Summary
Former smithy, built in the early C19.
Reasons for Designation
The former smithy, built in the early C19, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
Architectural interest:
* for the high proportion of survival of fixtures and fittings relating to the building’s historic use as a smithy;
* blacksmith’s workshops have suffered high rates of alteration and loss and this example survives comparatively well.
Historic interest:
* as the workshop of blacksmith Dick Nunn, who manufactured Nunn’s Bridge in Coggeshall (listed at Grade II) in an intentional act of social activism to maintain a historic public right of way across the Coggeshall countryside;
* as an interesting and poignant reminder of the important role of small metal industry within rural communities.
Group value:
* for the historic group it forms with two other buildings in Swan Yard, namely a terrace of four cottages in which the Nunn family lived, built in the C16 and altered in the C19 and C20 (listed at Grade II), and Swan House facing East Street, a late-C14 house, altered in the C17, C19 and C20 (listed at Grade II).
History
The former smithy in Swan Yard was most likely constructed in the early C19, to the rear of the Swan Inn, a medieval timber-framed building. The entrance to the yard from East Street passed through the ground floor of the inn, and as well as the smithy, the yard had stables, sheds and a row of cottages known as ‘Four Cottages’. We know the smithy was certainly constructed by 1839 as an advertisement in the Essex Standard in June of that year sought ‘a shoeing and jobbing smith who thoroughly understands his business’, with instruction to apply at the Swan Inn. In January 1840 the Suffolk Chronicle advertised the disposal of the lease of the Swan Inn ‘with or without a blacksmith’s shop attached, doing a good stroke of business’. In May 1841 the Ipswich Journal advertised the lease of the Swan Inn ‘with five cottages and a blacksmith’s shop adjoining’.
Joseph Nunn took over the Swan Yard smithy and is recorded on the 1841 census as a master blacksmith; around 1850 Nunn’s son Henry (1836-1896) joined him as an apprentice. Joseph died in 1854, and Kelly’s Directory of 1855 lists Henry Nunn’s smithy at the Swan Inn as one of five smithies in Coggeshall. In the same year, Henry, his mother and two stepbrothers all moved into one of the ‘Four Cottages’ directly opposite the smithy in Swan Yard. The 1875 Ordnance Survey map shows the smithy as L-shaped on plan, stepping in at its south-west corner. Legend has it that Nunn’s smithy suffered a fire in the late 1870s, and it is possible the west side of the building was rebuilt at that time with a slate-covered roof, stud walls and angled south-west corner (the angled south-west corner is shown on the 1897, 1923, 1955 and 1969 Ordnance Survey maps).
Henry became an incredibly popular character in Coggeshall from around 1880 when he began his social activism and became affectionately known as ‘Dick’. He campaigned for the welfare of people and animals, and was an early advocate of rights of way in the countryside, often challenging the police and legal professions. He set about demolishing buildings that were no longer fit for human habitation, and stood up for local people who fell victim to what he saw as ‘policemanism’. In 1875, a wooden footbridge crossing the River Blackwater south-west of Coggeshall was washed away, cutting a historic public footpath from use. Dick, disappointed the bridge was not being replaced, appealed to the local authorities to erect another bridge, but to no avail. He thereafter declared his intention to fund and construct a bridge himself, such was his strong wish to see the footpath remain open to the public. When the executors of the Lord of the Manor, Sir Charles DuCane, heard of the scheme their solicitor dispatched a letter forbidding the erection of a bridge on his client’s land and denying the right of way. Nunn was undeterred and manufactured a new footbridge, which was painted with what he could find in his smithy – iron oxide primer and lead white, resulting in a pink hue. On 29 August 1892, the bridge was wheeled on two trolleys from the Swan Yard smithy and installed on concrete abutments over the River Blackwater. Nunn had a poster printed inviting ‘all those who take an interest in Preserving the Right of our Public Footpaths’ to join him in a procession from Market Hill in Coggeshall to the new bridge on 31 August 1892, led by the Coggeshall Town Band. On the day 703 people were counted over the bridge, and subscriptions and donations contributed £13 towards Nunn’s costs of £30. Nunn’s bridge was listed at Grade II in 2020.
Up until the 1880s there were five smithies in Coggeshall, which had reduced to three by the time Dick Nunn died in 1896. Following Nunn’s passing the smithy was taken on by Edmund Rowland, and the 1918 Coggeshall Almanac advertised the services of ‘E. Rowland / Practical farrier and general smith / Swan Yard, Coggeshall / All kinds of stoves repaired & c.’ The neighbouring Swan Inn stood unoccupied for a period of time, before it was demolished and two semi-detached houses built on the site in 1901. The third-last smithy in Coggeshall ceased operation in 1932 and the second-last in 1939, leaving the Swan Yard smithy as the last remaining smithy in Coggeshall until Edmund’s death in 1962. In 1979 the west part of the smithy was re-purposed as a garage when the south-west corner was squared off, the profile of the slate roof altered and two garage doors introduced on the west elevation.
Details
Former smithy, built in the early C19.
MATERIALS: the main roof has a pantile covering, and the west part of the roof has a Welsh slate covering; the walls are constructed of red brick, generally laid in Flemish bond.
PLAN: The smithy is a single-storey building, rectangular on plan.
EXTERIOR: The former smithy is a single-storey rectangular-plan building, brick-built on three sides. The main roof is pitched with pantiles to its north and south slopes, those on the north slope were replaced following a storm around 1980. The east end of the north slope has a red brick chimneystack; a second chimneystack on the north slope was removed in the late C20. The west part of the roof was altered in the late C20 and is now hipped with a Welsh slate covering. The walls are constructed of red brick, generally laid in Flemish bond, and the west end of the south elevation was extended in the late C20. The south elevation has three C19 windows and a C19 stable door; two wrought-iron wall ties stabilise the wall under the easternmost window. The most westerly window was previously located on the west elevation, however it was relocated to the south elevation in the late C20 when the south-west corner was squared off and two up-and-over garage doors introduced on the west elevation. The three windows on the south elevation have timber horizontal sliding sashes, each with three vertical glazing bars containing lapped glazing. The stable door has two strap hinges to the left side of each of its two doors, and a latch to the right side of each door; all door furniture appears to have been manufactured at the smithy in the C19. The north elevation is constructed of red brick laid in Flemish bond and retains one C19 ledged-and-braced timber door. The east gable is constructed of red brick, laid in Flemish bond to eaves level and stretcher bond above.
INTERIOR: Inside, the smithy formerly had two forges, however only that on the east wall remains; the other towards the centre of the building was removed in the late C20, the scar of which remains visible in the roof. The simple roof structure with joists, purlins and collar ties appears to largely survive from the C19, save the north slope of the roof which appears to have machine-cut common rafters, likely replaced in the C20 or around 1980 following storm damage. The red brick walls have a continuous timber stringcourse onto which instrument holders are attached; these survive either side of the forge on the east wall and on the south wall. The east wall has a central forge with a brick hearth; large bellows to the left-hand side of the forge, manufactured by ‘[HOGERS?] LIMITED / LONDON, S.E.’ are hand-operated by a lever and counterweight. The floor is partly paved with gault brick and partly bare earth. An anvil to the right of the forge was relocated from another smithy for display purposes. The south wall has a timber work bench in the east corner, and two wall-mounted timber drawer units to the right of the stable door. The north wall has a tether ring between the C19 north door and late-C20 garage doors.
