The Horseley Ironworks (sometimes spelled Horsley) was a major

ironworks An ironworks or iron works is an industrial plant where iron is smelted and where heavy iron and steel products are made. The term is both singular and plural, i.e. the singular of ''ironworks'' is ''ironworks''. Ironworks succeeded bloomeri ...

in the

Tipton Tipton is an industrial town in the West Midlands in England with a population of around 38,777 at the 2011 UK Census. It is located northwest of Birmingham. Tipton was once one of the most heavily industrialised towns in the Black Country, w ...

area in the

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

, now the

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

History

Founded by

Aaron Manby ''Aaron Manby'' was a landmark vessel in the science of shipbuilding as the first iron steamship to go to sea. She was built by Aaron Manby (1776–1850) at the Horseley Ironworks. She made the voyage to Paris in June 1822 under Captain (later ...

, it is most famous for constructing the first iron steamer, '' The Aaron Manby'', in 1821.''Energy and Empire: A Biographical Study of Lord Kelvin'', Crosbie Smith, Matthew Norton Wise, 1989, Cambridge University Press () The boat was assembled at

Rotherhithe Rotherhithe () is a district of south-east London, England, and part of the London Borough of Southwark. It is on a peninsula on the south bank of the Thames, facing Wapping, Shadwell and Limehouse on the north bank, as well as the Isle of Dogs ...

. She was only the first of a number of steamboats built on the "knock-down" principle. The ironworks have also been responsible for the manufacture of numerous canal and railway

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

s of the 19th century. The ironworks were built near the

Toll End Communication Canal The Tipton Green Branch and Toll End Branch (or Toll End Communication Canal) were narrow canals comprising part of the Birmingham Canal Navigations near Tipton (formerly in Staffordshire), West Midlands, England. These canals no longer exist ...

''Canal Companion – Birmingham Canal Navigations'', J. M. Pearson & Associates, 1989, on the Horseley estate, which had been sold by their owner at the turn of the 19th century''The Tame Mills of Staffordshire'', Douglas Dilworth, 1976, Phillimore due to demand from engineers wishing to profit on the construction of the

BCN Main Line The BCN Main Line, or Birmingham Canal Navigations Main Line is the evolving route of the Birmingham Canal between Birmingham and Wolverhampton in England. The name ''Main Line'' was used to distinguish the main Birmingham to Wolverhampton rout ...

through the estate. The date when the ironworks were constructed is unknown but is believed to have been by 1815. Industry in the area prospered and the location retained the name of the Horseley estate as shown in an 1822 survey of the area. With the increasing popularity of

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow un ...

s, the ironworks quickly became popular for manufacturing canal bridges, mainly in the local vicinity. Canal bridges made by the ironworks include the

Engine Arm Aqueduct The Engine Arm Aqueduct near Smethwick, West Midlands, England, was built in 1825 by Thomas Telford to carry a water feeder, the Engine Arm, from Edgbaston Reservoir over the BCN New Main Line canal to the adjacent and parallel Old Main Line. ...

(1825), two

roving bridge A roving bridge, changeline bridge, turnover bridge, or snake bridgeWilliam George Victor Balchin, ed., ''The Country Life Book of the Living History of Britain'', 1983, , p. 109 is a bridge over a canal constructed to allow a horse towing a bo ...

s at

Smethwick Junction Smethwick Junction is a junction on the Birmingham to Worcester via Kidderminster Line. With Galton Junction, northbound trains on the West Coast Main Line's Rugby-Birmingham-Stafford Line can join the Birmingham to Worcester via Kidderminster L ...

(1828),

Galton Bridge The Galton Bridge is a cast-iron bridge in Smethwick, near Birmingham, in central England. Opened in 1829 as a road bridge, the structure has been pedestrianised since the 1970s. It was built by Thomas Telford to carry a road across the new mai ...

(1829), and Braunston Towpath Bridges (1830). By the end of the canal construction era, Horseley Ironworks had emerged as one of the most prolific manufacturers of canal bridges in the

West Midlands region The West Midlands is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of International Territorial Level for statistical purposes. It covers the western half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. The region consists ...

, especially in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

. This was a result of their signature bridge design which had become popular amongst canal constructors. The design has been replicated more recently, for example in Birmingham during the regeneration of

Gas Street Basin Gas Street Basin () is a canal basin in the centre of Birmingham, England, where the Worcester and Birmingham Canal meets the BCN Main Line. It is located on Gas Street, off Broad Street, and between the Mailbox and Brindleyplace canal-side d ...

where Worcester Bar is linked to Gas Street. Horseley Ironworks were also responsible for manufacturing in the

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

industry. Railway bridges constructed included that of the

viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide v ...

for the London and Birmingham to Holyhead railway at

Shifnal Shifnal is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire, England, about east of Telford, 17 miles (27 km) east of the county town of Shrewsbury and 13 miles (20 km) west-northwest of the city of Wolverhampton. It is near the M54 mo ...

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...

which was cast in 1848. As well as manufacturing bridges, they also produced

locomotive A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the Power (physics), motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, Motor coach (rail), motor ...

s. The company also manufactured construction steelwork for the pier of

Ryde Ryde is an English seaside town and civil parish on the north-east coast of the Isle of Wight. The built-up area had a population of 23,999 according to the 2011 Census and an estimate of 24,847 in 2019. Its growth as a seaside resort came af ...

, the Palace Theatre in London, Rugby railway station, a seaplane hangar in Las Palmas and the

Dome of Discovery The Dome of Discovery was a temporary exhibition building designed by architect Ralph Tubbs for the Festival of Britain celebrations which took place on London's South Bank in 1951, alongside the River Thames. The consulting engineers were Fr ...

at the 1951 Festival of Britain. People who have worked for the iron foundry include

Charles Manby Charles Manby, FRS FRSA (4 February 1804 – 31 July 1884) was Secretary of the Institution of Civil Engineers from November 1839 to 1856, and engineer of the first iron steamer to cross the English Channel. Fluent in French, he installed gas ...

, the son of Aaron Manby, James Thomson, William Johnson and Richard Roberts.Museum of Making: Richard Roberts

Closing

The firm moved in 1865 to a site on the now defunct Dixon's Branch, off the BCN New Main Line (Island Line), near the

South Staffordshire Railway The South Staffordshire Railway (SSR) was authorised in 1847 to build a line from Dudley in the West Midlands of England through Walsall and Lichfield to a junction with the Midland Railway on the way to Burton upon Trent, with authorised share ...

line. The factory survived under a succession of owners until 1991, when it was closed down and subsequently redeveloped as a housing estate.

Locations

Gallery

Image:Aston Junction, Birmingham.jpg,

Aston Junction Aston Junction () is the name of the Junction (canal), canal junction where the Digbeth Branch Canal terminates and meets the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal near to Aston, Birmingham, England. History The Birmingham and Fazeley Canal was authori ...

Image:Winson Green Junction toll island.jpg, Winson Green Junction Image:Roving bridges at Smethwick Junction.jpg, Two

s at Smethwick Junction, 1828 Image:Horseley Iron Works name on bridge at Smethwick Junction.jpg, Name on roving bridge at Smethwick Junction Image:Engine Arm Aqueduct and Smethwick Gauging Station island.jpg, Engine Arm Aqueduct Image:Galton Bridge and tunnel.jpg,

Image:Bromford Junction.jpg, Two bridges at Bromford Junction File:Richmond Railway Bridge291r1.jpg,

Richmond Railway Bridge Richmond Railway Bridge in Richmond, south-west London, crosses the River Thames immediately upstream of Twickenham Bridge. It carries National Rail services operated by South Western Railway (SWR) on the Waterloo to Reading Line, and lies be ...

File:Coventry's River Holyhead Road to Spon End Vignoles Bridge. Meadow Street..jpg, "

Vignoles Bridge Vignoles Bridge is a footbridge over the River Sherbourne in Spon End, a western suburb of Coventry in central England. It stands just west of the inner ring road in the middle of a housing estate, to where it was relocated in 1969. It was built ...

" in Coventry

References

{{coord, 52.5296, -2.0438, display=title, region:GB_dim:1000 Ironworks and steelworks in England Defunct iron and steel mills Tipton Buildings and structures in the West Midlands (county) Demolished buildings and structures in England Demolished manufacturing buildings and structures Buildings and structures demolished in 1991