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The Ilfracombe Iron Ore Bells

Discovery, Smelting, Casting and Provenance

by

Paul A.C. Richards, Nigel Burch and Craig Sheehan

Iron Ore Deposits - Ilfracombe

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The Ilfracombe Iron Ore Bell

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Four companies built blast furnaces around Beaconsfield in the 1870s to exploit the hematite deposits of the West Tamar. Of these, only images of the British and Tasmanian Charcoal Iron Co have been located. They date from 1876 and show the smelting works and town at today’s Beauty Point.

First published October 2020 as an ebook by Tablo Publishing

© Paul A.C. Richards, Nigel Burch and Craig Sheehan

Typeset in Times New Roman

Book designed by Paul A.C. Richards

All rights reserved. Apart from use permitted under the Copyright Act of 1968 and its amendments, no part may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means whatsoever without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

National Library of Australia

Cataloguing-in-Publication Entry

ISBN

Educational / History

1-Paul A.C. Richards AM, 2-Nigel Burch, 3- Craig Sheehan

Cover: Ilfracombe blast furnace - Ilfracombe Farm, Beaconsfield

Source: Paul A.C. Private collection

Contents Foreword

Introduction

Preface

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1 The Discovery of Hematite at Ilfracombe & Mt Vulcan, West Tamar

Chapter 2 The History of Blast Furnaces

Chapter 3 Establishment of the Ilfracombe Iron Company

Chapter 4 Quality of Iron Ore and Smelting Foundries

Chapter 5 Casting of the Ilfracombe Bells

Chapter 6 Melbourne, London and Vienna Exhibition 1873

Chapter 7 Provenance of the Ilfracombe Bells

Chapter 8 Re-casting an Ilfracombe Iron Bell 2017 About

About the Authors

Design and Pattern Making

The Ilfracombe Iron Ore Bell

Enrico Rossi – Pattern Maker

Foreword

This book documents the discovery of hematite by Lt Col. William Paterson in 1805 on Anderson’s Creek, near Beaconsfield, and follows the development of the extraction and smelting of iron ore in the West Tamar district.

Although the discovery received great attention at the time it took 67 years before the ore lode was extracted and smelted in both Tasmania and Victoria.

The quality of the iron was of such a high standard that two bells were cast in Melbourne and were immediately displayed, the smaller of the bells at the Victorian Exhibition held in Melbourne in 1872 and the larger bell was exhibited for a short time in London before going on display at the Vienna Exhibition of 1873.

The provenance of these bells and their fate over the next 150 years is the major focus of this book.

I wish to congratulate the book’s authors Paul A.C. Richards, Nigel Burch and Craig Sheehan for the very high standard of research undertaken by them that has resulted in this excellent publication that so accurately documents the rich history of the mining industry in the West Tamar Municipality.

I am pleased that the West Tamar Council Community Grant has allowed for a facsimile of the “Vienna Bell” to be cast in Launceston and then go on display at the Beaconsfield Mine and Heritage Centre.

Christina Holmdahl

Mayor

Sketch of the Ilfracombe iron ore bell in the Victorian Court, Vienna Exhibition 1873

Introduction

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The first iron ore (Hematite) was discovered by Lt-Governor William Paterson on the West Tamar near Brandy Creek (Beaconsfield). The principal iron-bearing country near Beaconsfield is situated on two arms of the Tamar known as West Arm and Middle Arm. It was at West Arm that Captain Matthew Flinders and Surgeon George Bass first landed in 1798. In 1805, soon after the first settlement of Europeans at York Town, deposits of iron ore were discovered on Anderson’s Creek, which flows into the West Arm.

This discovery attracted great attention, and Paterson sent samples of the remarkable ore to Sir Joseph Banks. In 1807 Paterson sent a bag of about 50 kilos by HMS Buffalo to Portsmouth in England where it was smelted and found to contain 72% iron. The pig iron produced was found to be equal to the best available in the world.

Surveyor-General George William Evans, writing in reference to hematite in 1822, said:

“Within a few miles of Launceston there is a most surprising abundance of iron. Literally there are entire mountains of this ore, which is so remarkably rich that it has been found to yield 70 per cent of pure metal.”

It took 67 years before the ore lode was extracted and smelted in both Tasmania and Victoria in 1872.

The Drysdale and Fraser Foundry of King Street in Melbourne had a successful smelting of this ore, followed by the casting of two iron bells and several cannon balls. The provenance of the two bells made from Ilfracombe iron ore (Ilfracombe is the original name of Beauty Point) is the subject of this book.

The first and largest bell stood 18 inches high, with a 24 inch base. It was shipped off to the Vienna World’s Fair in February 1873. The second smaller bell was placed on display at the Melbourne International Exhibition 1872.

The story now begins as we trace the fate of these two bells over almost 150 years.

Preface

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The making of a bell cast in iron and its subsequent ring tone is a testament to the quality and purity of the ore in question and so it was for the iron ore lode mined by the Ilfracombe Iron Company near Beaconsfield, Tasmania in 1872. Analysis at the time found the hematite was between 55-65% pure iron.

This book reviews the discovery and consequent mining and smelting of the hematite iron ore lode at Ilfracombe, near Beaconsfield on the West Tamar in Tasmania 67 years after its discovery during the settlement of York Town c1805 by Col. Paterson.

The high grade testing of the ore led to the casting of two bells in Victoria. The smaller bell was exhibited at the Victorian Exhibition held in Melbourne in 1872. The larger bell was cast following the recommendation of the commissioners to the London and Vienna International Exhibitions, who were so impressed with the smaller Ilfracombe iron ore bell. The larger bell was exhibited in London and Vienna in 1873.

The provenance of these two bells is explored as they demonstrate the quality of Ilfracombe iron ore on the lower reaches of the Tamar River near Beaconsfield, Tasmania.

Acknowledgments

We acknowledge the cooperation of several institutions who made through searches of their records for any information associated with the Ilfracombe Iron Company and the provenance of the two bells cast in Victoria and exhibited at the Melbourne International Exhibition 1872/3 and the London and Vienna International Exhibitions in 1873: the Royal Historical Society of Victoria, The State Library of Victoria and the Public Records Office of Victoria. The Austrian State Archives, Techinal Museum, Vienna, Gießerei Grassmayr, Innsbruck and the Austrian State Library.

We are indebted to the West Tamar Council for accepting our application and granting us funding to undertake the project of casting an iron bell of the same proportions and shape of the bell exhibited in the London and Vienna Exhibition in 1873 by the Ilfracombe Iron Company. We thank the metallurgists from TEMCO, artisans Rynne Tanton and David Hamilton for their advice, but in particular to Peter McLinden and his patternmakers Enrico Rossi, Gene McLaren and Leigh Thomas from Castings Tasmania Pty Ltd who not only supported the project but cast the bell and marquette in the image of the Ilfracombe iron bell cast in 1872 and sent to the Vienna Exhibition of 1873. The design and manufacture of the tripod to hang the bell by Heath Wilson from Blue Engineering & Maintenance in Beaconsfield was very much appreciated allowing the bell to be gifted and displayed at the Beaconsfield Heritage Museum.