Nostalgia: When smithy’s anvil was at the heart of every village

In an age of horse-drawn transport, the local farrier was as essential to the high street as the petrol filling station is today. But although it’s tempting to think of the smithy in medieval terms, these pictures demonstrate that the craft was being practiced on a fairly industrial scale well into the modern age.
By David Behrens
Published 25th Sep 2021, 06:00 BST
UNDER THE VILLAGE SYCAMORE TREE, In these days of progress and mechanisation, the horse is taking a back place. Where farms once used ten horses to till the land, they now use a tractor. Consequently in rural areas the blacksmith is becoming garage proprietor and not many of the old smithies remain. - Mr Foulger still manages to keep busy at his forge at Horstead in Norfolk, where in summer time he works under the shade of two sycamore trees, Horstead, Norfolk. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)UNDER THE VILLAGE SYCAMORE TREE, In these days of progress and mechanisation, the horse is taking a back place. Where farms once used ten horses to till the land, they now use a tractor. Consequently in rural areas the blacksmith is becoming garage proprietor and not many of the old smithies remain. - Mr Foulger still manages to keep busy at his forge at Horstead in Norfolk, where in summer time he works under the shade of two sycamore trees, Horstead, Norfolk. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
UNDER THE VILLAGE SYCAMORE TREE, In these days of progress and mechanisation, the horse is taking a back place. Where farms once used ten horses to till the land, they now use a tractor. Consequently in rural areas the blacksmith is becoming garage proprietor and not many of the old smithies remain. - Mr Foulger still manages to keep busy at his forge at Horstead in Norfolk, where in summer time he works under the shade of two sycamore trees, Horstead, Norfolk. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

While farriers specialised in the maintenance of horses’ hooves, the blacksmith was a general purpose toolmaker and very often a pillar of the community.

There had been blacksmiths in Britain since around 450BC and by the 13th century there was not a village in England without one.

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Even after the Industrial Revolution they remained part of the landscape, and during the 19th century, most of the more remote farms in Yorkshire’s East Riding had a smithy on site. It was considered better business sense than taking the horses to town.

1926: Blacksmiths at work at their smithy, which also has a petrol pump, at Wood Green. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)1926: Blacksmiths at work at their smithy, which also has a petrol pump, at Wood Green. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)
1926: Blacksmiths at work at their smithy, which also has a petrol pump, at Wood Green. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)

But the same acumen eventually brought mechanisation to the land and signalled the end of the equine era. By the end of the Second World War only a few local farriers remained.

Yet the fascination never went away, and there remain at least 600 traditional blacksmiths in the UK, shoeing horses turning out hand-made tools and crafts for discerning audiences.

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Related topics:NostalgiaYorkshireEnglandBritainEast Riding

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