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This root chopper has a triangular metal blade with a wooden handle with a round knob at the end. This tool is also known as a ‘shepherd’s spade’. It was used for chopping roots such as mangels for animal feed, but it has also been suggested that it was used to dig holes for portable sheep hurdles. The donor acquired it from Toots Farm in Caversham, Reading, and assumed that it was probably used there.

1 root chooper: metal, wood

MERL 'Handwritten accession' form (Museum of English Rural Life) – 'Description: The metal blade is triangular shaped and well worn. It has a wooden handle with a round knob at the end. Also called a shepherd’s spade. // Dimensions: Length: 80.0 cm. // Associated information: Used for chopping roots such as mangels for animal feed [see attached Xerox which says that this tool was used for erecting fold hurdles]. Came from K. Annable, Toots Farms, 16 Darell Road, Caversham, Reading where it was presumably used. // References: Classified Information: LIVESTOCK sheep shepherds letter from Essex Countryside Jan. 1976.', Article, Reginald L. Sennitt of Southminster – ‘Unusual hand tool // Referring to your letter and photograph (October) the tool is a “shepherd’s spade.” It was used by sheep owners who always folded their sheep on arable land. It was used to dig a shallow hole for the hurdles, the opposite end being used as a rammer to consolidate the ground round the leg of the hurdle after erection. // Invariably the folds were moved twice a day and the tool in question was therefore in continuous use. // In South Staffs and East Essex, sheep, years ago, were seldom allowed free range. They fed back the young wheat, oats and barleys and ate such catch crops as mustard, rape and other leguminous plants throughout the year. They were kept as much for their manurial value as for the flesh and wool.’

Metal, Wood