A Brief History of Charcoal Making
Charcoal has been with us since prehistoric days. There is evidence in the Severn Valley, England of Iron workings before the Roman occupation. In the Middle Ages it was used extensively for domestic purposes such as a cooking and heating especially by the wealthy, but it was used most of all in the metallurgical industries.
In the South Yorkshire region of England, around Sheffield, records indicate that the preparation of charcoal for use as the fuel for iron smelting, was the oldest recorded woodland industry in the area.
A deed dated 1161, by Richard de Busli, the lord of the manor of Kimberworth, granted the right to Kirsktead Abbey in Lincolnshire to mine, smelt and forge iron in Kimberworth.
Busli specifically gave the monks permission to collect dead wood in Kimberworth to fuel their smelting heaths. The wood would not have been used in the form that it was collected but would have been converted into charcoal first. A list of the Earl of Shrewsbury's woods in the Sheffield area that was written sometime between 1598-1616, explicitly states that they were woods belonging to the Earl's forges, suggesting that their most important product was charcoal. Forty-three woods are listed in the manors of Sheffield, Ecclesfield, Handsworth, Tankersley, Kimberworth, Rotherham, Whiston and Treeton and a number of them are stated to be 'coalable'.
Records also show that there was such a great demand for charcoal that large areas of woodland where threatened with deforestation. There were attempts as far back as 1217 to control woodland exploitation as in the Forest Charter that levied a 2d per year charge on carts removing wood or charcoal from Royal Forests - this of course would also have the effect of raising revenue for the Crown!
There exist several records of court cases brought for infringement of these forest restrictions. These were for such heinous crimes as 'charcoal burning without license' in Needlewood Forest Staffs, 1255AD or "destroying the Kings vert in the making of coals and selling them by the sack to the great destruction of all the covert" as done by one Thomas Parker in Epping Forest in 1498!
A 1282 estimate suggests that there were as many as 900 charcoal burners working in the Forest of Dean in 4 different woods alone. By the 16th Century, the demand for Charcoal had risen to enormous proportions, especially for the production of wrought iron. This became even greater after it was discovered that cannon balls could be "cast" in a single mould. Again there was concern regarding the woodland resources making further Acts of Parliament necessary. They were passed to safeguard the maintenance of woodlands some of the regulations prohibited the making of charcoal from mature wood - "coppice" must be used. 'Charring' was prohibited within 18 miles of London or 8 miles of the Thames.
It was only after Abraham Darby succeeded in making a satisfactory 'coke' from pit-coal in 1735, that a plentiful alternative to charcoal became available. This discovery signaled the start of the demise of charcoal production although it took a further 200 years to virtually die out. Coke produced a more efficient heat source to melt the metal ores.
However, it has been said that the foundations of Britain's vast industrial wealth, and thereby the Industrial Revolution, were actually laid, by the grimy charcoal burners of the woods. For without them there, would not have been the fuel to make any thing in the first place!
Today there is resurgence in the UK production of charcoal for the domestic market. There is small but steadily increasing demand for British Charcoal for use with barbecues. British charcoal is generally of a far higher quality than imported charcoal; it is lighter and more porous. This results in it lighting easily therefore quicker barbecues.
Environmentally, local charcoal is a better buy because it is reducing transportation effect/costs as well as helping local woodlands being used & managed effectively.
