These comprise a single storey range containing two forges set back from the road and a two storied block to the north at right angles to the road with its front edge on the road line. Construction generally is of softwood studded walls covered with painted weather-hoarding externally with continuous ranges of windows and with corrugated sheet steel roofs. The rear wall of the forges is in 215 mm thick brickwork. A later single storey extension to the rear contains remains of under-floor line shafting by which power from an electric motor was transferred to woodworking machinery. A brick-built cottage adjacent to the forge to the south was built in 1906 and is still occupied by the grandson of the founder.
The
ground storey of the two storied block was used for carriage building,
the paint and varnish shops being on the first floor. Access to the latter for carriages
requiring painting was obtained by a
hoist which is still extant although not used for many years. This consists
of a platform 3.96 x 2.51 m
on plan with 50 x 100 mm joists and a 63 x 200 mm
edging member suspended from a single 100 x 200 mm oak beam by
four 25 mm diameter iron rods. The
beam is in turn suspended by a rope through a double pulley system
and connected to a cast iron hand-operated winch with a mechanical
advantage of 10. Three similar
winches are still to be seen on Brighton beach and were used for
hauling fishing boats up the
beach.
The firm survived until
March 1988 when Rodney John Bassett, grandson of the founder finally
decided at the age of 80 that he had to give up the forge. He started
work in the family business at the age of 14 and completed his apprenticeship
as a farrier at the age of 19, and in the course of his long working
life had many strange and comical tasks including that of shoeing a Shetland
pony from a circus accompanied by an elephant. His father did not believe
in holidays and he was only allowed three weeks off in 44 years.
A
billhead of the firm shows the range of vehicles which were then being
built before the First World War.
I am indebted to Mr Rodney Bassett for the help and information
he has given me."
