Blacksmiths became expert at making all sorts of small items out of this kind of iron. Wrought iron is made in a forge. Large wooden handles would have been inserted into the square holes and ropes were wound around the lower curved part of the capstan. Cast iron is very different to wrought iron. Because it starts off as a liquid it could be moulded into lots of different shapes such as cooking pots or gravestones.
Cast iron is produced in a foundry.
A wrought iron hook from a shipwreck in Swansea Bay. Small items such as this were made in great numbers by skilled blacksmiths throughout South Wales but particularly wherever there was a shipbuilding industry. Steel is a variety of iron that has been changed by adding amounts of carbon and other elements. Steel is a much more modern material than wrought or cast iron. It was invented in the 1850s.