Exterior

Adjacent to Forge cottage, at N.

Smithy believed to have been set up by Dick Williams (1854-1930) in c.1875, and used for the Stackpole Estate. Several of his sons followed in the same trade and may have been apprenticed to their father here. One set up a smithy at Cheriton.

Description: Large single-room smithy built at N of Forge Cottage. Two blacksmith's hearths sharing a W gable chimney. Partially rough-cast rendered externally together with the house, but plain rubble masonry at far side and rear. Four-bay slate covered roof with ridge-vents. Short brick chimney. Trusses with tiebeams and collar beams. Small windows at N and E only, with workbenches at sills. Cobbled floor. Large entrance doorway, originally open, at SE corner facing the house.

The hearth at the N of the two appears to be the earlier. It is complete with bellows and tuyere, but the supporting frame for the bellows is missing. The hearth at the S is set at an angle and has an extraordinary brick arched flue into the chimney. Elm-block set in the floor for a (missing) anvil, at left. Bellows with tuyere at rear, the supporting frame broken. Broken stone bosh at right. Both hearths are still full of breeze. Bars and racks for tools on the walls.

A circular cast-iron plate with a central hole, for supporting wheels for banding, lies in the garden in front of the house.

Listed as a good example of a village smithy with two nearly complete hearths.

References: Local information (Mr and Mrs Nicholas)
Rev. J H Richards, St Twvnnells Parish Registers Index (1992)

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Wikidata Q29495540

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Sussex: East with Brighton and Hove (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Somerset: North and Bristol: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The Victorian House Manual (2nd Edition): How They Were Built, Improvements & Refurbishment, Solutions to All Common Defects - Includes Relevant ... ... Properties (Haynes Manual) (Haynes Manuals)
• 
  Kent: West and the Weald: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings