The Old Smithy (Forge), Tunley

Title

Subject

Photographs and Drawings of Mr Bucknell's House and Forge at Tunley :-

The Smithy was the right side of a pair of semi-detatced cottages. The two were converted into a single home, 'The Old Forge' by Dr Snow around 1940 - 1950.

The Old Smithy, Tunley
The Old Smithy - Privy
The Old Smithy Alfred Bucknell's Shed
The Old Smithy Alfred Bucknell's Shed
Linda Hall's Drawings of The Old Smithy at Tunley
Tunley c. 1890. Outside of the two cottages now making up 'The Old Forge'. In the left hand doorway are Mrs. Gardiner and her second daughter Mary. In the right hand doorway is Mrs. Bucknell. The two girls are Mrs. Bucknell daughters, Sophie and Annie. Mrs gardiner and Mrs Bucknell were sisters.
Gardiner's and Bucknell's outside of the two cottages, c. 1900
Tunley Old Smithy c. 1912. The children who can just be seen in the garden are the sisters of Dr Allen, who also took the photograph.

Description

Linda Hall, Author of ''Period House Fixtures and Fittings 1300 - 1900' has viewed The Old Smithy and set out her observations :

This house is set on sloping ground, parallel to the road and facing west. It gets its name from the fact that Alfred Bucknell lived and worked here, and in the garden is the shed where he had his forge.

Nearby, under a large yew tree, is the old stone-built privy, which is probably contemporary with the house. The house has two storeys, with a single dormer lighting an attic at the south end, and the windows all have wooden casements and square leaded lights.

The front door is almost central, and differences in the stonework show that it was originally at the end of a one-roomed cottage to which a second unit was added. The walling of the older portion is more random, but both the older and the newer walls have large freestone quoins. The door to the second unit is now a window.

The older northern cottage has 1' 10" waIIs and an internal width of 13' 6". A large open fireplace in the gable end has an inglenook seat and fomerly had a semi-circular oven projection.

There is a stone spiral stair and between the stair and the fireplace is a small spice cupboard with a plain panelled door and simple moulded surround of mid or late C18th type. This may be the date of the cottage.

The fireplace has a slightly cambered but unchamfered
wooden lintel which is covered with burn marks. On the first floor there is a small fireplace with a stone lintel. The second unit, probably added later in the C18th, also has a gable-end fireplace, but the back wall of the fireplace is unusually thin and has perhaps been rebuilt. It has an ashpit, and there was a spiral stair on the east side. A seat on the west side had a wooden panelled back separating it from the window recess.

Additions at the rear comprise a kitchen wing, a large pantry and a lean-to.

The main interest of the cottage is the wealth of Alfred Bucknell ironwork, with door handles, latches, hinges and window catches all by him. He added the kitchen window fittings in the 1950s, having designed a turnbuckle catch with a small notch on one side which could be used to hold the window very slightly open. Window catches and handles of the same design can be seen in several houses in Oakridge.

Linda also produced drawings related to the house which you can view by clicking on them below