Abbeydale Tilt Hammers

Image: © Ashley Dace Taken: Unknown

A massive tilt hammer, powered by a water wheel they drove the steel into submission! Continually whacking it to greater strength. This example is at the entrance to the museum. Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet is an industrial museum in the south of the City of Sheffield, England. The museum forms part of a former steel-working site on the River Sheaf, with a history going back to at least the 13th century. It consists of a number of dwellings and workshops that were formerly the Abbeydale Works—a scythe-making plant that was in operation until the 1930s—and is a remarkably complete example of a 19th century works. The works are atypical in that much of the production process was completed on the same site (in a similar manner to a modern factory). The site is a scheduled ancient monument, the works are Grade I listed and the workers' cottages, counting house, and manager's house are Grade II* listed. Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet is run as a working museum, with works and buildings dating from between 1714 and 1876. The museum demonstrates the process making blister steel from iron and coke, then refining this steel using techniques that originated with Benjamin Huntsman's invention of the crucible steel process. The river provides water power via a water wheel. There are several wheels on the site for driving a tilt hammer, for the initial forging of the scythe blades; grinding machinery, which also has steam installed as backup for times of drought, and a set of bellows. The blades were also hand forged for finishing. The museum is free to the public Sunday to Thursday between April and October.

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