Cast iron cheese press

This cheese press would have been for small scale cheesemaking during the late 19th century.  Cheese pressing was the final stage in the cheesemaking process to remove excess whey and to shape the cheese to the mould.  Two pressings were usually made and then the cheese would be wrapped in muslin and bandaged in linen.  It would be date stamped and stored in the cool cheese room or loft on the farm.  The by-product of whey was a good source of food for pigs.