Slitting mill
The slitting mill was a water-powered plant that turned iron bars into rods for nails. It probably began near Liège in what is now Belgium. England’s first slitting mill was built at Dartford, Kent in 1590, followed by one near Rugeley at a place called Stonehouse (later known as Slitting Mill) around 1611, and Hyde Mill in Kinver in 1627. Many more sprang up wherever iron was made, with a notable cluster on the River Stour between Stourbridge and Stourport to slit iron before it reached the nail-makers in the Black Country.
A slitting mill has two pairs of rollers driven by water wheels. Mill bars were flat and about three inches wide and half an inch thick. A piece was first cut from the end of the bar with a tool powered by a water wheel and heated in a furnace. The heated piece went between the first rollers to form a thick plate, then through the second rollers (the cutters), which had grooves that cut the plate lengthways into rods.
A famous legend says Richard Foley of Stourbridge learned the method in Sweden and brought it back to England, but the story is probably more folklore than fact. Early versions place Foley in different countries, and the exact origin remains uncertain. What is clear is that slitting mills were established in England in the 17th century, and accounts from the mid-18th century describe the process as it was done.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 08:54 (CET).