When one of our new tenants was replacing a section of ceiling in their unit, they uncovered something between the joists of the unit above. It turned out to be over twenty items of old cutlery that seemed to have slipped (or been pushed) through gaps in the first-floor workshop floorboards. Along with them were some oddments of newspaper that dated back to the 1880s!
The items were in various stages of manufacture – some were clearly ‘rejects’ in some way, with heat damage, broken blades or tangs, but others looked complete. A few seemed to be worn in strange ways, leading us to believe that they had been re-used as tools: the suggestion is that they were used to dress the polishing wheels in the workshop, and to put more polishing compound on the wheels. There’s a mix of knives with and without handles which tends to confirm our supposition / information that Block D housed the hafting workshops.
The collection ranges from a tiny pair of scissors to a large carving knife. They have been prepared for display, and have been returned to the workshop where they were found.