Cradley Heath in the Black Country was the centre of the 19th Century chain making industry. During the industrial revolution there was a high demand for chain for a wide variety of uses from anchor chain to dog chain.
Women’s chain
Heavy and medium chains were made by men in factories but lighter chains were made by women and children, often in extremely poor conditions. This lighter chain was known as ‘hand-hammered chain’ or ‘country-work chain’ and had a wide range of uses in agriculture, mining and industry.
The women would have worked on a piece rate for middlemen known as ‘foggers’ who would supply manufacturers and take a hefty percentage of the pay. The women chainmakers’ work was a prime example of ‘sweated labour’ – long hours of toil for poverty wages carried out in unsanitary, often dangerous conditions.
In 1910 the Women Chainmakers of Cradley Heath laid down their tools to strike for a living wage. Led by the charismatic union organiser and campaigner Mary Macarthur, the women’s struggle hit the national and international headlines. They were the first in the world to enforce a national minimum wage for a trade and should be seen as part of the wider movement toward gender pay equality.
In 2012 a statue honouring the Women Chainmakers was erected in Cradley Heath. The statue was made by Luke Perry, a local artist and metalworker from a family of chainmakers.
Slavery and chain making
Despite a lack of written records, it is now certain that production of chains and collars for the slave trade would have been a notable part of production in the Black Country.
Hand forged chain can be tested and approved for use as functional chain.
Training and recruitment issues – No formal qualifications. Learning currently done on a voluntary basis at Mushroom Green or through paid courses with Boots & Blisters Ltd.
Cost of raw materials and energy – the volunteers at the Mushroom Green Chain shop have reported that the costs of producing chain continue to rise, making it increasingly more difficult to continue.
Market issues – chain is now electrically welded and mostly imported to the UK
Practitioner name: Piers 'Happy' Gilmore
Business name: Boots & Blisters Welding Collective
Website: https://bootsandblisters.co.uk/
Other information: 'The Boots & Blisters Welding Collective Ltd' provides hand hammered, dollied and tommied chain, made in Cradley Heath as a part of their scope of works. They can provide chain made in sizes ranging from 1.6mm to 25mm, that can be tested to bear load. They also provide a variety of twisted, double twisted and backband chain, stud link and cable chain.
Handmade fire welded chain is now largely made in a museum context at Mushroom Green Chain Shop. This is run by Piers Gilmore and Joanna Keen alongside a number of volunteers.
Avoncroft Museum has a 19th Century chain shop that is open to the public but it is not currently producing chain.
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