William Bowen

London ironmonger who ran a foundry at Marigold Stairs, Southwark, for nearly twenty years before buying the freehold of Woolcoombs Farm, Cowden, in 1741 and reviving Cowden furnace. He also worked Barden furnace, near Bidborough, and supplied cast-iron ordnance to the Board of Ordnance from both through the 1750s and 1760s, rated by John Fuller as 'the best Molder among us'. Bowen was among the very few Wealden gunfounders still able to supply the Board after the Carron Company's 1764 price cut, and also cast in bronze. He died in 1771, described as 'of Tonbridge', and is the last known owner of the Cowden site.

Mines operated

Record created: 26 August 2026 · Last researched: 26 August 2026