The Victoria Works at Darlaston were founded by William Molineaux; James Jordan was also on the site producing strip iron for such things as locomotive and boiler tubes.
1840s Two blast furnaces were added that could turn out 20,000 tons of pig iron annually.
David Rose owned a number of mines in the area and the site included a sand pit where sand was dug and sold for use in blast furnace and mill furnace bottoms. The clay from some of David's mines produced high quality fire bricks and these were one of the company's many products. The mines also contained sufficient coal to supply the works for 20 years.
By the 1870s there were 40 puddling and ball furnaces, 5 sheet mills, 1 plate mill, 1 bar mill, and one hoop mill.
1898 Victoria Ironworks was acquired by William Wesson in 1898 and he ran the works under the name of Wessons.
Wessons occupy the site of both the Victoria Ironworks and the Albert Ironworks. The company is now part of Niagra LaSalle (UK) and a large scrapyard and housing estate now occupies the site of the Moxley Iron Works.
See Also
Sources of Information
- [1] Wolverhampton Heritage and History Society