Wortley Top Forge

Wortley Top Forge is an historic former finery forge and ironworks originally dating back to the seventeenth century, although evidence suggests iron working took place in the vicinity as early as the fourteenth century. It is situated in the metropolitan borough of Barnsley, in South Yorkshire, England, on a loop of the River Don near to the village of Wortley.

The Top Forge was always closely related to Wortley Low Forge, a short distance . One of the forges was probably built about 1639 (possibly both of them) and certainly existed by 1641, from which time the Iron-masters at Wortley were Thomas Cotton, and his son William Cotton (1627–1674); the latter being the father of Thomas Cotton (Dissenting minister). Cannonballs are said to have been made here during the English Civil War. After that the finery forges usually belonged to a network of ironmasters led by members of the Spencer family of Cannon Hall, Cawthorne, but not between 1676 and 1690, when they were rented by other ironmasters. The two forges were always leased together with a blast furnace, Nether Bank Furnace until the latter's closure probably about 1780, all of them being rented from the Wortley family.

In 1744, the forge was let to John Cockshutt (died 1774), who ran it with a partner. He also had a 'tinmill'. He was followed by his son, another John, who was succeeded by his brother James about 1800. James had worked at Merthyr Tydfil as a partner of William Crawshay in the Cyfarthfa Ironworks and when he returned to Wortley in 1791 after the dissolution of their partnership, he introduced puddling to Wortley, the tinmill probably being altered to roll blooms into bars of iron. After James' death in 1820, the works passed to relatives and then through various hands, coming into the hands of Thomas Andrews in 1849. On his death in 1871 he was followed by his son another Thomas Andrews, who died in 1907.

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