Ketley Ironworks was an
ironworks
An ironworks or iron works is an industrial plant where iron is smelted and where heavy iron and steel products are made. The term is both singular and plural, i.e. the singular of ''ironworks'' is ''ironworks''.
Ironworks succeeded bloome ...
in
Ketley
Ketley is a large village and civil parish in the borough of Telford and Wrekin of Shropshire, England. It is located between the outlying towns of Oakengates, Telford and Wellington.
Residential development
East Ketley is currently being r ...
, in
Shropshire
Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...
, England. Established in 1756, it was one of the largest ironworks in Britain during its ownership by
William Reynolds and his brother Joseph.
The site's location is
[Shropshire's Ironmaking Sites]
Shropshire History. Retrieved 18 September 2018. ().
History
Abraham Darby II
Abraham Darby, in his lifetime called Abraham Darby the Younger, referred to for convenience as Abraham Darby II (12 May 1711 – 31 March 1763) was the second man of that name in an English Quaker family that played an important role in the ea ...
and
Thomas Goldney III leased land from
Lord Gower in 1756; by 1758 there were two
blast furnaces
A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally pig iron, but also others such as lead or copper. ''Blast'' refers to the combustion air being supplied above atmospheric pressure.
In a ...
in operation on the site. In 1775
Richard Reynolds, a partner since 1757, bought Goldney's shares. In 1776 there were three furnaces, and in 1785 a
forge
A forge is a type of hearth used for heating metals, or the workplace (smithy) where such a hearth is located. The forge is used by the smith to heat a piece of metal to a temperature at which it becomes easier to shape by forging, or to the ...
began operation.
[A P Baggs, D C Cox, Jessie McFall, P A Stamper and A J L Winchester, 'Ketley: Economic history', in ''A History of the County of Shropshire: Volume 11, Telford'', ed. G C Baugh and C R Elrington (London, 1985), pp. 269-273.]
British History Online. Retrieved 3 September 2018. In 1788 the
Ketley Canal
The Ketley Canal was a tub boat canal that ran for about from Oakengates to Ketley works in Shropshire, England. The canal was built about 1788 and featured the first inclined plane in Britain. The main cargo of the canal was coal and ironst ...
was completed; it brought coal and ironstone from
Oakengates
Oakengates is a historic market town and civil parish in the borough of Telford and Wrekin, Shropshire, England. The town's parish population was recorded as 8,517 in the 2001 census.
Etymology
The name is not derived from "oak" or "gates" b ...
to the works.
[A P Baggs, D C Cox, Jessie McFall, P A Stamper and A J L Winchester, 'Ketley', in ''A History of the County of Shropshire: Volume 11, Telford'', ed. G C Baugh and C R Elrington (London, 1985), pp. 266-269.]
British History Online. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
In 1789 Richard Reynolds passed his share in the works to his sons
William
William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...
and Joseph, and in 1796 they became sole partners. There were six blast furnaces by 1804, and in 1806 about 7,500 tons of
pig iron
Pig iron, also known as crude iron, is an intermediate good used by the iron industry in the production of steel. It is developed by smelting iron ore in a blast furnace. Pig iron has a high carbon content, typically 3.8–4.7%, along with si ...
were produced, the ironworks being the fifth largest in Britain. The
foundry
A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals pr ...
made large
castings
In metalworking and jewelry making, casting is a process in which a liquid metal is delivered into a mold (usually by a crucible) that contains a negative impression (i.e., a three-dimensional negative image) of the intended shape. The metal is ...
for civil and mechanical engineers, the forge made plates and rods.
[ The castings for ]Longdon-on-Tern Aqueduct
The Longdon-upon-Tern Aqueduct, near Longdon-upon-Tern in Shropshire, was one of the first two canal aqueducts to be built from cast iron.
History
The cast iron canal aqueduct was re-engineered by Thomas Telford after the first construction ...
, designed by Thomas Telford
Thomas Telford (9 August 1757 – 2 September 1834) was a Scottish civil engineer. After establishing himself as an engineer of road and canal projects in Shropshire, he designed numerous infrastructure projects in his native Scotland, as well ...
and built in 1795, were made at the works.[ By 1816 demand had fallen, and he closed the works. The site was revived in 1818 by the newly created Ketley Company: the forge and three blast furnaces were again in use, and in 1830 about 5,750 tons of pig iron were produced.][
The Ketley Company was dissolved about 1874, and the works closed. The site was sold to Nettlefolds Limited in 1879, but ironworking did not resume.][
]
Later use of the site
The site was first used again in 1903, when the Sinclair Iron Co. Ltd. was established, making light castings. In 1929 it became a subsidiary of Allied Ironfounders Ltd. In 1960 Aga Heat, another subsidiary of Allied Ironfounders, moved to the site, and in 1969 the company became part of Glynwed Foundries Ltd.[
]
References
{{Reflist
Telford
Ironworks and steelworks in England
History of Shropshire
Industrial history of England
Ketley