This page was going to start: “We know little about W.I. Horn except for a couple of directory entries”. Instead, with some persistent snooping, I have such a deluge of information relating to the affairs of Horn that I’ve moved the details and documents to a separate page. Please see that page for references and resources, I’ll refrain from adding citations on this page for that reason. The information about this maker is split between the location (Wisewood Works) and the Man (W.I. Horn) who owned several businesses in Sheffield.
Brief History
Wisewood Works & Forge (also called mill, rolling mill, etc) was a manufacturing location north of central Sheffield in an area known as Wisewood and alternatively Malin Bridge, Loxley Bottoms, & Wadsley. The modern area known as Wisewood is a bit off from the original area. I’ve yet to locate a start date for the Wisewood Works. The earliest ‘hard’ date for the works comes from a Sheffield Directory listing in 1833. It lists Horn’s businesses at both Wisewood and Bridge Street. In 1833 he would have been only 25 years old. Later directories list the same locations for 1841, 1846 and 1871.
To give an idea of the two locations I’ve plotted both on a Google Map:
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Here are two maps of the Bridge Street Works:
And several maps of the Wisewood buildings. Many of the maps are from after Horn’s death but duplicate the features in earlier maps, albeit in finer detail.
