So I just posted a fresh podcast on the Iron industry in the Weald of Kent in the 16th century. It’s an area I’m interested in, as I explain in the podcast, because one of the things that I really find most fascinating about the 16th century is the movement from an agrarian medieval society to one that is heading towards becoming modern. Several things happened to bring this on – the execution of an anointed Queen, the break with Rome, society beginning to question the whole reasoning behind Divine Right. Of course this would be upped a lot with the Enlightenment, but it was already starting in the 16th century. And one way England was becoming more modern was with this teeny tiny Industrial Revolution that was starting in the Weald. By the end of the 16th Century there would be over 100 furnaces and factories creating cannon, weaponry, and household items like wrought iron fencing.
Learn more, listen, and read the show notes here:
https://www.englandcast.com/show-notes/show-notes-the-iron-industry-of-the-weald/