Patent Shaft, formerly The Patent Shaft and Axletree Company, established in 1840, was a large steelworks situated in

Wednesbury Wednesbury () is a market town in Sandwell in the county of West Midlands, England. It is located near the source of the River Tame. Historically part of Staffordshire in the Hundred of Offlow, at the 2011 Census the town had a population of ...

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 ...

. It was in operation for 140 years. From the time of its opening, it employed hundreds of local people and was a key player in the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

that spread across the

Black Country The Black Country is an area of the West Midlands county, England covering most of the Metropolitan Boroughs of Dudley, Sandwell and Walsall. Dudley and Tipton are generally considered to be the centre. It became industrialised during its ro ...

during the nineteenth century, and gave the region its iconic name. A decline in the manufacturing industry during the 1970s meant that even the largest factories were faced with threat of closure. Patent Shaft closed in 1980 after 140 years, resulting in hundreds of job losses. The factory buildings were demolished in 1983. In the decade following its closure, the Patent Shaft site was substantially transformed. The construction of the

Black Country Spine Road The Black Country New Road (or Black Country Spine Road) is a major road which runs through the West Midlands of England. The route was first planned during the 1980s, as a trunk road to link the planned Black Country Route at Bilston with J ...

between

Bilston Bilston is a market town, ward, and civil parish located in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. It is close to the borders of Sandwell and Walsall. The nearest towns are Darlaston, Wednesbury, and Willenhall. Historically in Staffordshi ...

and

West Bromwich West Bromwich ( ) is a market town in the borough of Sandwell, West Midlands, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is north-west of Birmingham. West Bromwich is part of the area known as the Black Country, in terms of geography, ...

opened up several square miles of previously inaccessible land in 1995. The Spine Road actually passed through the Patent Shaft site, and an Automotive Component Park was opened on another part of the site on 2 March 1993. This development - exclusively occupied by car component manufacturers - was the first of its kind in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. The Patent Shaft factory gates still exist, situated on a traffic island in Wednesbury at the junction of Holyhead Road and Dudley Street, having been moved from their original location around 30 years after the factory’s closure. The archives of Patent Shaft are held at Sandwell Community History and Archives Service.

References

External links

History of Wednesbury, Bev ParkerPatent Shaft Archive Catalogue
{{coord, 52.553, -2.035, display=title, region:GB_type:landmark Defunct manufacturing companies of the United Kingdom Wednesbury Defunct companies based in the West Midlands (county) Buildings and structures demolished in 1983 Demolished buildings and structures in England