The upper scouring mill is still as it was when it was decommissioned, this was used in the nineteenth century to clean the needles after they had been hardened, the evidence for this is that the machines still work. All of this has not been changed so as to educate others to the dreadful working conditions of the time and to educate about needle making. This is interpreted well because it is kept pretty much as it was at the end of the nineteenth century and all the dust and grime that would have been there when it was active are still there today. I know that this evidence is accurate because there is a lot of primary evidence at the site for example the building itself. The scouring mill a show good development of the working conditions because is contains the machines used to do the scouring but also some of the earlier equipment used as well.
The basement was used to do many things, the final polish of the needles after they had been hardened, this was the forge mill's main job, the machines that were used still function today although they are too expensive to have running all the time. The conditions in the scouring mill were dark, dank, dusty and, in the winter, very cold and wet. Another thing that the basement was used for pointing the needles, this was an arduous process that was very damaging to the health of the pointers. The basement also housed the water-wheel which was the single most important piece of equipment at the mill as it powered the mill. The basement has a good interpretation. This is shown in all the equipment that was used at the time and is still in working order today. The interpretation is accurate and it is shown in the machines that have been kept and the water-wheel that has been kept running. The purpose of the basement was to house the water wheel and to do the final polish of the needles after scouring.
The evidence from the mill has been interpreted in a way that makes it seem as if it could be used today and would work for the intended purpose, this is a good thing because is shows an accurate representation of how people worked in the nineteenth century. The interpretation of the mill seems accurate as the mill still stands and there are engravings of the work of the mill and written accounts, also, which help to paint a mental picture of the conditions of the mill.
The development of mill life is shown be the machines that were used as the industry developed from simple hand tools to large machines that were not popular with the workers because, the thought that since they were safer they would decrease their wages, this was the case for pointers in particular, originally only hand tools would have been used in needle manufacture, the working conditions of the mill continued to be dreadful because of all the metal dust floating about.
In conclusion the interpretation of the Forge Mill Needle Museum is a good one because the buildings that the primary evidence is drawn from are all still standing and in the same condition as they were when the needle industry went out of business.
