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Linda Connor - 12/07/2010

This object is an example of one of the first manufactured iron nails.

I came across the nail when I re-used some beams from an old barn which burnt down. The barn was built in 1820 by soldiers returning from the Napoleonic wars. This nail outlines the change in nail manufacturing in Britain.

The barn is in the area which used to be Warwickshire but is now the West Midlands. This was one of the first examples of a manufactured nail. The soldiers were unskilled and it was easier to use the nail than the old fashioned wooden peg.

Around this time nail making in Birmingham was really important. A lot of nails were exported to the colonies to help with building there.

This nail was made by using a rolled piece of iron which was then cut and shaped. There was no head to the nail.

The emerging nail industry meant the original nail makers who made nails by hand suffered terrible hardship and they became redundant which led to riots and marches which had a lot of social consequences.