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Gornall Patent Cheese Maker,

Joseph Gornall (Designer)

This cheese vat, patented in 1892 as the ‘Gornall Patent Cheesemaker’, was used for making Lancashire cheese. There is an embossed iron plate above the handle which reads ‘J. Gornall No 13671 Patent Cheese Maker’. It consists of a cylindrical vat with a perforated lid, which is suspened by means of iron rods in a four-wheeled trolley which supports the vat an enables it to be moved easily from place to place. After letting the curd settle in the vat, the cylinder would be turned to drain out the excess whey. The vat was used by the donor at Plankton Farm in Hambleton, Lancashire.

1 Gornall cheese vat: metal (tinned); wood (soft); good conditionInscription on vat: 'J. Gornalls Patent Cheese Maker No. 13671'

Lancashire Lantern – ‘Lancashire Pioneers // Joseph Gornall - Lancashire's "Mr Cheese"// Joseph made quality cheese and in 1892 patented the "Gornall Patent Cheesemaker". // His aim in designing a new cheesemaker, as the patent explains, was to reduce the amount of labour needed when draining the whey from the curd. // He describes its use in “Lancashire Cheese-Making”: // “After letting the curd settle, fasten the cloth over the opening, and put on the perforated lid. Having taken all the water from the cistern, turn the cylinder gradually till the lid is underneath the curd….After being turned down one side, turn back and down the other side…The curd should then be sufficiently dry to cut into blocks, and be lifted out with the hands into the drainer". // It was a successful design, and was used by many of Lancashire's cheesemakers. The most popular model was the fifty gallon edition which cost £9.5s in 1903, although cheesemakers with a capacity of up to 90 gallons were also available. // Despite the number of “Gornall's Patent Cheesemaker's” in use during the first half of the twentieth century only a very few have survived. Joseph also designed and sold various cheese making tools including curd knives and cheese moulds, the tinwork being made by Singletons of Garstang. // Joseph encouraged farmers to keep detailed records “especially the temperature of the dairy and the milk at night, and the night's milk in the morning” which had an important influence on the quality and nature of the milk and thus the cheese produced.’ (http://www.lancashirepioneers.com/gornall/cheese.asp), MERL ‘History Artefacts’ card – ‘Description: The vat is more or less cylindrical and has a large perforated lid which closes by means of wire catches. The vat is suspended by means of iron rods in the trolley. At one end is an iron handle with wooden end to rotate the vat. There are two catches which can be locked onto a cog to keep the vat upright when necessary. // The trolley supports and transports the vat. It has wooden ends lined with metal and the rest is metal except for the two wooden side pieces which are extended to form handles and the wooden base, to which are fixed the four iron supports and four wheel with two axels. These enable the whole unit to be moved easily from place to place. There is a brass drainage tap below the handle to enable the trolley to be emptied. // Use: For making Lancashire cheese.’

Garstang

1875-01-01 - 1899-12-31

Late-nineteenth century

Wood, Metal

Gornall, Joseph (Inventor)