Summary
Blacksmith’s workshop. Built in around the C17 and extended in about the mid-C19.
Reasons for Designation
Chillenden Forge, a blacksmith’s workshop built in around the C17 and extended in the mid-C19, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
Architectural interest:
* as a relatively rare and early surviving example of a forge or blacksmith’s workshop, built in around the C17 and extended in about the mid-C19, which retains a cobbled floor, furnace, chimney, wheel clamp, casement windows, timber-boarded doors and a cart entrance;
* Blacksmith’s workshops have suffered high rates of alteration and loss and this freestanding example survives comparatively well.
Historic interest:
* as an interesting and poignant reminder of the important role of small metal industry within rural communities.
Group value:
* with The Thatch, an adjacent C18 house (Grade II).
History
A forge or blacksmith’s workshop is a building housing the ironworking processes of a blacksmith where iron objects and farm implements could be made or repaired and horseshoeing could be carried out. Forges required bellows for working the forge, anvils and benches for iron working, as well as wide doorways and access to a water supply. A feature of farms, villages and towns since the medieval period, the number of blacksmith’s workshops fell dramatically over the C20 as their use became largely obsolete as new transportation and construction technologies developed. Most of those related to domestic and small industry activities have been converted to other uses, often to dwellings, or have been demolished and replaced. A feature sometimes associated with a forge is a wheel clamp used for putting an iron tyre onto a cartwheel. The hub is inserted into the central hole where it can be fixed with the rim of the wheel lying on the metal plate.
The forge at Chillenden was built in around the C17. The original handmade brickwork laid in English bond can be seen in the rear cross range. English bond brickwork was commonly used until about the end of the C17 (Clifton-Taylor 1972, 249). The cross range is shown on the 1843 tithe map as a rectangular building and described in the apportionments. In about the mid-C19 the forge was extended with an additional north-south orientated range to the west, altogether forming an L-shaped footprint. This addition was built in Flemish bond brickwork and adjoined the west side of the earlier range, which subsequently had the west wall removed to form a single internal space. The forge is shown as an L-shaped building on the 1872 OS map (1:2500) where it is labelled ‘Smithy’. By 1897, an enclosed yard or shed had been added at the north-east angle. The building is shown with this footprint on the 1907, 1938 and 1957 OS maps. It was in use as a forge in 1986 when it was listed at Grade II. The roof structure has been at least partly replaced, probably in the C20. In 1991 it was recorded that planning permission was granted for replacement of Kent peg tiles with Roman pan tiles on part of the roof (although the original 1986 List entry describes pre-existing pan tile and asbestos sheet roof coverings at that time).
South of the forge is a former pair of cottages now forming one dwelling called Forge House with a datestone of 1868. Immediately to the north-west of the forge is a Grade II-listed early C18 thatched house called ‘The Thatch’.
Details
Blacksmith’s workshop. Built in around the C17 and extended in about the mid-C19.
MATERIALS: constructed of red brick with a timber roof structure covered in pan tiles and asbestos sheets.
PLAN: L-shaped in plan comprising a mid-C19 range orientated north-south, fronting on to the village lane, which adjoins a C17 cross range extending from the south end of the east (rear) elevation. A small shed also adjoins the rear of the forge at the north-east.
EXTERIOR: a single-storey building covered by a hipped roof, which fronts onto the village lane. The main elevation of the mid-C19 range is two-bays wide with a timber-boarded sliding cart door and a segmental-headed five-light casement window. The north elevation is blind (without any openings). This mid-C19 range is built onto the earlier cross range; a buttress in the south elevation appears to mark a joint in the brickwork between the two ranges. The brickwork of the C17 cross range is largely handmade red brick laid in English bond, which contrasts with the mid-C19 brick which is laid in Flemish bond. The south elevation has a brick plinth, a timber-boarded door and a single-light segmental-headed casement window, as well as a blocked opening. A tall brick chimney stack with a clay chimney pot also rises from this side of the building. The east elevation of the cross range has a two-light casement window situated off-centre, which is currently (2022) missing one light and the glazing. This rear elevation appears to retain the original C17 brickwork to the full height of the gable, albeit with some repairs and refacing. The brickwork to the plinth is currently falling away in places. The north wall of the cross range has a blocked window and a door opening where some of the brickwork has fallen away. Attached to the north-east of the building is a timber and corrugated iron shed*, which is currently in a dilapidated condition and is not of special interest. Set into the ground next to the shed is a stone or concrete wheel clamp that would have been used for putting an iron tyre onto a cart wheel.
INTERIOR: the forge contains a brick furnace and chimney and the floor is partly earthen and partly cobbled; the latter to the mid-C19 extension. A scar in the south wall of the building appears to mark the location of the former return wall of the C17 range; this wall was probably dismantled when the mid-C19 range was built adjoining it. The forge is open to a timber hipped roof structure, which has tie beams and collar ties strengthened with iron straps.
EXCLUSIONS
* Pursuant to s1 (5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (‘the Act’) it is declared that the timber and corrugated iron shed attached to the north-east of the building is not of special architectural or historic interest. However, any works to this structure which have the potential to affect the character of the listed building as a building of special architectural or historic interest may still require Listed Building Consent (LBC) and this is a matter for the Local Planning Authority (LPA) to determine.
