It seems extraordinary that for such a common and universal implement, the questions of what, why, where and when may be answered easily, obviously, probably and unknown. A wheelbarrow consists basically a box mounted on two handles and a single wheel, in many versions with a pair of legs.
True, one suggestion is that wheelbarrows were invented to teach politicians to walk on their hind legs. However, the more likely explanation is that it was fashioned as a labour-saving device to transport heavy or large loads. Prior to this such materials could only be transported on stretcher-like devices requiring two men, as shown in medieval European illustrations.
Where were wheelbarrows invented? Probably in China and perhaps a millennium later independently in Europe. A minority hold out for the Golden Age of Ancient Greece, citing writings mentioning single-wheeled carts.
A Chinese tomb painting from Chengdu, Sichuan province shows a man pushing a wheelbarrow, and has been dated precisely to 118 AD. Earlier accounts date back to 1st century BC and 1st century AD. As is common though to much early Chinese history, legend takes over. So supposedly the wheelbarrow was invented by ruler Chuko Liang (181-234 AD), credited with “a mind that surpassed the gods.” His were war weapons, used during a military campaign to transport rations and fodder.
These early Chinese wheelbarrows were front-wheeled like the classic Western implement of the present day. But from the 3rd century central-mounted wheel versions became common. Flat-bed versions could seat six people. Sail or kite assisted forms only disappeared in the last century and amazed earlier Dutch travellers to the Orient.
The earliest illustration of a wheelbarrow in Europe is a stained glass window in Chartres Cathedral dated to 1220. Two years later, records for the King of England’s works show that eight wheelbarrows were purchased from the town of Canterbury for construction at Dover. It is likely that in fact the implement found use in agriculture at least a century earlier, spreading to construction, mining, brick making, goods transportation
The earlier “stretcher,” already referred to, was a
bearwe, or barrow. Logically then, with the addition of a wheel, it became a wheel-barrow.
Perhaps because they required some skill to construct and of necessity required a spoke wheel their use was limited to England, France, and the Low Countries, remaining somewhat rare until the 15th century. The ensuing two centuries saw its popularity and use increase. By 1706, Francis Gentil would refer to the wheelbarrow in his
La Jardinier Solitaire as one of 30 necessary garden tools.
An undoubted improvement was the arrival of the pneumatic tire. Wooden box and frame has been replaced by steel and the ubiquitous plastic. New introductions include English inventor James Dyson’s Ball barrow of the1970s, a plastic ball replacing the wheel, making it easier to use on soft ground. Honda introduced an electric power-assisted barrow in 1998.
Still the modern version of the classic wheelbarrow persists. In West Africa, shoppers can hire ‘barrow boys’ to tote their purchases back to the car parked a distance away.
