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View Full Version : Stanton Iron Works, Ilkeston, Derbyshre - March 09



sinnerman
16-03-2009, 11:41 PM
Stanton Iron Works or the Industrial climbing frame as i will call it was the last of the many Iron works in the Ilkeston and Stanton area. Iron working on the site dates back to 1846 when Chesterfield man, Benjamin Smith and his son Josiah, brought three blast-furnaces into production alongside the banks of the Nutbrook Canal. The original furnaces were replaced by five new furnaces in the late 1860's producing about 20 tons of pig iron per day but the company soon experienced financial difficulties and there followed a series of take-overs. The Foundry was eventually taken over by the Crompton family who would own the company for over eighty years, re-naming the works The Stanton Iron Company. The Franco-Prussian War of 1870 created a huge demand for iron and the works expanded rapidly with the construction of new furnaces and foundries.

The foundry we visited today was one tiny bit of the huge Iron works complex that developed at stanton origionally built as the Iron Refining plant completed by 1958, just in time for the company to be taken over by Stewarts and Lloyds of Corby ending the Crompton familys connection with the Firm. Two years later Stewarts also took over the Staveley Coal and Iron Company of chester filed which was promptly merged with stanton's to form Stanton and Staveley Ltd. Then in 1967 the whole stewarts empire was nationalised as part of British Steel. During the British Steel years the Iron works was grealty down sized with the Old and New works closing but the Iron refinery was refitted with Electric Arc furnaces During the 80's British steel disinvested from its core activities, Stanton and Stavely was sold in 1985 to the French Pont-a-Mouson Group. A new autmated casting shop names after the nearby village of Hallam was added to the end of the remaing foundry which would continue to produce spun pipes, but last year Pont-a-Mouson new owners Saint Gobain ended 150 years of Iron production at stanton partly in response to new environmental legislation.

Have to say it was a class day out yesterday with DK, Fieldy and Immortal Owl, Reports on other sites have said the site was due to be heavily secured but obviously not heavily enough and it didn't take long for us to find a fairly easy if interesting way in. and then we had 2 and a half hours of industrial climbing fun until we discovered the only PIR in the place and its loud whooper, Best bits were the huge crains which were honestly about twice the size of my house. Anyway on with the pics.

Automated Pipe Extruder
http://www.forlornbritain.co.uk/images/28/stanton/spf01.jpg

Overview of the Hallam Casting Hall
http://www.forlornbritain.co.uk/images/28/stanton/spf02.jpg

The Little Crane
http://www.forlornbritain.co.uk/images/28/stanton/spf03.jpg

Train Thing
http://www.forlornbritain.co.uk/images/28/stanton/spf04.jpg

http://www.forlornbritain.co.uk/images/28/stanton/spf05.jpg

http://www.forlornbritain.co.uk/images/28/stanton/spf06.jpg

Central Melting Hall
http://www.forlornbritain.co.uk/images/28/stanton/spf07.jpg

One of the abandoned Crucible's
http://www.forlornbritain.co.uk/images/28/stanton/spf08.jpg

For scale the control panel was about as tall as i am.
http://www.forlornbritain.co.uk/images/28/stanton/spf09.jpg

Big Crane 1
http://www.forlornbritain.co.uk/images/28/stanton/spf10.jpg

http://www.forlornbritain.co.uk/images/28/stanton/spf11.jpg

Central Melting Hall
http://www.forlornbritain.co.uk/images/28/stanton/spf12.jpg

http://www.forlornbritain.co.uk/images/28/stanton/spf13.jpg

http://www.forlornbritain.co.uk/images/28/stanton/spf14.jpg

http://www.forlornbritain.co.uk/images/28/stanton/spf15.jpg