By definition the wheelwright was a craftsman who made or repaired wooden wheels. Clearly the term wheelwright is a combination of two words - wheel and wright. The name corresponds with skilful metalworkers known as smiths - tinsmiths, goldsmiths etc. They made wheels for carts, wagons, traps and coaches. As a sideline they also made the wheels, and often the frames, for spinning wheels for home use.
The method of constructing a wheel followed age-old traditional skills which were subject to variation depending upon what the wheel was to be used for. Wheels were made from the centre outwards, so the first part made was the nave or hub. Next the spokes and then the felloes (the curved outer rims) were made; the wheel was then assembled, working from the nave to the rim of the wheel.
Wheel components were made from different woods; oak, ash, beech and elm were the most common. The reason for using different woods was because woods had different qualities. Other materials including bone or horn were added mainly as decorative embellishments. On some waggons, particularly those to be used on rough farm terrain, iron strakes were fitted; this entailed nailing iron plates onto the felloes to protect against wear on the ground and to help bind the wheel together. In these cases the wheels were usually wider than normal. Within the trade this process was undertaken with less knowledge and equipment thus making a wheel easier to service and repair without the need for a blacksmith. Most wheels required the hooped iron tyres to be fitted by the blacksmith.
Over time wheel styles did not really alter although changes to the design, such as dishing and staggered spokes, resulted in improving the strength of the wheel at the same time as reducing its weight, so vehicles became more efficient to build and lighter to handle.
During the industrial revolution the use of iron strakes declined and were replaced by a solid iron tyre, custom-made by a blacksmith. Iron tyres were made slightly smaller than the circumference of the wheel. The tyres were then heated in a fire causing the metal tyres to expand, and while hot they were hammered and levered onto the rim of the wooden wheel. When in place the wheel was supercooled in a tub of water; this compressed the tyre to the wheel, closing the wooden joints and providing a tight fit. Tyres could then be fastened to the wheels with nails, or tyre bolts if necessary.
When the wheel was complete it had to be boxed. The centre of the nave was hollowed out and a cast-iron box inserted and fixed in order to house the axle arm. It was a punishable offence under the regulations of the Worshipful Company of Wheelwrights to sell wheels before they had been boxed.
During the latter part of the nineteenth century, mass production of wheel parts became increasingly common. Rubber tyres tended to replace iron-hooped tyres and in the early Edwardian period, many wheels were mass-produced thus leading to the decline of the traditional village wheelwright - and this fate was sealed by the advent of the First World War. Wheels for horse-drawn vehicles continue to be constructed by hand and repaired for use on vehicles for farming competitions and presentations of living history events or re-enactments. The huge regional variations of English farm waggons and carts is a testimony to the skill of the village wheelwrights.
