Appleby Iron Co

of Scunthorpe

1872 Scottish businessmen led by Blair and Gilmour of Kilmarnock negotiated with Rowland Winn of Appleby Hall near Scunthorpe, for the erection of ironworks. Like the Lincolnshire Iron Smelting Co, the firm was one of William Lovell's promotions.

By 7 September 1874 an agreement was finally reached to take fifteen acres in Appleby parish upon which two furnaces were to be built, with bosh diameters of no more than twenty-three feet. A further two furnaces were to be built within the first four years.

The company was registered on 7 October 1874 under the name of the Appleby Iron Co Ltd although locally it was known as the 'Scotch Company'.

It was 1876 before Appleby's first furnaces were ready for blowing.

1877 Established

The second furnace was blown-in some little time later. These furnaces were rather small compared to others in the area, being only sixty-two feet high with eighteen foot boshes.

1912 The Appleby Company was taken over by the Frodingham Iron Co and became the Appleby-Frodingham Steel Co; half of the shares in the company continued to be held by the Steel Company of Scotland

'The works of the Appleby Iron Company are situated near Scunthorpe, in North Lincolnshire. The selection of the site was due to the presence of the bed of ironstone known as the Frodingham bed, a deposit which was known and worked in the time of the Roman occupation of Britain, as is shown by traces of their smelting operations. Blast-furnaces, however, were not built until about 1860. .... The Appleby Iron Company, Limited, formed in 1874, blew in their first furnace about 1877, and carried on the manufacture of pig iron until 1910, when the plant was closed down. At that time it consisted of four blast furnaces, one 62 ft., one 65 ft., and two 75 ft. high. In 1912, this plant was acquired by the Frodingham Iron and Steel Company, Limited, which had for many years carried on successfully the manufacture of steel sections. It was desired to extend operations to include the manufacture of steel plates, in the belief that the sale of these two products would thereby be mutually promoted. Preparations were made for additions to the blast-furnace plant and for new steelworks in 1914, but it was not until 1917 that the work was actually put in hand. Unfortunately the shortage of men and materials at that time was so great that the works were not completed before the trade slump in 1921. Operations then had to be suspended and were not resumed till 1926. The first of the new blast-furnaces was blown in during January, 1927, and at the same time the first steel was made and the first slabs and plates rolled. ....'. A detailed description of the new iron and steel plant followed.

See Also

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Sources of Information

• The Engineer of 1st June 1888 p450
• [1] History of Scunthorpe's iron extraction and refining.