Iron is in our blood
Nicol’s Blacksmith, Duntroon.
Nicol’s Blacksmith Shop, which operated as a smithy from the mid 1890s to its closure in the early 1970s, is a special example of a working smithy with all its tools and equipment left intact.
It provides insight into the work of blacksmiths, wheel wrights and later motor garages during this period.
Nicol’s Blacksmith Shop has special historical significance as a rare surviving blacksmith’s shop with its origins in nineteenth-century Otago. Nicol’s Blacksmith Shop provides insight into the changing history of transport in New Zealand and the service industries associated with it.
The smithy illustrates the provision of farrier and smithy services for horses and horse-drawn carriages in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and the services provided for motorized transport in the twentieth century.
Architecturally it represents the vernacular architecture associated with a small blacksmithing business, telling the story of its change of use and function through the architecture of the buildings.
Technologically the smithy and all its chattels provide an outstanding illustration of the industrial process of a forge and blacksmith. The tools of the trade are still present and range from the forge and bellows to horseshoes. It also reflects the transition from the power of the horse to the introduction of motorized vehicles.
Heritage New Zealand
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