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Jaime
Kaminski
Sussex Archaeological Society
Barbican House
169 High Street
Lewes
BN8 1YE
with contributions by
Phil Andrews
Rowena Gale
Pat Hinton
Emma Loader
Lorraine Mepham
Excavations by Wessex Archaeology in advance of redevelopment of land off London Road in Crawley revealed considerable evidence for late medieval ironworking on the northern edge of the town. This included substantial deposits of smelting and forging slag, several ironworking hearths and a sequence of associated clay floors. Sufficient evidence was recovered to suggest a variety of ironworking processes including ore roasting, smelting and forging/smithing took place either on, or in close proximity to, the site. Of particular interest were the remains of a structure, probably a smithy, in one of the properties on the London Road frontage. Archaeomagnetic dating indicates that the main period of ironworking was during the late 14th and early 15th centuries, a date broadly supported by the small quantity of pottery recovered. A series of regular field boundaries to the west of the street frontage appeared to represent a planned medieval field system, probably established in the 13th century. Post-medieval activity, not associated with ironworking, was represented by the remains of a 17th-century building and well, and three 19th-century buildings.