I have been looking at the accounts of an 18^th century ironworks recently and in particular at those who were buying bar iron.  It occurs to me to ask how much a blacksmith, using decent bar iron would be able to forge into useful artefacts (such as hinges or horseshoes) in a year.  I see little reason why this should have changed between the 18^th century and now.  I am talking about manual blacksmith’s work without the aid of a trip hammer, or any other device relying on power from a water wheel, steam engine or the like.  However the iron would be available in bars of various sizes down to one inch by half or three-quarters of an inch square. 

I fully appreciate that part of the work of a typical village blacksmith would be shoeing horses, which would mean that he would not be working iron all the time.  There are people listed in the accounts who were buying half a ton, one ton or 1.5 tons per year, but have no addresses or occupations at present.  Is this the sort of amount that a smith would use in a year? There were also people who were buying considerably greater quantities, and they must be ironmongers or master smiths with a number of employees. 

Peter King

49, Stourbridge Road,

Hagley

Stourbridge

West Midlands

DY9 0QS

Telephone 01562-720368