Blacksmith's workshop, Mayfield

Move your pointing device over the image to zoom to detail. If using a mouse click on the image to toggle zoom.
When in zoom mode use + or - keys to adjust level of image zoom.

Date:1974

Description:This smithy at 22 Wallash, Mayfield belonged to the Woodward family from 1805 and worked until Charles Woodward retired in 1965. Many of these tools were made by Mr Woodward and his father. It was collected and recorded by Staffordshire County Museum in 1974 and has been reconstructed at Shugborough Park Farm.

Charles Woodward was born in 1889 and lived all his life next to the smithy at 22 Wallash in Mayfield. When he died in 1974 the smithy and his living room were collected by the Staffordshire County Museum and moved to Shugborough.
He was a bachelor and a deeply religious man - he never worked on Sunday. His working day began at 6 in the morning and finished at 5.30 in the afternoon. In his spare time he read his Bible, bred pigeons and tended his garden.

Mr Woodward was one of the few blacksmiths to keep working after the 1940s, when tractors and factory made tools and machines made the blacksmith's skills obsolete.
He kept working by doing general ironwork in the village; making tools, kitchen equipment, hinges and so on. He made most of the ironwork for the local sewage works and regularly repaired looms at Bond's textile mills in Alrewas.

Share:


Ordering:Click the button to add the item to your basket. Follow the link for further information on ordering.

Donor ref:Neg.37.74 (37/14500)

Source: Staffordshire Museum Service

Copyright information: Copyrights to all resources are retained by the individual rights holders. They have kindly made their collections available for non-commercial private study & educational use. Re-distribution of resources in any form is only permitted subject to strict adherence to the usage guidelines.