DOI article:
Macdonald, Stuart: The early threshing machine in Northumberland
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49000#0187
THE THRESHING MACHINE
i77
Fig.9. Motive power of threshing machines not
driven by horses 1816-1830.
Triebkraft der nicht von Pferden gezogenen
Dreschmaschinen 1816-1830.
Fig. 10. Motive power of threshing machines not
driven by horses 1831-1850.
Triebkraft der nicht von Pferden gezogenen
Dreschmaschinen 1831-1850.
of Northumberland in 1852, 4 had no tillage
and therefore no threshing, 8 had water-pow-
ered machines, 4 had horse-powered and 5
were described as being of such small extent
that the flail was still used.
The Diffusion of Threshing Machines in
Northumberland. It is difficult to guage how
rapidly threshing machines came into use. Bai-
ley and Culley had, as noted, described them
as ‘genera? in the northern parts of the Coun-
ty by 1797 (Bailey and Culley 46). Three later
sources - Cobbett in 1832, Grey in 1841 and
Colbeck in 1847 - have in common the disqui-
eting factor that each was seeking to show
how very progressive Northumberland agri-
culture was (Cobbett 714; Grey 2, 178; Col-
beck 424). The threshing machine, regarded as
an epitome of agricultural improvement, may
well have been claimed to have been more
common than it in fact was.
J.A.Hellen has constructed a distribution
map of Northumberland wheelhouses (Rit-
chie 69), found either by fieldwork or on the
2nd edition 25 inch Ordnance Survey sheets
(1896-8), on which are marked the locations
of some 575 wheelhouses in existence at the
end of the 19th century (Hellen 145). Hellen
found a considerable number of wheelhouses
situated above the 500 foot contour in areas
i77
Fig.9. Motive power of threshing machines not
driven by horses 1816-1830.
Triebkraft der nicht von Pferden gezogenen
Dreschmaschinen 1816-1830.
Fig. 10. Motive power of threshing machines not
driven by horses 1831-1850.
Triebkraft der nicht von Pferden gezogenen
Dreschmaschinen 1831-1850.
of Northumberland in 1852, 4 had no tillage
and therefore no threshing, 8 had water-pow-
ered machines, 4 had horse-powered and 5
were described as being of such small extent
that the flail was still used.
The Diffusion of Threshing Machines in
Northumberland. It is difficult to guage how
rapidly threshing machines came into use. Bai-
ley and Culley had, as noted, described them
as ‘genera? in the northern parts of the Coun-
ty by 1797 (Bailey and Culley 46). Three later
sources - Cobbett in 1832, Grey in 1841 and
Colbeck in 1847 - have in common the disqui-
eting factor that each was seeking to show
how very progressive Northumberland agri-
culture was (Cobbett 714; Grey 2, 178; Col-
beck 424). The threshing machine, regarded as
an epitome of agricultural improvement, may
well have been claimed to have been more
common than it in fact was.
J.A.Hellen has constructed a distribution
map of Northumberland wheelhouses (Rit-
chie 69), found either by fieldwork or on the
2nd edition 25 inch Ordnance Survey sheets
(1896-8), on which are marked the locations
of some 575 wheelhouses in existence at the
end of the 19th century (Hellen 145). Hellen
found a considerable number of wheelhouses
situated above the 500 foot contour in areas