Spear & Jackson

If there is one word that people associate with Sheffield it is steel. The city, (then a mere town) was known for the production of knives in the 14th century, and by 1600 had become the main centre for cutlery manufacture in England. In the 1740s, a form of the crucible steel process was discovered that allowed the manufacture of better quality steel, and this innovation spurred the growth of Sheffield as an industrial town. It was not long after - in 1760 - when the foundations of one of the city's best known firms, and one synonymous with steel; Spear & Jackson, were laid.