The Village Blacksmith

The Hall family have lived in Itteringham for generations and for over a hundred years had the smithy in the centre of the village. The Old Forge House is still there but long since a private house. The site is not the original smithy - an occupational hazard means that there were at least three sites over the last 400 years as earlier ones were moved or burnt down!

Peter Hall was the last Itteringham blacksmith. He appears as an older man in the picture of the Choir to the right of the Rector but as a younger man he was tall and strong, with black hair. Smithy work was hard and made men tough - when a carthorse had stepped on his toe and made it septic, Peter chopped it off with his own hot chisel! The family still has the account book he kept of the work the forge undertook for the locals. It’s a wonderful glimpse into the noise and heat of the smithy with the number of horses (and donkeys!) shoed and an enormous quantity of farm tools and vehicles needing mending or replacing. The volume covers the period 1893 to the second world was, although by this time very little work is recorded. The golden age of the traditional smithy was over and the accounts are the last vestige of his world.

Most of the entries are for agricultural items : muck croombes [long rake-like tools], coulters [the iron cutter at front of a plough], howe [hoe], harrows, varrell [?virole, an iron band or ferrule], ringles, essle parts, trumbell wheels, swavells [?swivles - horse-harness couplings], brads and hempeltries [hample trees- the bars on the plough], sythes and scimmers - a wonderful list of Norfolk words and spellings of metal tools and fittings. Grassing-dog appears frequently but fortunately also as greasen dog and greasing dog! Perhaps the most painful sounding entry is “woolf teeth taken out.” (See explanation below.)

Given the position of Itteringham between the two big estates of Blickling and Wolterton, it is not surprising that accounts for both the Earl of Orford (the Walpoles) and the Marquis of Lothian (later the Blicking estate) appear. However the horses must have been shoed elsewhere as most of the items are for ironware such as window catches, gate latches, chimney bars, both for the Halls and the estate farms and cottages. This would have been a useful source of income as horse-shoeing started to decline.

Minor work at Blickling Mill is also noted in 1897 and 1924 and at Itteringham mill 1903,1916-1918 and 1932. Lord Orford’s keepers were also kept busy with repairs to the “shoting cart” and rabbit traps.

The accounts remind us of the cold winters men and horses had to endure - the warmth of the forge must be have very welcome in the months of December, January and February when the horses were brought in for “frost-nailing”, to give them extra grip on the snow and ice. This was quite common in the first years but after around 1909 seems to happen less frequently (although some entries appear up to the 20’s including “frost cogs”). Was it less cold or were there other ways of working?

And of course everyone repaired their goods -- nothing was wasted. Mr [Walter Henry] Seely who farmed in Itteringham in the 1890s took the following: “warter pot” (and the next year “water pot soldered”), “fish spoone”, “kettle lid” and “egg cup”. One customer seemed to be very modern - repairing a coffee grinder - until you notice it has nails and a crank attached to it.

The most puzzling entry (and rather worrying!) is in 1905 when Mr [James Edward] Wilkinson of the Manor Farm has the entry “Foster Mother soldered” !

A fuller summary of the accounts is given here and our thanks go to Mrs Janet Webb and the Hall family for permission to show the images.

Copyright © Maggie Vaughan-Lewis 2007

The wolf tooth, if the horse gets any at all (this varies), is a sharp little pointy tooth just in front of the row of cheek teeth. They are rudimentary premolar teeth with no real function in the modern horse. The size of both the crown and root of the wolf tooth varies a great deal. It is considered to be a permanent tooth as we don't see any shedding. A horse can get from 0-4 of these teeth, and they are usually removed as they are often sharp, and because of the bit, they can cause problems in the modern sports horse. The wolf teeth can also be unerupted or "blind" and can be felt as little bumps in the gum. Blind wolf teeth can also cause soreness in the gums and cause problems as they are often dislocated a little further into the space between the incisors and the cheek teeth where we put the bit. We most often see them in the upper jaw, but in some horses (especially the standardbred horse) it is not uncommon to also get wolf teeth in the lower jaw (and often unerupted). Eruption of the wolf teeth usually occur from 5-6 months of age. They are usually removed to avoid problems later.
Chris Atkins, Itteringham - 1st March 2007

My great grand father was George Martin Hall who was one of those who moved to London.  He was the brother of Peter Hall the blacksmith.  I hardly knew my grandfather James who died when I was very young so only had recollections from my father to go on.  The website has helped enormously and I am looking forward to visiting Itteringham some time.
Pam Carwardine (neé Hall) - 7th May 2010

My name is Tom Jacobson and I live in Spicer, Minnesota, USA.  I am a distant relative of the Hall family of Itteringham.  My great-great-great grandfather was Henry Hall.  His daughter, Harriet, married Lot Plowman in 1842 and they emigrated to America sometime in the 1840's.  Their daughter, Rebecca, was married to Frederick Stonefield; their daughter Lillian married Oscar Tommerson, and their daughter Pearl married Merle Jacobson.  Pearl was my mother. 
My reason for the e-mail is to see if anyone in the Hall family is interested in family history and genealogy.  Some Hall family information that I have is that Henry was at the Coronation of Queen Victoria in 1838 and that Harriet became a dancing master.   I did view the grave markers on your website for Henry, Mary, and his second wife Elizabeth.
Thomas Jacobson, Spicer, Minnesota, USA - 8th May 2010

I visited Itteringham at the end of May for the very first time with my husband and sister  and found the village and surrounding area very beautiful.  My  sister and I were able to see our family graves in St Mary's Church and see the house that was formerly the forge where my great uncle Peter Hall worked.  The day we left I purchased a copy of the book Good Neighbours from Maggie Vaughan Lewis and wonder if it is possible to tell her via this email how much I have enjoyed reading it.  The book covered so much of the daily life of the village and I now know so much more of  Itteringham.  Hope to visit again before too long.
Pam Carwardine- 17th June 2012