There is evidence of metalurgical activity in the Derwent valley in County Durham from early times. There was a rich deposit of coal under a thick layer of limestone from which lead could be extracted. Iron ore was abundant and led to the manufacture of swords at Shotley Bridge.
In his book, Thread of Iron, Douglas Vernon traces the history of the industry and notes the date of 1839 as the point when entrepreneur, Jonathan Richardson took the plunge and formed The Derwent Iron company to take advantage of local coal, the rights to which he bought, local iron ore which he discovered and importantly the Consett to South Shields Railway which could bring the resulting iron to a national and international market hungry for it. Once finance was raised, the beginning was a period of success with quality iron winning prizes at the Great Exhibition of 1851. Already both the amount and quality of local ore was being called into question and a cheaper source was found in the nearby Cleveland Hills. Transport presented a challenge with a gorge to be crossed. Initially this was address by an ingenious system of pulleys; later a magnificent viaduct was built. Ore was also brought in by train from the northwest.
Consett was big, having fourteen furnaces compared to four at Bolckow and Vaughan at Witton, Middlesbrough. Interestingly it joined with Krupp of Germany and the Dowlais Iron Company in exploiting iron ore reserves discovered in northern Spain.
The works survived financial crises, one of which resulted in the formation of a new company, the Consett Iron Company, and a period of highly profitable growth. This company entered the late nineteenth century ready to embrace the move to steel. I wrote about Bessemer and Siemens and steel making in How Britain Shaped the Manufacturing World but also in my blog pieces on Middlesbrough and Sheffield. In Consett, investment was made in Siemens open hearth furnaces and the plant expanded and prospered with some six thousand employees working in coal mines, mills, foundries, melting shops, a brick works and an engine and wagon shops. Consett survived the First World War despite problems with raw materials and shortages of labour, but it was a weakened company which entered the economic storms of the twenties. It was then part of the reconstruction of the national steel industry of which I wrote in Vehicles to Vaccines.
Years after the Second World War saw the strongest growth ever in the British steel indsutry from 13 million tons in 1939 to 24 million in 1960. Nationalisation meant that Consett lost both its coal mines, power stations and its rail and rolling stock. For a previously integrated business, this loss was devastating. Nevertheless improvements were commissioned including a new ore handling system. Nationalisation of the steel industry followed only to be reversed by the next Conservative government. I write about the subsequent passage of the steel industry in Vehicles to Vaccines.
Consett Iron Co closed in 1980 and here is a link to a comprehensive blog of its history.
Further reading:
- Douglas Vernon, Thread of Iron (Knebworth: Able Publishing, 2003)
- J.C. Carr and W. Taplin, History of the British Steel Industry (Oxford: Blackwell, 1962)
- How Britain Shaped the Manufacturing World and Vehicles to Vaccines.
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