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'''This was the site of Hanson's Foundry and Furnace. Gun trunnions were marked with a 'W'.''' [[File:0077-Cannon-proving-bank.jpg|350px|thumb|left|Cannon proving bank]]<br /div style="clear:both">Many cannon balls have been found at the foot of the bank by metal detectors. <br /> There was an older proving bank in a nearby wood.<br /> [[File:0078-Upstream-from-boring-mill.jpg|350px|thumb|left|Site of the Boring Mill upstream]]<div style="clear:both">There are 20 tons or so of iron borings in the stream at the Boring Mill site.<br /> In the photo: Douglas Anderson, wheelwright, and Peter Davies, retired civil servant and assistant to landowner Peter Reed.<br /> Mr Davies has a special interest in muzzle loading guns such as Brown Bess.<br />
[[File:0078-Upstream-from-boring-mill.jpg|350px|thumb|left|Site of the Boring Mill upstream]]
There are 20 tons or so of iron borings in the stream at the Boring Mill site. In the photo: Douglas Anderson, wheelwright, and Peter Davies, retired civil servant and assistant to landowner Peter Reed. Mr Davies has a special interest in muzzle loading guns such as Brown Bess.<br />
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Most landowners, particularly the Fullers, had interests in iron founding and they managed their woodland as coppice to produce the enormous amounts of charcoal needed for the blast furnaces. It has been estimated that between four and five thousand acres of coppice was needed to keep each forge and furnace combination in continuous use.<br />
== The Manufacture of Gunpowder ==
''''To understand guns you must understand gunpowder' - Adrian B. Caruana'''<br /> [[File:0079 Production of Gunpowder.jpeg|700px|left|]]<div style="clear:both"></div>
Sanitary arrangements were still primitive in the reign of Henry Vlll and latrines were dug out at night by dung farmers and scavengers, but in the reign of Elizabeth l they were superseded by officials dignified by the name of Royal Saltpetre Men, who collected excrement specifically for the making of gunpowder. This was manufactured using a formula of 75parts saltpetre, 15parts carbon (charcoal) and 10parts sulphur, or brimstone as it was once called. This last name is very evocative as the bright yellow sulphur was indeed collected in lumps from the brims of volcanoes in extremely hazardous conditions. The first two materials produced the explosion and the third added ignition and consistency to the grains of black powder which was milled to the size of corn, hence the name 'corned' powder, as opposed to fine powder. Fine powder was needed to prime the cannons and was also used for small arms.<br />
