44 History Of Locks
The County of Lock Origin
A region of England east and north of Birmingham, with an undefined boundary and where
a seam of coal, up to 30 feet thick is found close to the surface became known as The Black
Country. As far as lockmaking is concerned Willenhall was its epicentre but included Bilston,
Darlaston, Dudley, Wednesbury, West Bromwich and Wolverhampton, amongst others.
»»The name of the region
‘The Black Country’ is first
coined and appears as
industrialisation gets into full
swing during the late Georgian
period, certainly by the start of
the Victorian era.
Smiths though, specialising in
locks, were well established in
the region during Elizabethan
times. This was where locks
were made with great skill and
complexity but relied primarily
on the basic fixed ward. The
well-off had a key where the
master of the house could open
all of his locks but the servants
could only open the doors under
their particular charge. The fixed
ward had weaknesses which
succumbed to skeleton keys, and
some interesting supplements
were sometimes added.
One popular addition to locks
was a bell or chimes to warn
that a lock was being operated,
another was a counting device
where the master could tell how
many times the lock had been
operated. In some more extreme
or bizarre locks, there were
stilettos or darts powered by
^ A contemporary image
of the Black Country,
described as “black by
day and red by night”.
powerful springs which would
activate if the lock was tampered
with. It’s worth mentioning here
that the term skeleton key is
only applicable to those locks
that have fixed wards; later locks
that have levers are unaffected
by the skeleton key principle.
So, the region with Willenhall
at its heart became the centre
of lockmaking in England
with many firms choosing to
set up their business here to
take advantage of the local
lockmaking skills.
Take Chubb for example.
Both Jerimiah and Charles were
originally from Fordin