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| We in the 20th century probably fail to
appreciate fully how much Victorian society relied on the horse. They were used on the
farm, of course, but it was in transport that they excelled Before the railways came to
our area - and then the automobile - it was the horse which kept Alcester and Alcestrians
in touch with the outside world. The censuses from 1841 to 1881 (see below) show how much the horse provided work for the inhabitants |
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The blacksmith were usually farriers, too, though the census enumerators made no distinction: the ostlers were attached to the inns which dealt with the carriages and stage coaches, though some grooms were kept by the wealthier citizens (doctors and the like): there had always been a good supply of saddle and harness makers in Alcester, for the leather industry had always had a prime position.
If we had not known that the railway came to the Arrow Valley in the 1860s, the census details would have suggested it. In 1871, 10 railway officials and workers were employed but with the second railway line to Bearley the numbers had risen to 14 by 1881. The iron horse had little effect on the natural one, for horse-drawn carriages and carts went on being made and serviced until right into our century.
| Alcester census of | 1841 | 1851 | 1861 | 1871 | 1881 |
| Connected with horse transport | |||||
| Blacksmiths &Wheelwrights | 11 | 11 | 3 | 10 | 8 |
| Grooms & Ostlers | 4 | 3 | 10 | 6 | 8 |
| Saddlers & Harness Makers | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 2 |
| Carriers | 5 | 3 | 2 | 2 | |
| Carters & Waggoners | - | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 |
| Coach Proprietor | 1 | - | - | - | - |
| Coachman & Mail Driver | 1 | 1 | - | 1 | 2 |
| Carriage Builders & Painters | - | - | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| Horse Breaker | - | 1 | - | 1 | - |
| Connected with Railways | - | - | - | 10 | 14 |
© Alcester & District Local History Society 1991
