The blowing house method of smelting tin was probably introduced early in the 14th century to replace the earliest method of smelting which had to be done in two stages – a first smelting probably took place near to the tinworks and the roughly smelted metal was taken to a stannary town to be smelted again to produce the final refined product.
The method of smelting tin by blowing air into it was probably introduced in the early 14th century to replace an earlier method that required two stages – a first smelting near the tinworks and then transporting the roughly smelted metal to a stannary town for further refining.