Extracts from Diary of a Tour from London to Yorkshire, Lancashire, Cheshire and Derbyshire, 1798

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This article first appeared in the Transactions of the Hunter Archaeological Society and is reproduced by kind permission of the Society

EXTRACTS FROM DIARY OF A TOUR FROM LONDON TO YORKSHIRE, LANCASHIRE, CHESHIRE AND DERBYSHIRE, AUGUST 3rd-SEPTEMBER 22nd, 1798.

The author is unknown, but it is gathered from the diary that the initial of his surname was "M", and that he resided at Baker Street, Portman Square, London. On this tour he was accompanied by his wife and one daughter. He had a second daughter who remained at home. Presumably about fifty years of age and rather corpulent, he was an honorary member of Manchester Literary Society and received its diploma after his return to London. The diary contains about a dozen or so sketches, but by whom they were executed, no information is forthcoming.

The following are a few notes on the Sheffield extracts of the diary which was acquired by Mr. A. J. Flawkes, F.S.A., of Wigan, in 1940, who has kindly consented to the publication of local extracts therefrom. It is much in the same style as are the records by the Hon. J. Byng, who had covered some of the same ground nine years previously.

Byng visited Sheffield in 1789 and was also shown some of the details of the manufacture of what to-day is known as Old Sheffield Plate, by Henry Tudor of the firm, Tudor & Leader. At that date the business was carried on where now stands Tudor Street, but every vestige of his house and factory, with, it is said, a garden stretching away down Sycamore Street, has long since disappeared.

Mr. M. reached Sheffield via "Harrowgate" on Sept. 2nd, 1798. At the hotel in Harrogate, where he stayed presumably, he met Dr. Younge of Sheffield, who founded Sheffield Royal, Infirmary, and Mr. Dickson (Dixon), also of Sheffield, who no doubt persuaded Mr. M's party to include Sheffield in their itinerary.

Mr. M. describes in great detail the production of plated wire, which was a feature of Mr. Dixon's activities in the silver-plating trade. He also gives a graphic description of a visit to what is now the Nunnery Colliery Co's. coal mine. This stretched away right under the Don at Attercliffe, even reaching as far as the foundations of High Street and what is now the Cathedral Church.

The Angel Inn[1] at which Mr. M. and his party stayed was afterwards pulled down and succeeded by the building recently demolished, Outside on the wall was a carved figure of the Recording Angel blowing a trumpet, very beautifully executed by an Italian sculptor, Rossi. The writer possesses an old three-division gilt mirror, acquired some forty years since at a sale of interior fittings, being perhaps the only original remaining relic of this well known hostelry.

Not being satisfied with his quarters at the Angel, Mr. M. removed to the Tontine Inn,[2] where previously on his visit to Sheffield, the Hon. J, Byng also put up (June 12th, 1789).

This hotel, erected in 1785, was pulled down in the year 1850, the site now being occupied by the Sheffield Market Hall. Mr. M. calls attention to the very dirty, narrow streets in Sheffield; also he refers to there being only two churches, probably St. Peter's (now the Cathedral) and St. Paul's, recently pulled down. The Assembly Rooms stood at the corner of Norfolk Street and Bowling Green Lane (Arundel Street).

The Sheffield plated button and hollow-ware factory he visited on September 4th would probably be that of Daniel Holy & Co., established in Mulberry Street in 1776. Mr. "Dickson" was a manufacturer of silver-plated wire, the name of the firm being Mark Dixon, Silver Plated Wire Drawer, Wicker, Sheffield. In 1785, Mr. Dixon was joined in partnership by a Mr. Wilks of Birmingham, who was a former apprentice of Matthew Boulton. This firm's activity can be traced as late as middle nineteenth century. Mark Dixon was not connected either in business or family relationship with the firm of James Dixon & Sons of Cornish Place.

To whom the steel forge which the party visited belonged cannot be stated; most probably it would be situated somewhere in the neighbourhood of Neepsend.

F. Bradbury

SUNDAY SEPTR 2 (1798).

Left Wakefield, fine morning and charming ride to Millerdam, on the left of which is the seat of Sr. Thos. Pilkington, but the grounds only are visible from the road, from Leeds to this place which is 12 miles is a paved foot path, kept in nice Order, on the right of this place is the residence of Richd. Wightman Esqr. We changed horses at Barnesly. Bad Inn, we should have gone to Bank top a single house upon the summit of a Hill, which we descended, the road sandy and exceedingly bad and heavy, leaving Worsborough on the left we passed through Chapel Town and down a terrible steep hill into Sheffield, we drove to the Angel, which was recommended to us as the best Inn in the Town, on our alighting we were shewn into a small, close, dark and disagreeable room on the ground floor, which looked into a narrow dirty street but we refused to order any thing except they would accommodate us with a better room upstairs, they then conducted us into a good room on the first floor which they promised we should occupy during our stay.

We then ordered Supper, and I went to call on my friend Dr. Younge, who unluckily was gone to dine at his Country House, and Mr. Dickson not having arrived we sauntered about the town which was compleatly dirty, and strewed with Nutshells from one end to the other, as if all the inhabitants had been eating them the whole day.

Shops all shut, place extremely dull and not a person to be seen of a tolerable decent appearance, return to the Inn, sally out again and go into a Church, which was so hot and crowded that we could scarce advance beyond the door, returned home, supped in ill humour, but had scarce finished when the Doctor came in, and by his enlivening conversation and sprightly sallies, soon restored our spirits, and Mr. Dickson also joining our Party the time past merrily till midnight, when our friends left us, and we betook ourselves to the pillow, in tolerable good temper.

MONDAY SEPTR 3RD

Morning very wet, found on quitting the Chamber that Cloth was laid for dinner in our up stairs room, and we were again thrust into a confined place below stairs with the Sun shining directly upon it, for the Navigation Meeting was to be held in the Room we occupied and this was known when they promised it to us and therefore considering it as an imposition, we ordered our bill, paid it, and left the House, our Umbrella however arrived by the Mail, to our no small gratification, for to give is one thing but to lose by carelessness and inattention is another.

We went over to the Tontine Inn, - a spacious good House, rooms large and lofty and in a wide street, did not breakfast till noon, Our friends both visited us, and the Doctor conducted us to a Coal mine which we determined to see to the bottom, as it was not necessary to go down the shaft, but by a subterraneous passage, we entered it in a peculiar manner, they fastened two trucks together, such as they fill with Coals, these trucks have four low iron wheels each, which move in a groove of Iron fixed to the earth, they harnessed a Horse and placed him behind the trucks, with his head towards them not to draw us down, for the machines would have gone of themselves, but to prevent their going with too great velocity, which the steadiness of Old Ball compleatly secured, for they could proceed no faster than he chose to walk.

Mrs. M. and my daughter were in the first truck and the Doctor accompanied me in the second, and thus we proceeded with each a Candle in our hand through a narrow passage cut out of the coal just wide enough to admit the trucks and of sufficient height to prevent our heads from touching the top, down a steep descent to the distance of 750 yards passing under the bed of the river, a Man preceding us with a lighted rope and a boy driving the horse and another followed behind, the narrowness of the passage, the darkness of the place, the roughness of the carriage, the noise of the wheels, the trampling of the Horse, the hoarse voices of the Men, and even the uncommon sound of our own tongues reverberating through the conecave, produced a most astonishing, a singular effect.

When we arrived at the end of the pit, wealighted from our vehicles, and each of the Ladies dug a piece of Coal, which they bore away with them as a trophy, and proof of their valour and prowess. We now penetrated half double many yards farther until we reached the shaft when we found ourselves 100 yards below the surface of the earth and near half a mile from the place where we entered. During our stay here steady Ball was attached to the front carriage, and we having resumed our seats, our strong and steady Nag drew us safely from our dark and sooty cavern into the visible World again.

The Men declared that our Ladies were the first he ever knew to have descended into the pit; the Boy assisted us when we came out to wash, by procuring water &c for both face and hands bespoke where we had been, and a small gratuity to the young rogue made him exclaim I wish Ladies would come everyday!

At a little distance from the Mouth of this Pit, are furnaces for burning this Coal into Coke, it is kept 48 hours in these Kilns, and when it comes out and is cool it is irregular shaped, cracks and shivers to pieces, much resembling starch but in larger masses. This Coke as it is called is used in various manufactures where the Coal in its natural state cannot be applied.

The Doctor now being obliged to leave us, Mr. Dickson took his place, and introduced us to a steel forge. The hammer was moved by a Water wheel, and the Operator sate on a swinging bench suspended from the ceiling, a large bar of red hot Iron is put into his hand, the end of which he puts between the Anvil; and the hammer, his seat moving forward as the bar proceeds, it is soon extended to treble its length but losing in bulk, before he parts with one, another is whipped under, so that the hammer is at no time suffered to strike Anvil, which would inevitably break the face of it, a stream of water is constantly pouring upon the axis of the hammer to prevent its taking fire; It is difficult here which to admire most, the grandeur of the mechanism, the rapid motion of the hammer or the dexterity of the Workman, but the toute ensemble was compleat.

We next proceeded to Mr. Dicksons own Manufacture the plating and drawing wire, the operation of which is curious and wonderful, by means of fire they cover a cylindric piece of copper about 2 feet long and two inches diameter, with a thin plate of Silver and then draw it out by means of an horse mill, through a number of apertures gradually decreasing until they get it to the finess required which is often as small as the wires of an harpsichord. These apertures are made in a steel plate, but the most extraordinary part of this business is, that the first thin plate, which seems to bear no proportion to the thickness of the copper extends equally with it, and still covers every part, and appears like silver wire as no part of the copper is seen, altho' what was at first but two feet long is now perhaps extended to 200 yards.

They rub the wire with Bees Wax and I believe mixed with grease to make it pass smoothly through the hole, and at the end of each operation, it is put into a kind of oven, with a furnace on the side, so contrived as to fill the oven like part with flame, in this it remains until it acquires a red heat, which the workman carefully attends to, it is then immediately taken out and immerged in a Tub containing water impregnated with Vitriol and when cool, it is again applied to the engine to be further extended, and so on until they have got it to the size they want, a horse accustomed to this business knows exactly when the whole of the wire has passed and stops immediately of his own accord.

From hence we pursued our enquiries and entered another spacious building to see a blast forge, and luckily a few minutes before they began to tap, a term used for opening the Furnace to let out the fluid Metal. The fire in this furnace acquires its immense heat by means of two enormous bellows turned by a Water Wheel, which send forth a constant blast into the furnace that roars like the rushing of a large body of Water that has been pent up, on the opening of a flood gate.

On tapping the furnace the liquid fire rushed out and following the course assigned to it, through different channels flowed into various moulds appointed to receive it, so that in less than ten minutes we saw two large Cannon, two pipes for conveying water, and several smaller articles cast.

The Cannon when they come out of the mould, being all solid, we went to another part of the building to see the operation of Boring them, as it is impossible to make them true if cast hollow. Here again is another proof of the excellence of Mechanics, and the ingenuity of the Person who could apply the Mechanical powers to such great and admirable ends. The Lathe by which this boring is performed is turned by Water and the solid Metal yields to the power of the tool as readily as Soft Wood gives way to the instrument of the common Turner.

Our detention in the blast forge preserved us from a heavy shower of Rain that fell while we were there but which luckily abated before we came out, we now bent our course to a flatting and slitting Mill, here again the universal excellence of Mill work, and the great utility of a Water wheel is evidently manifest.

In a furnace there were a great number of bars iron about 2 feet and½ long and 2 inches broad, all perfectly red hot. A Man brought out one of these with a pair of Tongs, and applied one end between two rollers, another Man taking it in another pair of tongs as it passed through, which it did with rapidity and a treble increase of length; this Man applied the end again between two other Rollers which stood in a direct line with the first, on the other side of which it was received by another Man, cut into 7 or 8 strips & was then laid by to cool, the imperceptible manner in which this was done and the rapidity of the execution, struck us almost dumb with surprise, and we returned to our Inn to Dinner deeply impressed with the wonders we had seen.

On our way back, we had an excellent view of the Town of Sheffield enveloped in smoke, for the numerous manufactories most of which are performed by immense fires, keep the town in a perpetual cloud of smoke, and the streets as if paved with the surface of a Blacksmith Shop.

Sheffield has a fine stone bridge over the Don, another over the Sheaf, and two Churches. It extends about a mile from East to West and from North to South, better than a mile. There is an Hospital for poor People, called the Duke of Norfolk's Hospital which has a pretty Chapel attached to it, there are meeting-houses for Presbyterians, independents, Quakers and Methodists, and a Roman Catholic Chapel. There are also two hospitals, a charity school, a free grammar school, a Town Hall, a handsome assembly-room, and a commodious Theatre.

There are between six and seven hundred Master Cutlers who employ not less than 12,000 persons in the Iron manufacture, besides the plated Button making and other trades.

It has an excellent Market and accommodations for the Market people. Tuesday is market day, for Butter, Corn, Cattle, and fish. The Butchers shambles are very numerous and clean, all inclosed in a proper building and one good regulation is adopted here, which is that the Butchers are all obliged to kill their Meat in Slaughter Houses erected by the side of the river, next to which is a handsome stone wall, and on the opposite side places for holding the Live Cattle by which means the whole is removed from the view of the Town, as there is no thorough fare through the place, and the filth is immediately washed into the river, from each separate Slaughter House.

TUESDAY SEPTR. 4TH.

Rise early, Breakfast and visit the Metal Button Manufactory, and saw the whole process from the first plating of the Copper to the finishing of the Button, that is to say the punching out of the round piece, smoothing and then rounding the edge, fixing the shank by means of the blow pipe, punching instead of engraving the various figures upon them, inlaying with mother of Pearl, or precious stones, polishing and lastly, fixing them on cards for sale. A great part of this business is done by Women, and so expeditiously that it is wonderful how they can do it.

From this manufactory we went into a Shew Warehouse for plated Goods, and saw some elegant and curious articles of exquisite Workmanship, particularly 3 Urns of a new pattern on a handsome stand. One for Tea, a 2nd for Coffee and the third and largest for the Water and so contrived that the Cock turned into either of the smaller ones at pleasure.

Highly delighted with our mornings entertainment, we took leave of our friend Dr. Younge who was obliged to attend the Infirmary, and mounting into the chaise directed our Course towards Castleton, but before we had passed the Market, we discovered that one of the Horses was unable to perform the journey and we therefore made the Post boy go back and change it, during which time we were politely invited into the House of a Gentleman, who sent his servant to watch our baggage and Chaise, and with his Lady entertained us with their polite conversation.

The fresh Horse being put to the Chaise, we again resumed our seats, and moved slowly on through a pleasant but hilly road for 7 miles, the prospect being chiefly Hills, and altho' varying in form were principally barren Moors, particularly one- immense hill, that scarce afforded subsistence to a few poor sheep.

[1] Ebenezer Rhodes, writing in 1826, states the first stage coach in Sheffield, 1760, and first Coffee Room opened at the Angel Inn, 1765.

[2] In Reminiscences of Old Sheffield it is recorded that the Tontine was built on the site of Sheffield Castle Barns in 1785, and the people were amazed at the erection of such an important hotel. Twenty horses and five post boys were always ready when the yard bell rang, and in the courtyard a carriage and pair could be easily driven round. It was said to be the finest hotel in the kingdom at that time.