The History of English Cutlery

The History of Cutlery in England Part 1

Cutlery has been made in England for generations and the the world over with the famous Parish Patterns being copied by cutlery manufacturers all over the world. 

1. Definition of the words Cutlery and Flatware

Strictly speaking “cutlery” means "knives ".  Forks and spoons are “flatware” but we, in the U.K.,tend to refer to all eating items as “cutlery”.  “Cutlery” comes from the Latin for “knife” which is “cultellus”.  This became “cultllerie” in Middle English, during the time of Chaucer.

2. Early Use of Knives

     “Fingers were made before forks” or so the saying goes. This of course is true and as far back as the Stone Age people were using flint knives to hack their meat into pieces so they could eat it..  Later knives were made from metal.  They were used by soldiers and hunters as weapons in addition  to cutting  meat.

3.Sheffield Knives

We know that knives were being made in Sheffield as early as the 12th century because Edward 111 mentioned  a Sheffield  knife in his will and Chaucer mentions  a Sheffield knife in the Reeve’s Tale.
     Sheffield was ideally situated for knife making because there were rivers to drive water wheels, coal and iron ore were available and so was millstone grit for grinding wheels.

4.Cutlery in the Middle Ages and the use of Spoons
        At the table in the Middle Ages meat was cut into chunks with a knife and the rest of the food was torn and eaten with the fingers.  People drank soups and stews from bowls before spoons came into use as a table item in England..

     Spoons had been used in Egypt and Rome.  They were mentioned in the Bible in the Book of Exodus.  They were originally carved from wood or the horns of cattle. The first English ones were probably based on those used by Roman soldiers but they were regarded as a cooking, and not an eating, implements. By the fourteenth century many were cast from bronze, brass or pewter or sheet tin. Eventually the spoon for eating was developed from this cooking implement.  People carried their own knife and spoon.  It was seen as the responsibility of guests to provide their own. The spoon was hung from the belt.

     This is probably how the tradition of giving a spoon to a baby as a gift arose because everyone had to carry their own and  it became traditional to give a spoon and later a little set of cutlery as a Christening gift to a child.

5. Forks

  Forks were being used in Venice at the time of the Crusades for eating but they did not catch on in England. An English traveller called Thomas Croyatt tried to introduce forks from Italy but was ridiculed. No one was interested.  It was easier to use the fingers!

      Here in England often two knives were used; one to hold the meat steady while the other was used to hack it into pieces.  The two pronged fork eventually evolved from this.

     People still usually  carried their own knife for self defence and cutting up food. 

(continued in Part 2)