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Gordon's Blacksmiths

Once the blacksmith’s shop was one of the hubs of the Dunsford community. With no cars unlike today the horse and cart were central to transport and working the farms of the area. The blacksmith would shoe all the local horses and fix all the farming equipment such as ploughs, harrows and all types of ironmongery such as potatoe diggers. Also the blacksmiths shop was an important meeting place for farmers to discuss the prices of cattle and wheat plus all other market prices and agricultural news. Dunsford’s blacksmith’s shop was owned and run by the Gordon family.

Originally the forge was owned by James O’Hanlon in the mid nineteenth century. From 1904 to 1913 the forge was owned by Paddy Gordon but in 1913 Paddy left for America and Thomas Trainor took over from 1913 to 1919. Paddy returned from America in 1919 and run the forge until 1923 when John Gordan, youngest brother of Paddy Gordon took over the forge and run it until 1961 when he retired.

John Gordon

John Gordon, Dunsford Blacksmith

A couple of years later the forge was demolished and now no trace of the building can be seen. When the last stones of the forge were taken away a lot of history was taken away with it.

Gordon's Blacksmith's Shop

Gordon's Blacksmiths

The blacksmith did a lot of work for the community as horse and carts were the main transport of the day. The blacksmith fitted all the horses with shoes and repaired the steel rims of the cart wheels The blacksmiths main source of income was repairing and fixing farm equipment such as harrows and potatoe diggers. Also the blacksmith made gates for the local farmer’s fields and sometimes decorative and ornate gates for the local church.
Barter
The blacksmith was not always paid in money. Sometimes as part of the payment a farmer would give him a sack of potatoes or some corn. A lot of the time the blacksmith had to wait to the end of the half year when the harvest money came in and then the farmer would pay
as they themselves had enough money at one time to pay the blacksmith and other tradesmen. They paid in May and November. With the coming of the car and lorry, the horse and cart was finished along with all the blacksmiths everywhere