Lench's Oliver Shop was built sometime between 1908 and 1910 by an oddworker named Onan Lowe. It was situated behind a row of houses on the Ross, Blackheath, and was accessed by a cart entry in the row.
On the other side of Ross was T W Lench's Excelsior Works, a large nut and bolt making concern that had been started by Thomas William Lench in 1880 as a small oliver shop making rivets. By 1937 Lench's had installed modern machinery for making nuts and bolts at Excelsior, but still wanted to retain the capacity for making 'specials' for customers on olivers. To this end they bought Lowe's shop, which had become semi-derelict by this time, and re-furbished it using parts from their own old workshop.
Of the original ten hearths Lench's had six working, with an underground pipe system that fed an air blast to each of the fires. Each hearth had an oliver hammer; a treadle operated hammer fitted with a pair of shaped tools that would enable the olivesmith to make a wide variety of wrought iron fittings (hooks, shackles, clips, fastenings etc). "Oddwork" is the Black Country term that describes these kind of fittings.
Orders for oddwork would be brought down to the Oliver Shop from Excelsior works. Each oliversmith would agree with the foreman the price he would set for making the order. If none of the tools on the racks were suitable for making the order the smith would make himself a new pair of tools. When items were finished they were taken into a warehouse at the end of the building for weighing and packing. They were collected from here by lorry, the platform outside the door was for loading the wagons.
Demand for oddwork did decline after World War Two, but even as late as 1979 there were still three oliversmiths working at Lench's. In 1983 the firm of T W Lench donated the oliver shop and its contents to the Museum.
| Reference: | 516 |
| Keywords: | 1900 Rivets Fittings Eye Bolts War BCLM |
| Archive Ref: | Profect File PR V42 |
| Updated: | 12/9/2001 10:30:36 |