At Our Lincolnshire HQ we were recently contacted by Chain Bridge Forge, a living museum based in Spalding in South Holland.

The South Holland area recently featured in the Our Lincolnshire heritage performance at Pinchbeck, where stories of tulips and agriculture were retold and remembered in Egg Box Theatre’s production ‘A Postcard from South Holland’. The role of the blacksmith would clearly have been central to rural life in this area in the past, and this continues today through the work of the Forge.

Read about the history of the Flower Parade at South Holland Life

The Forge has been revived and is in working order, open for all to come and see how blacksmiths work, with live demonstrations of blacksmiths’ techniques. They also offer guided tours, and hold craft days and taster days. The forge is also a great source of information on wheelwrighting and farriers, as well as local history.

The Museum has been open since 2012, and hosts a resident artist blacksmith, who is interested in passing on the skills involved in blacksmithing, and also takes commissions for his work.

The Forge website is packed with information about the local area, and is part of a website dedicated to life in South Holland more widely.

South Holland Life features an archive of material about life in the past in the region. Their searchable library holds a collection of oral histories, transcripts, documents and photographs, which were collected as part of an HLF funded project called “All Our Stories”.

The extensive South Holland Life resource begins with a timeline of notable events in the area, featuring links to further resources. You can also find them on facebook.

The following video, produced by the Museum, gives a short history of the Forge. More videos are featured on their website.

If you want to visit the Forge, you can find out more details and directions here. Entry is free, and opening times are posted on their website.