James Anderson was a blacksmith in Williamsburg Virginia during the revolutionary war. Opening his shop in the 1760's, he made and repaired ironwork for the local community and eventually became Public Armorer for the state of Virginia.

Updated July 24, 2005.

Like many other old workshops, the original Anderson's blacksmith shop had long since disappeared. Archeologists and architectural historians reconstructed the outline of the Anderson shop after studying the excavation of the original workshop site. The Anderson blacksmith shop today at Colonial Williamsburg is a hand-made reconstruction of that original shop. After careful study, local craftsmen reconstructed not only the building, but the forges in the style common of the era and probably very similar to what actually was built in the original workshop.

Business grew for James Anderson and accordingly he added additional workshop space and forges. There are 7 forges in the Anderson shop, four of which are in the main shop area and one in the original front workshop room. The focus here is on the two brick hoodless style forges near the rear of the main workshop, and the brick and timber hooded style forge closer to the camera (top right photo and both to the right) near the front of the main work area. All these forges blown with their own bellows.

Hooded style: (Photos top right and upper right of this text) The hearth measures roughly 4 feet square. The chimney and large corbelled hood all made of brick. Corbelling of the hood and the gentle sloping entrance into the chimney are covered with mortar plaster to smooth their surface and appearance. A timber lintel supports the brick corbelling under the hood and is held up by steel rods fixed into the masonry. The hood is located far enough above the hearth and far enough out of the way to make the forge comfortable to use, but a drafts on a windy day can blow smoke into the shop. In the above left photo the smith is pulling the rope to operate the bellows. All in all, a nice forge.

Hoodless style: (Photo to left) Although "hoodless forge" refers to a chimney design that does not use a large hood over the fire, very often a small sheet iron shroud and a little bit of brick corbelling above the fire help guide the smoke into the smoke hole in the chimney. In the photo to the right are two of the hoodless forges at the rear of the main workshop area in the Anderson blacksmith shop. In the forge at the right, the small sheet metal shroud is just visible above the flames of the fire. Although at first the corbelling appears to be more decorative than useful because it does not appear to guide smoke into the chimney,   it very likely denotes the inside surface shape of the front wall of the smoke chamber, at the transition point where the smoke must pass the smoke shelf inside the chimney. Again the hearths appeared to be roughly 4 foot square and each has its own bellows with the rope and handles directly above the smiths. In the photo at right the smith is operating the bellows.

A wooden block sets into the earth in front at the forge hearth and a large leg vise is attached firmly to it. The water barrel fits snugly in the little corner space between the vise block and the front of the forge hearth.

A hole built into the back of the chimneys (thumbnail photo at right) provides access to the fire pot and tuyere to connect the air blast pipe from the bellows. The bellows are located overhead and out of the way behind each forge. The photos at right show the rear of the hoodless forges with the bellows overhead. The access hole for the tuyere and air supply near the bottom of the chimney and a small timber frame built behind the forge is used as a tool rack to store hardies and other tools. Work benches along the west wall behind the forges make use of natural light from the windows during the late afternoon. Work benches along the east wall in front of the forges allow plenty of natural light during morning and afternoon.

The Dean Shop

Before building the Anderson Blacksmith shop, the blacksmiths at Colonial Williamsburg worked out of the lower section of the harness maker's shop building, the Dean Shop. A fully enclosed hooded style forge made of brick. Long bars had to be passed through a small hole built into the rear of the masonry hood. The forge is enclosed on three sides by the masonry walls of the hood and chimney.A Medieval Style Enclosed Forge: (Click on the thumbnail photos at left)

The medieval style forge adds an almost "cozy" atmosphere to the shop. Examples of the small historical reproduction items being made at the time of the photo are displayed on the table at bottom of photo.

There have been 2 video tapes filmed at the blacksmith shops in Colonial Williamsburg. The first produced in the 1970's called Hammerman in Williamsburg, portraying the life of a colonial era blacksmith with John Allgood forging items and repairs needed for daily life during that era. The second tape entitled Forged In Wood-Building Anderson's Blacksmith Shop, chronicles the archeology and building of the Anderson's Blacksmith shop during the 1980's, as a reproduction of the original business the way historians believe it appeared more than two centuries ago. The Second tape shows most of the forges shown on this webpage, in actual use with a smith working. Both tapes are available from Centaur Forge and Larson's Books and I highly recommend both.

Colonial Williamsburg is located in Williamsburg, Virginia, about an hours drive west of Newport News and Norfolk. Their web site URL is : http://www.history.org/ and they are open year round. The village has many other master craftsman and trades, and many of the craftsman learn their trades as apprentices in these shops. Plan to have at least one full day for a visit. The Colonial Williamsburg website is difficult and confusing to navigate.

Updated July, 2005.

Original published April 22nd, 1999.

Readers who have knowledge or documentation on this shop are invited to mail the author at the email address below.

Latest update July 24, 2005.

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