Book List | Rocky Mountain Smiths

Between approximately 1800 and 1860 Mousehole Forge of Sheffield; England was the premier anvil maker of the world. Even after about 1860 when other English anvil makers; such as Joshua Wilkinson & Sons as well as numerous others were producing anvils by more modern methods and machinery; still Mousehole Forge retained a major share of the market; especially in America; continuing right into the 20th century. By that time there were only three manufacturers shipping anvils to the U.S. As far as I can tell Mousehole Forge outlasted every other anvil maker in England except Peter Wright & Sons. How could a small manufacturer restricted to about an acre of land with a forge shop having just 9;000 square feet; using primarily water power to drive their antiquated helve hammers and other equipment; compete so successfully? This is the story of this small company and their anvils.

Anvils - History; Forge shops - History; Forging - History

Publisher Postma Pub. 2003. 110 pages