Chain Bridge Forge is an early 19th-century

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

's workshop, on High Street,

Spalding, Lincolnshire Spalding () is a market town on the River Welland in the South Holland district of Lincolnshire, England. The town had a population of 31,588 at the 2011 census. The town is the administrative centre of the South Holland District. The town is ...

, England. The forge, on the south bank of the

River Welland The River Welland is a lowland river in the east of England, some long. It drains part of the Midlands eastwards to The Wash. The river rises in the Hothorpe Hills, at Sibbertoft in Northamptonshire, then flows generally northeast to Market ...

, has been transformed into a living museum, where visitors can learn about Spalding's history, blacksmithing and the Forge through displays, guides and videos. There are also opportunities to try blacksmithing, watch demonstrations and buy iron-forged products. The Forge is believed to have been purpose-built as a blacksmith's

forge A forge is a type of hearth used for heating metals, or the workplace (smithy) where such a hearth is located. The forge is used by the smith to heat a piece of metal to a temperature at which it becomes easier to shape by forging, or to th ...

in the first half of the 19th century, when it was owned and run by Francis South. The Forge derives its name from the foot-bridge which crosses the Welland next to the building, and which was originally made of

chains A chain is a serial assembly of connected pieces, called links, typically made of metal, with an overall character similar to that of a rope in that it is flexible and curved in compression but linear, rigid, and load-bearing in tension. A c ...

. Watercolours by Hilkiah Burgess in the

Spalding Gentlemen's Society The Spalding Gentlemen's Society is a learned society based in Spalding, Lincolnshire, England, concerned with cultural, scientific and antiquarian subjects. It is Britain's oldest such provincial body, founded in 1710 by Maurice Johnson (1688 ...

collection indicate that it was a

draw bridge A drawbridge or draw-bridge is a type of moveable bridge typically at the entrance to a castle or tower surrounded by a moat. In some forms of English, including American English, the word ''drawbridge'' commonly refers to all types of moveab ...

, designed to enable boats and barges to navigate up river from

the Wash The Wash is a rectangular bay and multiple estuary at the north-west corner of East Anglia on the East coast of England, where Norfolk, England, Norfolk meets Lincolnshire and both border the North Sea. One of Britain's broadest estuaries, it i ...

. At this time there was a working port at Spalding, and the accounts for the period 1850-1860 show that the blacksmith of Chain Bridge Forge was servicing the boats here.Edward Fisher's Daybooks 1850-1860 shows the boats using the port, the captains and work done for them, E. Fisher's Daybooks, Chain Bridge Forge Collection In 1899, the forge came into the possession of George DoddConveyance 6 July 1899, Chain Bridge Forge Collection and remained in the family for three generations. During this period, it predominately serviced the community by shoeing horses and doing agricultural repairs. The twentieth century saw a steady decline in the blacksmith's role,p281, ''A Companion to Early Twentieth-Century Britain''
Historical Association (2003) and adapting to this change Geoffery Dodd, George Dodd's grandson, spent much of his career designing and building the frames for floats in Spalding's Flower Parade. In the 1980s, as Dodd neared retirement and with the building in a poor state of repair, he approached the

South Holland District Council South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...

. After two years of discussions, the site was purchased from him by the council for the nominal fee of £1, on 20 September 1988.Conveyance, 20 September 1988, Chain Bridge Forge Collection The building was restored in 1991 with the assistance of

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

, by the Spalding builders R. G. Sharman, on behalf of the District Council.''Lincolnshire Free Press'', 15 October 1991 In 2011, the Friends of Chain Bridge Forge were formed to lead a new project to turn the Forge into a museum and heritage centre. As part of a campaign to raise awareness of the building and the project, the Friends, with the assistance of South Holland District Council who still own and manage the property, opened the Forge to the public during the Spalding Flower Parade in 2011.'Appeal for helpers in forge bid' ''Lincolnshire Free Press'', 9 May 2011
.

References

External links

Former museum site: Chainbridgeforge.co.uk

Museum site

South Holland District Council

South Holland District Council Decision made March 2011
{{Authority control Industry museums in England Museums in Lincolnshire Spalding, Lincolnshire Industrial archaeological sites in England