White Wrought Iron

White Wrought Iron has been used in building from the earliest days of civilization. Its structural use dates back to the Middle Ages, when bars of wrought iron would be used occasionally to tie masonry arches and domes. The main concern with white wrought iron, however, will be in its application to gates and railings, frequently given an ornamental treatment by the blacksmith. There are wrought iron railings from the thirteenth century, which, in essence display all the characteristics, which we have come to know as - 'White Wrought Ironwork', although lacking modern refinements such as symmetry and simplicity of line. The great age of white ironwork, known as the English style began at the end of the seventeenth century.

Production of White Wrought Iron
The first step in the making of wrought iron to heat charcoal. This heat is sufficient for the charcoal to reduce the iron oxide to iron, but not to melt it. As a result the silicate slag's is included, not refined away as it is done today, but entrained in the fibrous structure of the material. This is the reason for which, the old irons lasted for hundreds of years. Iron may corrode, but not its coating of silicate slag's. However little survives because wrought iron may be repeatedly recycled and benefits from reworking. Scraps are bundled, heated until they glowed white hot, and forged again by hammering into a solid mass to produce an iron of a higher quality.