David Colville & Sons, a Scottish

iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

and

steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

company, was founded in 1871 and it opened its Dalzell Steel and Iron Works at

Motherwell Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...

in 1872. By the first World War, it was the largest steel works in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and it continued to expanded afterwards taking over a number of other steel works in

Cambuslang Cambuslang (, from ) is a town on the south-eastern outskirts of Greater Glasgow, Scotland. With approximately 30,000 residents, it is the 27th-largest town in Scotland by population, although, never having had a town hall, it may also be cons ...

and Glengarnock. Nationalised in 1951, it became part of the

Iron and Steel Corporation of Great Britain The Iron and Steel Corporation of Great Britain was a nationalised industry, set up in 1949 by Clement Attlee's Labour Party (UK), Labour government. The Iron & Steel Act 1949 took effect on 15 February 1951, the Corporation becoming the sole sh ...

. It was privatised in 1955 and the construction of Ravenscraig steelworks resulted in the closure of a number of its other works. It was renationalised in 1967, becoming part of British Steel Corporation. The company provided steel to famous liners like the ''Titanic'' and the ''Queen Mary''.

Formation and expansion

David Colville & Sons was founded in 1871. The company's first plant was the Dalzell Steel and Iron Works in

, which was opened in 1872, and by

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

this plant was the largest individual steel works in the country. Colville's quickly grew into a substantial concern, and by 1900 they were the largest employers in Motherwell. During World War I the

Government of the United Kingdom His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

asked Colville's to intervene in some of the nearby struggling steel plants, and to that effect they took over the running of the Clydebridge Steel Company works in

in 1915, and the Glengarnock works in 1916.

Nationalisation, privatisation and renationalisation

1951 saw the company taken into public ownership, under the direction of the Labour government of

Clement Attlee Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee (3 January 18838 October 1967) was a British statesman who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955. At ...

, as part of the

. Public subsidy underwrote the start of Colville's Ravenscraig steelworks project in 1954, although Colville's was subsequently returned to private ownership by the Conservative government of

Anthony Eden Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon (12 June 1897 – 14 January 1977) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1955 until his resignation in 1957. Achi ...

in 1955. In 1957 construction of the integrated Ravenscraig steelworks at Motherwell was completed at a cost of £20 million, and as a result of this, a number of older Colville furnaces were demolished. In 1967, Colville's was renationalised, and became part of British Steel Corporation.

21st Century at the plants

Tata Steel Tata Steel Limited is an Indian multinational steel-making company headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, with its primary operations based in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand. It is a subsidiary of the Tata Group. Formerly known as Tata Iron and Steel ...

closed the Dalzell and Clydebridge works in 2015, but both reopened in 2016 following the sale of the sites to Liberty House Group. However, the viability of the sites was again placed in doubt when the Liberty holding company was issued with a winding-up petition in early 2022 over substantial debts, a situation compounded by the collapse in productivity caused by the

COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland The COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland is part of the COVID-19 pandemic of COVID-19, coronavirus disease-2019, caused by the virus Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, SARS-CoV-2. The first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in Scotland on 1 M ...

.Jobs under threat as Scottish steelworks owners Liberty Steel winding-up notice filed by HMRC
Conor Matchett, The Scotsman, 10 February 2022

References

External links

Colvilles
at Scottish Steelworks History
The Dalzell Steel Works Story
at Scottish Steelworks History
Clydebridge & Dalzell Steelworks
at ''Transient Places'' (September 2010)
Lanarkshire Steelworks Soil and Groundwater Contamination Liability Assessment
The Scottish Government, 22 April 2016 {{DEFAULTSORT:Colville, David and Sons Defunct manufacturing companies of Scotland Steel companies of the United Kingdom Former nationalised industries of the United Kingdom 1871 establishments in Scotland Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1967 1967 disestablishments in Scotland British companies established in 1871 Manufacturing companies established in 1871 Ironworks and steelworks in Scotland Buildings and structures in Motherwell Industry in Scotland Economy of North Lanarkshire History of North Lanarkshire British companies disestablished in 1967

Formation and expansion

Nationalisation, privatisation and renationalisation

21st Century at the plants

References

Further reading

External links