Chain Bridge Forge

Historic Blacksmith Workshop which has been preserved and developed into a living museum that includes an extensive online local history collection

History
Until recently, Spalding blacksmith’s workshop had, for many years, been in the ownership of the Dodd family. The business was started by George Dodd who came to Spalding from Newmarket in 1898. George’s son, James, was also a blacksmith. George and James’ income came principally from shoeing the many horses owned locally by farmers and brewers, as well as putting iron tyres on cart wheels. The influence of these activities on the workshop can still be seen (see images, below).
Mr. Geoffrey Dodd, (the previous owner and James’ son), still lives opposite the workshop and he spent much of his career as a blacksmith designing and building many of the floats that participated in Spalding’s flower parade during the 1960s and 1970s. He still has a large archive of material relating to this work.
Mr. Dodd initially approached South Holland District Council (SHDC) in 1986 with a view to getting the authority involved as he was nearing retirement, had no son to follow him and the building was in a poor state of repair. Discussions continued for the next few years until SHDC purchased the workshop from him on September 20th 1988 for the nominal fee of £1.
Chain Bridge Forge Chronology
• The building dates back to the early 1800’s
• 1826 White’s Directory shows Francis South as the Blacksmith
• 1850 – 60 accounts showing the Blacksmith was servicing the boats that used the port
• 1898 – The Dodd Family took ownership and were the last Harbour Master
• 3 generations of the Dodd family worked the forge
• Geoffrey Dodd the last Blacksmith sold it to South Holland District Council in 1989.
• Today we hope to create The Friends of Chain Bridge Forge conserve the artefacts and tell the story of this historic building and build an outreach programme which will involve schools and the community
The building and its significance
The building is thought to date from around 1800 and was purpose built as a blacksmith’s workshop. It is situated on the east bank of the River Welland about one mile from the town centre, only four metres away from the river itself. It has not been listed by English Heritage.
It is approximately 12m 35cms long and 6m 35cms wide. It is subdivided internally into three spaces, the largest of which contains the forge and main work space. The floor is mainly of hard packed earth, with large pieces of stone and slate covering some areas