Brown Lenox & Co Ltd was a company that created chains (a chainworks) and anchors, with factories in

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Poplar, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east of ...

and

Pontypridd Pontypridd ( , ), Colloquialism, colloquially referred to as ''Ponty'', is a town and a Community (Wales), community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales, approximately 10 miles north west of Cardiff city centre. Geography Pontypridd comprises the ...

, founded by Samuel Brown and Samuel Lenox.

Early history

The company was started by Samuel Brown, initially called Brown & Co Ltd, following his patent on a stud-linked wrought iron chain that was suitable as a ship's anchor cable, and began manufacturing in 1803. Brown was unable to finance the company alone and so formed a partnership with his cousin Samuel Lenox in 1806, although the company continued to operate under Brown & Co Ltd until 1828 when it was changed to Brown Lenox & Co Ltd. In 1812 a large works was constructed at

, on the

river Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...

and close to the

Royal Dockyard Royal Navy Dockyards (more usually termed Royal Dockyards) were state-owned harbour facilities where ships of the Royal Navy were built, based, repaired and refitted. Until the mid-19th century the Royal Dockyards were the largest industrial c ...

, to meet the high demand. Due to an ever-increasing demand a second works was opened in

, then called Newbridge, in

South Wales South Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the Historic counties of Wales, historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire ( ...

;Glamorgan Archives,Brown Lenox & Co Ltd, Records: Context
, Glamorgan Archive website this was to become the company's main chain works. This site provided easy access to the high quantities of pig iron and coal needed in production.
Rhondda Cynon Taff Library Service - "Our Past". The new factory was established in 1816.Brown Lenox Chainworks; Newbridge Chainworks; Newbridge Chain and Anchor Works, Pontypridd
, RCAHMW website. Retrieved July 22, 2012. Two canal basins were constructed, one for the receipt of raw materials the other for dispatching finished goods. The 20-foot difference between these two basins also allowed the works to be powered entirely through

water wheels A water wheel is a machine for converting the kinetic energy of flowing or falling water into useful forms of power, often in a watermill. A water wheel consists of a large wheel (usually constructed from wood or metal), with numerous blade ...

and

turbines A turbine ( or ) (from the Greek , ''tyrbē'', or Latin ''turbo'', meaning vortex) is a rotary mechanical device that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work. The work produced can be used for generating electrical ...

. From 1818 the factories also started manufacturing suspension bridge chains. There is a monument near the site of the Pontypridd factory acknowledging Brown, Lenox & Co Ltd contribution to Marine safety.

Royal Navy supply contract

Royal Navy Captain Samuel Brown carried out tests on the use of iron chains, fitting iron rigging and cables to for a voyage to the West Indies. On his return in 1808 the Admiralty were impressed by their performance and immediately ordered chains to be fitted to four warships. They awarded annual contracts for chains to Brown Lenox until 1916.

RMS Titanic

It has been claimed that Brown Lenox made the anchor chain for . Although the patented Brown Lenox Stud link chain design was used, the chain was not made by Brown Lenox & Co Ltd.

Closure

The

factory closed in 2000 and was demolished around 2009. A

Sainsbury's J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is a British supermarket and the second-largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company was the largest UK r ...

supermarket now occupies the site, and the retail park it resides in was named after the demolished factory.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown Lenox and Co Ltd Defunct manufacturing companies of the United Kingdom