[nb-NO]Object number[nb-NO]
51/413
[nb-NO]Description[nb-NO]
This steel clay spade is part-fork, part-spade for use on soft clay soils, such as those in the hopfields of Kent. The origins of ths spade are unknown but spades like this were advertised in trade catalogues from 1914 as 'steel clay turning forks'.
[nb-NO]Physical description[nb-NO]
1 spade: metal
[nb-NO]Archival history[nb-NO]
MERL 'Catalogue index' card – 'This half-fork, half-spade type of steel clay digging spade was once commonly used on soft clayey soils as in the hopfields of Kent. The origin of this specimen is unknown, but it is possibly of no great age, as spades of this kind were frequently advertised in trade catalogues as recently as 1914, being described as ‘Steel Clay Turning Forks’. In that the blade has the edged tip of an ordinary steel spade, and the prongs of an ordinary fork, the implement combines the digging and clean cutting qualities of a spade and the soil turning qualities of a fork. The blade itself has square shoulders, thus providing a projection with which the spade can be pushed into the ground by the foot. The three steel prongs, 7 inches long are welded to a horizontal piece of metal at the tip which measures 6.5 inches in width and 2.2 inches in depth. The edge of this horizontal plate is sharpened so as to facilitate penetration into the soil. // From tip to shoulders the blade measures 9.2 inches. A rough wooden handle, 30.2 inches long, its bark still unstrapped is hafted into a hollow steel projection from the blade which is 12.2 inches long and a single screw fixes it. The total length of the spade from the tip to the top of the wooden handle is 45 inches.'
[nb-NO]Object name[nb-NO]
[nb-NO]Material[nb-NO]
