William Foster Anvil

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– William Foster Anvil

William Foster Anvil circa 1860

This is the classic English anvil of the period looking very much like a Mousehole Forge and other English anvils of the time. This was probably near the peak of English anvil manufacturing and exporting with many large and small manufacturers in the business. The trade had been established long enough that many workers changed who they worked for and manufacturing techniques and styles became more uniform.

This anvil is built from pieces of wrought iron and has a thick steel plate welded to the top that also forms the characteristic English step. The weakness of this style anvil is the horn which is butt welded onto the body. Many of these have broken off resulting in fantasy stories about how it happened or feats of great strength.