North Lincolnshire Iron Works
In July 1864, Rowland Winn of Appleby Hall was approached by a group of Manchester businessmen led by Daniel Adamson, the champions of the Manchester Ship Canal. They wished to build two or three furnaces in the area, and reached an agreement on 1 January 1865. Unlike Winn's agreement with the proprietors of the Trent Iron Works and the Frodingham Iron Co, Adamson was permitted only to build furnaces: his ore had to be purchased from Winn. This was to be the pattern for future iron makers in the area. Adamson's furnaces were to be built on a plot of land some distance south of the railway, and east-south-east of the Frodingham Iron Co's works.
1865 Adamson began building his first furnace during the summer of 1865, the largest in the area, standing seventy feet high and measuring twenty feet in the bosh, and close-topped. The new company was named the North Lincolnshire Iron Co.
1866 In common with the experience of the Trent Iron Works and the Frodingham Iron Co, the iron ore was difficult to work and on 1 September the top twenty feet of Adamson's furnace were destroyed: a mass of hot ore and fuel showered the neighbouring buildings, igniting barrels of blasting powder in a nearby store; the works were badly damaged, and production was halted for two months.
1870 Erected second furnace
1872 At Adamson's North Lincoln Works, the second furnace was finally completed. Although begun seven years before, operations had been somewhat protracted, possibly because of the experiences with the firm's first furnace.
Sold to Stewarts and Lloyds.
1927 The plant consisted of three furnaces, and had a total capacity of 3,400 tons per week owned by Stewarts and Lloyds. See Aberconway for information on the company and its history.
1931 The North Lincoln Works were purchased by the United Steel Companies, the parent of the Appleby-Frodingham Steel Co.
See Also
Sources of Information
- The Engineer of 1st June 1888 p450
- [1] History of Scunthorpe's iron extraction and refining.
- [2] History of iron and steel making in Scunthorpe