I do a lot of travel to various medieval sites like castles and often times these castles will have actual blacksmith shops or simulated blacksmith shops inside. It is an interesting and informative way to learn about medieval life. Anyway, here are some pictures of some of these shops.

This first series of pictures is inside Hammond Castle.

The owners of the castle were purported to be very interested in the occult and there are some very mysterious things about it. I have more about the castle here: About Hammond Castle. And I have more about some of the weapons and armor in the castle here: Weapons and armor of Hammond Castle.

The Tower and the Blacksmith Shop

The castle has several towers and one of the towers has three floors. On the first floor up is the Dungeon and on the second floor up is the armory and blacksmith shop. On the far end of the armory is a door to the blacksmith shop. Picture shown at left.

People aren't allowed to go into the shop but through the grates we can get a good look and I have taken some pictures to show you a pretty typical set up for a smith.

The picture below shows the blacksmith's bench with a variety of tools, tongs and jigs. You can also see a large drawing of armor. Maybe this was used as a guide by the smith? Or maybe it is just for showing visitors to the castle. To the right of this bench is the forge.

The picture below shows the forge.

Above the workbench is a shelf with a variety of blacksmith made items including helmets, gauntlets and weapons.

RESOURCES AND MORE

The Backyard Blacksmith: Traditional Techniques for the Modern Smith

There is an increasing interest and revival in the art of blacksmithing as a hobby and art, and both men and women are becoming at-home blacksmiths. Blacksmithing is a simple, rewarding craft anyone can enjoy in their backyard or home workshop -- even beginners can produce useful and beautiful projects on their first try.