Friday 16th January, 2009
The Nail Makers of Chowbent
Chowbent was either a part of Atherton or an alternative name for the town.
It is not known when nail making began there, but in 1385 there was a “nayller of Cholle (Chowbent)” named Thomas Smith.
The town was thought to have been a centre for nail making in the Wigan area, but the industry was practised in many other local districts. The Baines Directory of 1825, for example, lists nail makers in Chowbent, West Houghton, Tyldesley, Abram, Warrington, Winstanley and Orrell. Other sources also mention Downall Green, Leigh, Shevington and Hindley.
Nail making was a home based industry. Bundles of iron rods of different weights, lengths and thicknesses were delivered to the nailer's forge. In the Chowbent area the raw material was thought to have come from Warrington. The nailer's wife and children would help by performing tasks such as working the bellows. Sometimes apprentices would be employed.
Nail makers produced many different kinds of nails. The demand from blacksmiths for shoeing nails and carpenters for “sparrowbills” must have been considerable, and probably provided the bulk of the nailer's trade.
One method of working involved the nailer placing several rods in the fire at once with his left hand while working the bellows with his right. When the rods were hot enough they were taken out and hammered into shape on a “stithy” (small anvil). The shaped nail was then cut from the end of the metal rod.
“Sparrow bills” or “sparables” (small headless, wedge shaped nails used in cobbling), were made slightly differently. After being shaped, they were held on a cutting-chisel “that stands on the perpendicular”, and severed from the rod by a hammer blow.
Some nailers worked on a larger scale and employed extra staff so allowing their businesses to flourish. John Smith of Atherton, although he died while still quite young, had amassed an estate of £230, which, in 1632, was quite a considerable sum of money considering he was craftsman. His success was partly due to bellows which were operated by a water wheel.
By the mid 17th century the industry was in decline, although the "Victoria County History”, published in 1907, mentions the continued existence of the Chowbent nail makers at that time.
Nail Making in Atherton by Dave Dutton