoted using coloured pins. Evidence within the stump showing numerous crowns indicate coppicing was last undertaken at the indicated date. The age was determined as 192 years from the last coppicing stage to date of cut down in 2002 hence a date of 1810 was indicated, a date consistent with the local enclosure acts and deforestation by Low Moor Iron

Mineral Tramways
The earliest reference to coal mining comes from the will of John Colen of Norwood Green in 1590. In the 19th and early 20th centuries the area was dotted with pits working at depths from 25 to 130 meters. Coal and iron ore were moved along tramways by horse or stationary engines. The remains of such a line connecting Flathers Pit to the Low Moor Iron Works are still evident within the Woods

Medieval Iron Working
Wakefield Court Rolls provide evidence that forges operated within common woodland at Hipperholm and Rastrict either before or during the early 14th century. Two bloomery forges were in operation in the woods of Hipperholm in 1315. Bloomeries were small scale operations needing only clay, iron ore and timber for charcoal of which ample supplies were available in Judy Woods. Early bloomery furnaces produced a bloom of iron, a spongy mass of metal and slag that required further refining and forging as a secondary process.





 


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