slag hearthn.
/ˈslaɡ ˌhɑːθ/, U.S. /ˈslæɡ ˌhɑrθ/ Now chiefly historical.
A furnace for resmelting slag produced in the initial smelting of lead ore, in order to extract more metal. Cf. slag lead n.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > furnace or kiln > furnace > [noun] > furnaces for melting or refining metals > for roasting or calcining ores > for lead ore > for treating slag products of
slag hearth1584
1584 C. Avenant in W. Page Victoria Hist. County of Somerset (1911) II. 373/1 They cannot melt the said smetham..at their turneharthes aforesaid, but by another harth called a slageharthe.
1730 Information for R. Wightman 4 There remained several Heaps of Wastes upon the Hill, and Slags at the Mill, which are not smelted, the Earl not having a Slag-hearth.
1952 T. Armstrong Adam Brunskill iii. 76 He passed many buildings..until he reached the impressively-sized North Smelt Mill, with its ore hearths, slag hearths and furnaces.
2004 Derbyshire Archaeol. Jrnl. 124 132 The stream would have been a good source of water for washing slags if this was a slag hearth.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2020; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1584