51/15

A oak fork used in making beer. It was either used to clean out the mashing tun after brewing, or for mixing and shifting drying hops.
This five tine oak fork was used in making beer. It was either used to clean out the mashing tun after brewing, or for mixing and shifting drying hops.

1 fork: wood (oak)

MERL 'catalogue index' card - FORK (Wooden) // DATE ACQUIRED: January 1951 // GROUP: PROCESSING - Hops - Beer // NEGATIVE: 35/209 // PERIOD: Unknown // PLACE OF ORIGIN: The H. J. Massingham Collection // NUMBER: 51/15M // DESCRIPTION: The origin of this 5 tine for is unknown, but it was probably used either for cleaning out the mashing tun after brewing or more probably it was used in hop drying for mixing and shifting the drying hops. It consists of a wooden handle 33.5 inches long at the top of which is a T shaped hand grip. The handle is bolted onto the fork head by two sets of nuts and bolts. The head itself consists of a wooden shoulder at right angles to the handle, which is 14.4 inches in length. Mortised into the shoulder are the five tines, again with five sets of nuts and bolts giving them extra rigidity. The tines are 15.5 inches, 16 inches, 15 inches, 15.2 inches and 14 inches respectively from left to right, the different lengths being due to wear in use., MERL list / description [Massingham Collection, October 1989] – 'ACC. NO.: 51/15 // NAME: WOODEN FORK // NEG NO.: 35/209 // STORAGE: '

Massingham, H. J. (Harold John) (Donor)