tour 7 of 7
Daily life in Iron Age Britain
Selection of blacksmith's tools
This is a selection of the type of tools used
in a typical blacksmith's forge in Iron Age and Roman
Britain. It includes an anvil, tongs, sledge hammer, chisel and
poker. To make a tool or nail the blacksmith would heat iron ingots
in a fire before cutting and hammering them into shape. The smith
used the tongs to hold the heated iron on the anvil. Large files,
like the one shown here, would have been used for cold-shaping and
finishing.
Both tools and
forging techniques changed little from the pre-Roman Iron Age until
the early years of the twentieth century.