BLACKSMITHS

For around six thousand years man has been heating and shaping metal;  it is known that the skills were practised in the Iron Age when it was discovered that some mineral rocks would become malleable when exposed to heat and then solidify when cold. Many early forges were associated with monasteries, castles and manors.

Throughout the medieval period, the blacksmith's craft was one of seven mechanical arts. In medieval society, the blacksmith had a pivotal role as a highly valued and skilled artisan. They provided necessary equipment for agriculture, construction, and warfare. With their metalworking expertise, blacksmiths contributed to the growth and development of medieval civilizations. It was during the Renaissance period that significant advancements in blacksmithing occurred. Blacksmiths developed new forging methods and invented and utilised specialised tools. This era marked a turning point for the craft.

The colour of the metal during the forging process was an important indicator of its temperature and malleability, and part of the skill of a blacksmith was to know when it was ready to be shaped. Through their skilled craftsmanship blacksmiths have not only shaped metals but also shaped communities.

St Clements was the patron Saint of Blacksmiths and the day is celebrated on 23 November each year. There is the traditional firing of the anvil where gunpowder is placed in the punching hole and lit.  Some communities  celebrated what they called Old Clem Day.

Contrary to the myths and legends, few blacksmiths performed a marriage ceremony, but those in Gretna Green, Scotland were kept busy between 1753 and c1895. Hardwicke’s Marriage Act forced those who did not want to marry in church to go to the toll bar areas on the Scottish/English border to be married by one of the village blacksmiths at Gretna Green. After 1895 marriages fell in with Scottish marriage laws.

The Institute of Heraldic & Genealogical Studies hold a database of Gretna Blacksmith Shop marriages from 1795 to 1895 and include around 4,500 names from all over the country.

Victorian blacksmiths were essential to the community because they made everything from horseshoes to nails and also made or repaired many household tools and farm implements. The forge would have been in operation for the full day. Until the eighteenth century charcoal was frequently used charcoal as fuel but with advances in coal mining, coke became a more popular fuel because it retained its heat for longer periods.

The roles of the blacksmith and farrier complemented each other and sometimes were totally interchangeable. In many cases the blacksmith also acted as farrier but it did not always work the other way. Because of their position within the community, blacksmiths often held prominent public offices such as overseer or churchwarden. They also had to have literacy and numeracy skills and a degree of business acumen.

The rapid industrialisation during the Victorian era meant that blacksmiths became less important; this forced village and town smithies to specialise. However, towards the end of the nineteenth century, specialist firms began to  manufacture agricultural tools and machinery. This meant that the blacksmith was usually involved in purely repair work on domestic and farm items. So they changed their trade and began to make ornamental iron work for gates, railings, balconies and so on, but many blacksmiths still retained their farrier wrok.  Other blacksmiths moved into industry or the railways for work.

Traditionally the skills of the blacksmith were passed from generation to generation and many young men learnt their trade as apprentices to their father or other family members. Many blacksmiths also followed assicated skilled crafts such as wheelwright, armourer, clockmaker, innkeeper or whitesmith. It was not unusual to find a forge associated with the local hostelry.

Most forges were centrally located in a village and so they soon became regular meeting places - social gatherings were not unusual. For the farming community it was the best place to exchange gossip and news..

The number of people involved in the blacksmith craft is indicated by the census returns:

• 1841 – 110,000
• 1851 – 144,000
• 1861 – 197,000
• 1871 – 203,000
• 1881 – 199,600
• 1891 – 121,000
• 1901 – 102,000

Both blacksmithing and farriery were highly skilled jobs requiring apprenticeships. Although most forges were located at the centre of the village, some large landed estates also had their own blacksmith's shop. Chestnut trees were grown near to the smithy to provide dense shade cover in hot weather.

As the need for the rural blacksmith declined, many became associated with jobs such as motor engineers or agricultural engineers. Some even went into the military or navy as blacksmiths or farriers. Many could not survive on the income from smithing or farriery so combined it with other craft occupations such as wheelwrights etc.

Most blacksmiths and farriers worked a twelve-hour day usually beginning around 6am in the morning. Like other rural crafts there was no set retirement age so many worked at the forge until their death or were unable to do so because of age-related disabilities. Most blacksmiths and farriers were not wealthy because often the rural economy necessitated bartering. Payment in return for other goods was common. Prices were normally consistent from village to village in the surrounding locality.

The craft of blacksmithing involved several processes:

FORGING - the process of shaping the metal in heat. The forge was the centre of the activity within the blacksmith's shop.

UPSETTING – the process of thickening the metal by increasing, tapering or decreasing the shape. Usually undertaken by the striker or hammerman.

SHRINKING – the process of drawing to make the metal curve as in making a bowl or bucket.

BENDING – the process of looping the metal as in chain links, hooks etc.

PUNCHING – the process of making a hole or a depression in an object.

FINISHING – the processes used to prevent oxidisation – blueing, waxing, oiling, painting etc.

Essentially the farrier was the shoeing smith so also worked at a forge whilst making the horseshoes. The other role that a farrier had was that of the horse doctor.

During the nineteenth century the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons was formed and in 1881 farriers were relieved of their responsibility as a horse doctor because that role was taken on by the vets. However, they still had the knowledge and frequently used it when diagnosing problems with horses particularly as they were shoeing and dealing with lameness. Their knowledge of the horses' anatomy was invaluable.

Many farriers joined the military in the First World War or were engaged in remotely making horseshoes at home to send to the battle fronts.

In many communities the farrier was still undertaking his uual work, checking the horses' legs, feet and hooves and cutting away excess hoof growth.. Farriers would also measure and make the shoes by hand or machine; they would fit and adjust the shoes and often worked with veterinary surgeons to provide surgical farriery.

The Worshipful Company of Farriers was a separate organisation from the that of the blacksmiths' company. Although farriers have been in existence since Roman times, the company was formed in 1356 and was granted a Royal Charter in 1674. Records of the company exist from the time of the charter and the register of farriers commenced in 1887 after the incorporation of examinations in the art of making shoes. The records of the company are also held by the City of London Joint Archive Service. Like the blacksmiths, the farrier apprentices served from all over the country.

The army, particularly the Cavalry, had amongst its personnel both blacksmiths and farriers who held non-commissioned ranks. Within the seventy-five cavalry regiments in the mid-Victorian period, there were over 230,000 horses.

Farriers provided medical and shoeing facilities until the Royal Army Veterinary Corp was established after which the farriers became shoeing smiths. The importance attached to military farriery resulted in the Army School of Farriery, now at Melton Mowbray, being established during World War Two.

Farrier personnel records are included in the army service records held at The National Archives in Kew.

Naval blacksmiths worked closely with shipwrights and made all metal items for ships including cannons, anchors, chains, and stoves. Most were based in the naval dockyards where the specialist forges and workshops called smitheries were based, however, blacksmiths were also amongst crew members of ships.

Within the Royal Navy there was a ranking hierarchy although all were ratings:

• Chief Blacksmith
• Blacksmith 1st class
• Blacksmith 2nd class
• Blacksmith 3rd class
• Blacksmith 4th class
• Artisan 5th class

Service records of Royal Navy blacksmiths can be found within the usual record sources at The National Archives, mostly amongst the ratings' records. Some naval blacksmiths were in the volunteer divisions like the Royal Naval reserve or Roal Naval Volunteer Reserve, so different series records need to be researched.

Colliery blacksmiths fulfilled a very important role ensuring the smooth running of the colliery. Their tasks included sharpening miners' picks, making and mending all kinds of tools, including many designed by the blacksmiths themselves for a specific operation. Blacksmiths worked exclusively on the surface as their job meant heating metals and this was a dangerous task if done underground with gas likely to cause explosions.

Railway blacksmiths were employed by railway companies usually at works and depots. They were an integral part of the engineering labour force. Some were attached to stations and lived in railway cottages with their forge adjacent. Service records are normally within company staff records at The National Archives.

Within railway works there were two very distinctive jobs that of blacksmith or striker. The striker made up the fires within the forges, hammered the metals as the blacksmith shaped them.

Apprentices were involved in simple setting and bending, making bolts, eye-rings etc. Railway apprenticeships began at aged sixteen and lasted for five years at which point they became “improvers”. Most who completed their apprenticeships stayed for a lifetime within the industry, some later becoming foundry or forge men because modern techniques and machinery replaced traditional methods.

Railway blacksmiths made components for both railway locomotives and rolling stock such as bogies, couplers, chains, vacuum brake systems, boiler components and wrapper plates. In many situations the blacksmiths moved from rural areas to the railway towns.  For example, in 1851 Swindon railway works employed 156 blacksmiths and even by 1880 the Shildon Railway Works employed sixty-seven blacksmiths or strikers.

Many other industries employed blacksmiths including private companies such as Cadbury, Rowntree and Port Sunlight. Mills, shipbuilders, dockyards, brickworks, quarries, landed estates, gas and coke works, omnibus companies, fire brigades, hospitals, houses of correction and workhouses also emaployed blacksmiths. The omnibus companies also employed farriers as they owned and use hundreds of horses which would have need regular shoeing.