One of the most famous iron-masters of England was Ralph Hogge of Buxted who cast the first English iron cannon at Buxted in 1543. He was assisted by Peter Baude, a French brass-gunfounder of Houndsditch. The name Hogge is assumed to be the same as Huggett in the local couplet:
| "Master Huggett and his man John They did cast the first cannon." |
Ralph Hogge probably had several foundries in the neighbourhood and in 1581 he built the Hogge House, Buxted, recording his name and the date in the form of a cast-iron rebus over the door.
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