A good deal of the manufacturing history of this Lincolnshire town revolves round one family and really one man, Richard Hornsby, who on completing his wheelwright apprenticeship at Barnetby-le-Wold joined with blacksmith Richard Seaman of Barrowby. I write of him along with the other pioneering engineers in How Britain Shaped the Manufacturing World.
The business manufactured agricultural implements to enable farmers to meet the growing demands for food from England’s increasing urban areas. Importantly, Grantham was linked to Nottingham and the Trent by a canal (in the image) which gave a quicker route to market for agricultural produce and a cheaper way to bring the coal that industry needed. To agricultural implements were added steam engines. It was said of Hornsby that ‘he didn’t invent the portable steam engine, but he developed it so successfully that, for some years, he had a virtual monopoly in its manufacture’. I tell in How Britain Shaped the Manufacturing World how oil engines were then embraced through the patent of Akroyd-Stuart.
The business, now based in Spittlegate in Grantham, made a big impression next to the Great Northern Railway which had arrived in 1852. Hornsby steam and oil engines were known across the world. Company reached its peak with 2,000 employees. In the First World War the factory was taken over by the Admiralty for war work.
The aftermath of war saw the end of government work and, as I tell in my blog on Peterborough, a number of companies came together in the Agricultural Engineering Company. Hornsby chose, or were chosen as their partner by, Ruston & Proctor of Lincoln. I write more about Ruston and Hornsby in my blog on Lincoln, not least their role in the development of the tank.
The new company Ruston and Hornsby took on the combined steam and oil engine business. Thirty acres of the Spittlegate site was taken by two companies which had been part of Agricultural Engineering: Aveling & Porter of Rochester and Barford & Perkins of Peterborough. They formed Aveling Barford which also took the Hornsby steam and road roller business. Agricultural implements went to Ransome Sims & Jefferies of Ipswich, another Agricultural Engineering member.
The Hornsby factory, although smaller, remained busy especially during the Second World War when it supplied generators far and wide. Rustons combined with Davey Paxman of Colchester who developed a vertical oil engine. Hornsby took on its manufacture particularly for overseas development projects. The Hornsby factory finally closed in the sixties and Aveling Barford a little later.
Grantham was of course the birthplace of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher under whose watch the manufacturing sector shrank and many famous businesses closed their doors.
Grantham experienced a resurgence with food processing. Fenland Foods was set up by Northern Foods to supply Marks & Spencer. With the ending of the contract, the plant was closed. Other food processing remains in the town.
Further reading:
- Michael Pointer, Horsbys of Grantham (Bygone Grantham 1978)
- Michael Pointer, Ruston & Hornsby (Bygone Grantham, 1977)
.jpg)
