Head Wrightson was a big heavy industrial firm based at

Thornaby-on-Tees Thornaby-on-Tees, commonly referred to as Thornaby, is a town and civil parish on the River Tees's southern bank. It is in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, North Yorkshire, England. The parish had a population of 24,741 at the 2011 census, in t ...

, North Yorkshire, England. It specialised in the manufacture of large industrial products such as

fractional distillation Fractional distillation is the separation of a mixture into its component parts, or fractions. Chemical compounds are separated by heating them to a temperature at which one or more fractions of the mixture will vaporize. It uses distillation to ...

columns, which sometimes needed special transport to get them to site. Its early products, which were made of cast iron or wrought iron, were used for boilers,

railway chair A rail fastening system is a means of fixing rails to railroad ties ( North America) or sleepers (British Isles, Australasia, and Africa). The terms ''rail anchors'', ''tie plates'', ''chairs'' and ''track fasteners'' are used to refer to parts ...

naval A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

ships, and many bridges across the world. In its first 17 years the firm had various names.

History

*1724 to 1839: Land called Thornaby Carrs was used intermittently for

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...

. *(afterwards): There was a

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance a ...

on Thornaby Carrs. *about 1840: Mr. Skinner settled in South

Stockton Stockton may refer to: Places Australia * Stockton, New South Wales * Stockton, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region New Zealand *Stockton, New Zealand United Kingdom *Stockton, Cheshire *Stockton, Norfolk *Stockton, Chirbu ...

. *1840: The Teesdale Iron Works (also named Teesdale Ironworks) was founded. *1851: Teesside's first

blast furnace A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally pig iron, but also others such as lead or copper. ''Blast'' refers to the combustion air being "forced" or supplied above atmospheric ...

was built, after

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the fo ...

was discovered in the Cleveland Hills. *1859: Mr. Skinner bought the Teesdale Iron Works. Thomas Head and Joseph Wright took over the Teesdale Iron Works. *later: Joseph Ashby and Thomas Wrightson joined the firm and Joseph Wright retired. *1860: Mr. Skinner bought the Cotton Mill. *(later): The firm became Messrs. Head and Wright, and later Messrs. Head and Ashby. *1865: The firm became Messrs. Head Wrightson & Co Ltd. It made cast iron and wrought iron for boilers,

ships, and many bridges across the world, the largest being in India. The firm employed 450 people. *1866: The firm became Head Wrightsons. *1877: The firm completed the Chenab Bridge in British India. The bridge is between

Rabwah Rabwah (Urdu, pnb, ), officially known as Chenab Nagar ( ur, ), is a city in Chiniot District, Chiniot, Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab, Pakistan on the bank of Chenab River. It was the headquarters of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community since Septemb ...

& Chiniot. *1889: The firm completed

Fulham Railway Bridge Fulham Railway Bridge crosses the River Thames in London. It is very close to Putney Bridge, and carries the London Underground District line between Putney Bridge station on the North, and East Putney station on the South. Fulham Railway Brid ...

. *1890: The works was three times as big as in 1860, and covered Thornaby Carrs. *1892: The firm employed 1200 people. *1893: The firm completed

Newburn Bridge Newburn Bridge is a road bridge crossing the River Tyne at Newburn in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It links Newburn, Walbottle and Throckley on the north side of the river with Ryton, Stella and Blaydon on the south side. The bridge is the we ...

. *1895: The firm completed

Barnes Railway Bridge Barnes Railway Bridge is a Grade II listed railway bridge in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and the London Borough of Hounslow. It crosses the River Thames in London in a northwest to southeast direction at Barnes. It carries the S ...

. *1939-45: Manufactured the Bellman hangar, a 1936 design for a standard transportable aeroplane shed for the Air Ministry. *1965: Building the ice rink structure for the

Billingham Forum Billingham is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, England. The town is on the north side of the River Tees and is governed by Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council. The settlement had previously formed its ...

. *1968: The firm employed nearly 6000 people and mostly made boilers and other heavy engineering. Its factory covered 68

acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imp ...

s. *1977: Davy Corporation acquired Head Wrightson. *1979: Davy Corporation was renamed "Davy McKee". *June 1987: Head Wrightsons closed.Head Wrightson - Teesside's fallen giant
Remember when

References

Bibliography

External links

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Companies based in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees Engineering companies of the United Kingdom Manufacturing companies established in 1840 Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1987 Thornaby-on-Tees