The first proprietor of the furnaces was Francis Hurt of Alderwasley in the Derwent valley. He took over the family lead merchanting business and branched out into iron making.

The furnaces are square in plan and built in the form of truncated pyramids, made of gritstone. The first dates from 1780 and the second 1818. Both are roughly 40ft high. The first backs onto the cliff and can no longer be entered. The inside of the second is like a bottle-shaped kiln. The metal went in at the top. They were last worked in 1874.

The furnaces stand on private property but can be seen from a public footpath that leads off the minor road that goes to Iron Works Farm. This road passes under the A38.