Crafts...more

Most 'nailers' earned their living from both their craft and farming. They worked from March to August making nails for the London market. No nails were made during harvest time, in the autumn flat pointed nails were made for export to Virginia. After Martinmas (11th November) sharp points were then made for the West Indies until it was time to return to tilling the soil again.

By 1851 there were only 14 families in the village still making nails. File cutting had taken over as the staple trade. The files were hand-cut, no machinery other than a hammer and chisel was used in their production. The week's output of files was often taken to Sheffield by donkey on a Saturday. The men were not subject to the strict controls of the factory system but "had Monday as a day off for football practice, and often little work was done before Thursday. Then they worked all through the night ready for Sheffield on Saturday."

File Cutter's Workshop - High Street

Gradually these crafts were displaced by the industries which grew up in the late 19th century. The new ironworks and collieries in the Chapeltown area  and the factories of Sheffield now provided the staple employment of the villagers.

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