Nicol's Blacksmith Shop, which operated as a smithy from the mid 1890s to its closure in the early 1970s, is a special example of a working smithy with all its tools and equipment left intact. Located in Duntroon, in North Otago, it provides insight into the work of blacksmiths, wheel wrights and later motor garages during this period.
Duntroon was established in the mid 1870s, and had 2 smithies operating from the 1880s onwards. Orcadian Walter John Yardley began working as a blacksmith in Duntroon around 1896, and acquired the title for the land on which the smithy was located in 1904. Blacksmithing was a common trade in the nineteenth century, and one represented in most towns, and on pastoral runs. Horses and horse-drawn vehicles were the most common modes of land transport, and it is easy to see why the blacksmith was a central figure to the community. Blacksmiths provided farriery (the making and fitting of horseshoes) as well a smithery services (the repairing and making of tools and equipment and items of metal work.) A blacksmith needed a forge (a hearth to support the fire), regulated by bellows, an anvil, and large numbers of tools of various shapes and sizes to perform various functions.
Yardley initially worked alone taking on help when the business expanded to include a carriage building and paint workshop, which was added to the back of the original building. The blacksmithing trade changed with the technology of the time. As motor vehicles became more common, many blacksmith's shops added vehicle repairs to their work. Through the 1920s garage proprietors and blacksmiths coexisted in the Duntroon. In the mid 1920's Yardley built a motor garage on the east side of the smithy to cater for the growing motor trade.
Yardley eventually sold the business Nicol Slater Muirden, helping out at busy times. After Yardley's death in 1930 Muirden took over the business, and is listed as a blacksmith through into the late 1960s or early 1970s.
In the mid 1970s when the smithy faced the threat of demolition, four local farmers Jim Harvey, John Hore, Burns Pollock and Bill Simpson stepped in to purchase the smithy and all its chattels intact. In December 2006 the Nicol's Blacksmith Historic Trust was formed with the intention of restoring the building as a heritage attraction and providing visitors with the experience of a working forge. The Trustees recall the importance of Nicol's Blacksmith Shop to the Duntroon community. As children these four men had spent many happy hours with Nicol Muirden at the smithy and pumped the bellows for him. They wanted to preserve the history of the village.
Nicol's Blacksmith Shop is located on the south side of Campbell Street (State Highway 83), on the corner of Orr Street. The Blacksmith's Shop is timber framed and clad, and unlined. It is made up of five separate functional areas: the shop, office, blacksmith's shop, coach and wheelwright area, and the motor garage. The interior of the working areas are full of the equipment, tools and ephemera of a working blacksmiths, including the forge, bellows, wheel pit and jig. The chattels are a significant part of the registration.
Nicol's Blacksmith Shop has aesthetic, historical, architectural, technological and social significance. The building has strong visual appeal with its red oxide colour, and its aged patina and form recalling early rural farm buildings. The interior with its jumble of tools and equipment also provides a fascinating visual record of the workings of a blacksmith's shop.
Nicol's Blacksmith Shop has special historical significance as a rare surviving blacksmith's shop with its origins in nineteenth century Otago. Nicol's Blacksmith Shop provides insight into the changing history of transport in New Zealand, and the service industries associated with it. The smithy illustrates the provision of farrier and smithy services for horses and horse drawn carriages in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and the services provided for motorised transport in the twentieth century. Architecturally it represents the vernacular architecture associated with a small blacksmithing business, telling the story of its change of use and function through the architecture of the buildings.
Technologically the smithy and all its chattels provide an outstanding illustration of the industrial process of a forge and blacksmith. The tools of the trade are still present and range from the forge and bellows to horse shoes. It also reflects the transition from the power of the horse to the introduction of motorised vehicles.
The rural blacksmith had an important social role in the lives of the community and provided a hub for Duntroon. It was also a meeting place for farmers, and a centre for exchanging news.
In 2008 Nicol's Blacksmith Shop is promoted as an historic forge, and is an attraction to visitors to Duntroon.
Duntroon was established in the mid 1870s, and had 2 smithies operating from the 1880s onwards. Orcadian Walter John Yardley began working as a blacksmith in Duntroon around 1896, and acquired the title for the land on which the smithy was located in 1904. Blacksmithing was a common trade in the nineteenth century, and one represented in most towns, and on pastoral runs. Horses and horse-drawn vehicles were the most common modes of land transport, and it is easy to see why the blacksmith was a central figure to the community. Blacksmiths provided farriery (the making and fitting of horseshoes) as well a smithery services (the repairing and making of tools and equipment and items of metal work.) A blacksmith needed a forge (a hearth to support the fire), regulated by bellows, an anvil, and large numbers of tools of various shapes and sizes to perform various functions.
Yardley initially worked alone taking on help when the business expanded to include a carriage building and paint workshop, which was added to the back of the original building. The blacksmithing trade changed with the technology of the time. As motor vehicles became more common, many blacksmith's shops added vehicle repairs to their work. Through the 1920s garage proprietors and blacksmiths coexisted in the Duntroon. In the mid 1920's Yardley built a motor garage on the east side of the smithy to cater for the growing motor trade.
Yardley eventually sold the business Nicol Slater Muirden, helping out at busy times. After Yardley's death in 1930 Muirden took over the business, and is listed as a blacksmith through into the late 1960s or early 1970s.
In the mid 1970s when the smithy faced the threat of demolition, four local farmers Jim Harvey, John Hore, Burns Pollock and Bill Simpson stepped in to purchase the smithy and all its chattels intact. In December 2006 the Nicol's Blacksmith Historic Trust was formed with the intention of restoring the building as a heritage attraction and providing visitors with the experience of a working forge. The Trustees recall the importance of Nicol's Blacksmith Shop to the Duntroon community. As children these four men had spent many happy hours with Nicol Muirden at the smithy and pumped the bellows for him. They wanted to preserve the history of the village.
Nicol's Blacksmith Shop is located on the south side of Campbell Street (State Highway 83), on the corner of Orr Street. The Blacksmith's Shop is timber framed and clad, and unlined. It is made up of five separate functional areas: the shop, office, blacksmith's shop, coach and wheelwright area, and the motor garage. The interior of the working areas are full of the equipment, tools and ephemera of a working blacksmiths, including the forge, bellows, wheel pit and jig. The chattels are a significant part of the registration.
Nicol's Blacksmith Shop has aesthetic, historical, architectural, technological and social significance. The building has strong visual appeal with its red oxide colour, and its aged patina and form recalling early rural farm buildings. The interior with its jumble of tools and equipment also provides a fascinating visual record of the workings of a blacksmith's shop.
Nicol's Blacksmith Shop has special historical significance as a rare surviving blacksmith's shop with its origins in nineteenth century Otago. Nicol's Blacksmith Shop provides insight into the changing history of transport in New Zealand, and the service industries associated with it. The smithy illustrates the provision of farrier and smithy services for horses and horse drawn carriages in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and the services provided for motorised transport in the twentieth century. Architecturally it represents the vernacular architecture associated with a small blacksmithing business, telling the story of its change of use and function through the architecture of the buildings.
Technologically the smithy and all its chattels provide an outstanding illustration of the industrial process of a forge and blacksmith. The tools of the trade are still present and range from the forge and bellows to horse shoes. It also reflects the transition from the power of the horse to the introduction of motorised vehicles.
The rural blacksmith had an important social role in the lives of the community and provided a hub for Duntroon. It was also a meeting place for farmers, and a centre for exchanging news.
In 2008 Nicol's Blacksmith Shop is promoted as an historic forge, and is an attraction to visitors to Duntroon.
