How long has man been turning wood? Almost certainly longer than we have evidence for! What did the first lathe look like? We are not sure, but we can come to a reasonable conclusion bearing in mind the materials and technology available. There are just a few early illustrations that give us some insight plus the continuing use of simple technology in parts of the under-developed world.

One thing is certain, all early lathes would have been of the reciprocal variety, that is to say, the material to be turned would have been supported between two centres and spun backwards and forwards in some way. Many people will be familiar with this concept via the ‘pole lathe’ as it is still used today by certain traditional chair makers, both amateur and professional, and can often be seen demonstrated at various craft events.

The earliest illustration of a lathe is from a well known Egyptian wall relief carved in stone in the tomb of Petosiris dated some 300 BC. As with many Middle Eastern and eastern lathes of this type it was operated at ground level, in this case by two men. One man provides the power by pulling backwards and forwards on a cord or leather strap wrapped around the work piece while the turner sits opposite with his chisel on the tool rest. Due to standard Egyptian artistic convention each element of the lathe is depicted in the most comprehensible manner for the observer. This results in a misleading depiction as it appears to show a vertical lathe when in fact what is intended is a horizontal strap lathe.

Of a similar period, the Iron Age inhabitants of the Glastonbury Lake villages have been shown to be very competent woodturners. Excavations show these English West Country Celts to have produced some quite sizeable turned artefacts such as spokes and hubs for wheels. Mallets, bowls, tool handles as well as smaller items like stoppers for jars. These are all items recovered by amateur archaeologist Arthur Bullieid and Harold St George Gray over a century ago. No actual lathe evidence was discovered and so one can only make assumptions. Bow lathes could have been used for the smaller artefacts but turning wheel hubs would require more power than would probably be available from a bow lathe. It is almost certain that either pole or strap lathes were used to produce the larger items.

It is a drawing, or rather a simple sketch (see the drawing to the right) by the Italian genius Leonardo Da Vinci C.1480 that affords us our first glimpse of what an early treadle wheel lathe looked like. The main elements required for foot propelled continuous rotation is clearly shown for the first time; the flywheel, crank and treadle. It was the crank, in conjunction with the flywheel that provided a huge technological advance (the principal is still used in our modern internal combustion engines). The crank, linked to a treadle provided constant rotation whilst the momentum of the large flywheel ensured the crank was carried over it’s ‘dead spot’. The sketch also shows an adjustable tailstock with a threaded cranked handle.

Many of Leonardo’s inventions have been put to the test in recent times, indeed a number of them, such as his hang glider have been the subject of absorbing television documentaries. Because it appeared that no one had previously attempted to recreate the great mans lathe, to see if it was a viable and practical machine, the Worshipful company of Turners decided that such a project would be a fitting part of their quarto-centenary celebrations.

I was commissioned to recreate the lathe in time for the June exhibition, ‘Wizardry in Wood’, held at the Pewterers Hall, London. Although the concept is very simple, with the original being a collaboration between turner and blacksmith, the end result is a surprisingly powerful machine. The kinetic energy produced via foot treadle and flywheel is amazing. This is only one small step in historical science but we have proved that yet again Leonardo got there first, and yes it does work!

Photos of Leonardo Da Vinci’s lathe, as reconstructed by Stuart King

Reconstruction starts using traditional tools >>

Boring a hole with an auger to take the crankshaft >>

Detail of the crankshaft >>

Sixty revolutions per minute >>

A small bowl turned with a hook tool >>

Tuition at the Wizardry in Wood exhibition 2004 © Worshipful Company of Turners >>

Stuart King proves that Leonardo got it right © Worshipful Company of Turners >>

A tribute to Leonardo Da Vinci by stuart King, a plaque turned from oak and lime and pyrographed >>

A long winding country road slowly dissolves uphill into the main street of Sieffen where private homes and small shops share the roadside. Everywhere are large carved, turned and painted wooden signs, many of them animated, pronouncing proudly the local toy making tradition. At the village centre is the church, which itself features in some of the toys. All around are small factories and workshops, some built in the Alpine style of the region.

One has to ask the inevitable question, how did this toy making tradition start? To find the answer we have to travel back to the 14th century with the discovery of metal ores, especially silver and tin. The rich mountain towns such as Annaberg and Marienberg were founded upon the riches extracted from the Erzgebirge mines. By the middle of the 17th century mining was in decline although the last mine to close in Sieffen was in 1849.

Miners were familiar with wood, it grew all around them, it was used in the mineshafts, to build mining machinery and for their wooden houses. As a pass-time, they carved wood through the long winter nights into figures depicting their own mining community and those around them. Figures in traditional costume holding and working with the tools of their trade were very popular.

Coinciding with the major decline in mining was the introduction of pillow lace making. In 1571 one Barbara Uthmann was employing over 900 women making lace, there were approximately 10,000 by the end of the 16th century and by 1845 the figure peeked at 40,000. Pillow lace requires up to 100 wooden bobbins per worker, that’s a lot of bobbins and a lot of work for the lathe. The first documented woodturner in Seiffen was described as a maker of plates and spindles (bobbins?). A turner from Seiffen is known to have travelled to Leipzig fair as early as 1690 and from the mid 18th century ‘goods from Sieffen were well known on the European market.

By this time figures and toys comprising of a number of turned elements rather than purely carved items were well established and from 1810 the ‘discovery’ of ‘hoop’ (ring) turning enabled the toy makers to extend their range considerably. Turning profiled rings that could be sliced into many single animal shapes to produce farm yard and Noah’s Ark toys efficiently added greatly to the toy maker’s repertoire.

It is perhaps the ‘smoking man’, or ‘manikin’, that really brings out the essence of the characters of the area. These small figures represent the traditional occupations of the region over the last few hundreds of years, miners of course, but also peasants’, itinerant salesmen, village sweep and postman. The one thing all these manikins have in common is that they smoke a pipe. A traditional German carol starts with; a man with nothing in his mouth is a poor type. And never will a man among us be seen without a pipe… This is a reference to the ubiquitous habit of smoking among men at the time. These smoking men are made in two sections and when the top half is lifted, usually at the waist, a metal cup is revealed. A fragrant ‘candle’ is placed on the cup and lit. The two halves are reunited and soon perfumed smoke emanates from the figure’s mouth, there is no flame, the ‘candle’ just smoulders slowly.

Much of the Seiffen toy makers’ production is concentrated on the Christmas market. Indeed, the Village itself is one large festival during the three weeks leading up to Christmas. With new fallen snow reflecting the lanterns and candles of the evening processions to the church from where traditional music is played and carols are sung, the place is thronging with visitors who want to celebrate the festive season in a truly wonderland setting.

Many of you will be familiar with the so-called ‘Christmas Pyramids’ incorporating piers of seasonal figures such as angels, the nativity, and musicians, all set in motion by the rising warm air from decorative candles turning the horizontal fan at the top. These were made from the early 1800s to decorate the local’s own houses, not till 1902 were they first produced commercially. Over the years they have become more elaborate, made possible due to the many lathe turned components. Since the 1930s some communities have built giant versions several metres high in the town squares as part of their seasonal celebrations.

To ensure all this is secured for the future Sieffen hosts a school of toy making. It is furnished with first class machinery; a whole shop is devoted to woodturning and boasts a long bank of lathes that would be the envy of most in the teaching profession. The second shop comprises of every machine required in the manufacture of toys. The students normally attend for three years after which they are fully grounded in the trade and are eagerly sought after by the local manufacturers. The school, which on my visit appeared to have an equal number of boys and girls, is sponsored by the local Toy Makers Guild.

Sieffen boasts a wonderful museum covering the whole history of the region. The collection is displayed on two floors and is a must for anyone interested in the history of woodturning and toy making. There are reconstructed rooms representing a toy maker’s living quarters and a ‘hoop turners’ workshop plus a collection of antique lathes.

Never have I been in a town or village where it appears the whole community is involved in the production of so many diverse objects made of so many components, but with a common theme, and all based upon a long tradition. What impressed me is the attention to design and standard of finish of everything these craftspeople produce, be it a small tree decoration or the most expensive ‘Pyramid’. What is more, the people in the Erzgebirge Mountains are proud of their history and do all they can to promote and protect it. Long may they do so.

One of the earliest recorded woodturners was Nicholas Baylye who married in 1597 and there has been an unbroken succession of Baylyes (Baly, Bailey) employed in woodturning right through to the 1940s. In 1712 the writer Morton wrote, ‘there is scarce a town in England wherein this sort of handicraft is so much professed and is managed with so much dexterity’. Morton also noted that ‘wooden spoon making was a distinct trade’, but the handles of the spoons would have been turned. The 1762 militia list describes 26 of it’s able bodied men as woodturners. The major output of these Woodturners was domestic woodware, and up to the early 19th century probably only serving a fairly localized market.

Kings Cliffe still typifies the quintessential English village. A fine church dominates winding streets lined with a mix of fine mellow stone houses and humble cottages. The mill still stands by the trout stream, farms and meadows and an old pub (now a private house) called the ‘Turners Arms’ still survive. By the early 19th century the population of the village had nearly doubled from 876 (1801) to 1,407 by 1851 reflecting the growing prosperity of what was by now becoming a small market town. The census for that year reflected the importance timber played in the local economy. Recorded were; 3 timber merchants, 8 sawyers, 8 wheelwrights, 6 Carpenters, and 37 Turners. Of these, 5 bore the name of Bailey and all but 4 of the 37 were born in the village, an indication of the indigenous nature of the trade. When Mr. Levi Dixon entered the trade aged 12 in 1844 he did his apprenticeship on a pole lathe although by this time the wheel lathe would have been more commonly used.

The populace was keen to have the railway stop at the village, which it did in 1879. A local newspaper, in petitioning for the railway stated in 1860, ‘if we turn to the woodware we see that hampers of it have to be bumped about on the road and half spoilt before they get to Stamford and Oundle markets’.

Writing in 1909 a Mr. EE Sibley wrote of a hawker named William Daking who died in 1840 aged 85. ‘It was his custom to purchase the woodware made by the Kings Cliffe turners, load up his donkeys with it and journey into different parts of the British Isles selling these wares, returning to Cliffe for fresh supplies or ordering them to be sent to different parts of the country. Dakin drove such a thriving business that he amassed a considerable fortune—. In those days the wood turning industry in Kings Cliffe was very flourishing, not only were large firms employing numerous journeymen, but there was a lathe in almost every house in the village (a slight exaggeration).The turner made great stocks of turnings in the winter months and in the spring the hawkers would arrive and practically clear the workshops and their stores. Bailys and others used to take wagon loads of articles to Peterborough Bridge fair, but the hawkers who went on the road from town to town or village to village were the main support of the Kings Cliffe industry’.

The woodware trade reached it’s height around the mid 1800s and by 1900 only 6 woodturners were still at their lathes. Pole lathes and Wheel lathes were both used. Some gas and steam driven machines are also said to have been utilized in the late 19th century.

The businesses were organized in small family units, they eventually being left to the eldest son who would have served his 7-year apprenticeship under his farther. This was the case with the Bailey family. Eighth generation woodturner John Bailey (1800-1858), also landlord of the Red Lion pub left his woodturning and carving business, J Bailey and son, to his eldest son John (1829-99). Another son, Thomas, also worked for the family firm for a time. Eventually Thomas became landlord of the Turners arms pub, this had an adjoining workshop at the rear. In due course Thomas left the pub tenancy and his woodturning business to his son William Henry Bailey (1868-1941) who eventually became the last woodturner in Kings Cliffe.

The type of woodware produced over the centuries would have changed in response to the varying demand and fashions. Little is recorded of the earlier output but such domestic items as Salts, cups and goblets, platters, dairy utensils and bowls would have been the mainstay. Wooden bowls were sometimes referred to as ‘basins’ locally when used for washing purposes. A specialty of Kings Cliffe was tiered spice boxes, each section being referred to as a ‘lift’. Each ‘lift’ or compartment was screw threaded varying from three to six compartments. These Sycamore spice boxes were produced in three diameters and in 1906 J Bailey and Son were wholesaling them from 7 shillings (35p) to 24 shillings (£1-20p) per dozen. In response to a bet one turner turned 417 eggcups in 8 hours, turning 63 during a one-hour period! Wooden spoons were still being produced by the tens of thousands, indeed Kings Cliffe was known for a long time as, ‘the wooden spoon’ village.

The favorite materials for turning appears to be Sycamore and Lime, but most local timbers were utilized including Maple, Beech, whitethorn, Birch, Chestnut, and Alder. Oak was used in the making of more expensive items such as candlesticks and Boxwood for the very best butter prints. Much of the work was turned ‘in the round’ from 6’ – 8’ (2-2 ½ m) long coppice or branch wood 3”- 6” (75mm-150mm) diameter. To aid drying it was shaved (debarked) and stored for a time under cover.

Apart from ‘between centres’ spindle turning, ‘Cup chucks’ were the normal method of holding blanks. The seasoned timber was sawn to length, then trimmed to size using a ‘peg knife’ (stock knife) hinged to a solid wooden block standing on 4 legs. The inside of the cup chuck was rubbed with chalk to aid grip as the turning blank was tapped into it. Few turning tools survive but those that do illustrate how basic they were. There seems to be a preference for short handles, sharpening being done on a hand cranked stone wheel. Boring in the end of such items as candlesticks was done using a hand held boring bit fixed in a block of wood shaped to fit in the palm of the hand.

In the nineteenth century other materials such as cheap metal, china and glass goods were increasingly challenging Items made from wood. Responding to these changes the turners of Kings Cliffe began to specialize in items like carved butter prints and breadboards. In 1887 J Baileys received an order from Queen Victoria for a butter print with the royal coat of arms carved in boxwood. Taps and spigots for the brewery industry were made in by the thousand. There were 16 distinct operations involved with their manufacture with a skilled turner making between 2 and 3 dozen a day depending on size. Napkin rings, ladies powder bowls, egg cups, sugar sifters and candle sticks and similar items were made for the growing number of fancy goods shops. One turner, J. Ventross Green specialized in the making of toys.

During the second half of the 19th century there seems to be a shift away from dealing with the itinerant hawkers to working for more organized dealers, village men who worked in and knew the trade well. Firms like J Bailey and sons who collected orders from both wholesalers and retailers around the country and in turn organized the work to be produced by the local craftsmen. One member of the firm, Mr. A. Bailey would collect the orders from the turners. After inspecting and rejecting those that were not to standard he would carry out any carving that was required, particularly on breadboards and butter prints. Much of this work was then dispatched by train to the wholesale firm of McFarlane, Glasgow.

Of the 6 remaining wood turners still operating by 1906 one of the best known was William. H. Bailey, at the ‘Turners Arms, still serving beer by night and turning during the daylight hours in the adjoining earth floored stone workshop that was originally built in 1698. Apart from the usual woodware items William produced painted wooden eggs, thousands of them. These were imitation Pheasant, Partridge and Quail eggs used in the hatcheries to encourage the game birds to lay during the breeding season. ‘Pathe News’ featured William turning these eggs C.1936 as part of a feature on Kings Cliffe.

Another everyday item William turned for the local population was clothes pegs in Ash and Sycamore, some of these were discovered quite recently at the ‘Turners Arms’. In 1937 William devised what he called the ‘coronation whistle’. This became very popular in the locality by those with a sense of humor. It consisted of an eggcup like base with a threaded lid incorporating an extension that formed the mouthpiece to the whistle. Some small holes were bored in the front top of the lid, Fingers were held over these to blow the instrument. When handed to an unsuspecting ‘victim’ they would invariable hold it by the base and upon blowing the ‘whistle’ flour or soot was blown through the holes to cover their face. Simple fun at the ‘Turners Arms!

There are still descendants of the old woodturning families living in the village, Baileys, Buckland, Sharp and Dixon, but there is very little in the way of artifacts to be found amongst them or in the locality considering the long tradition of woodturning in the village.

I recently visited the old ‘Turners Arms’ (a private residence) and was invited by the present owners to view William Bailey’s old wood turning shop which is now a studio. Outside, the Oak beam still protrudes from the stone wall from which the pub sign used to hang. Painted on one side was the coat of arms of ‘’The Worshipful Company of Turners’. Next year is the 400th anniversary of the Worshipful Company and it is planed to have a new ‘turners arms’ sign hanging from the old building next year in commemoration. This will be the only physical evidence to visitors to Kings Cliffe of 4 centuries of wood turning.