William Roberts and Sons - Phoenix Foundry, Nelson, Lancashire
- Engineers and millwrights
- Makers of stationary steam engines.
- 1862 Phoenix Foundry opened in Hibson Street
- 1870 Built a pair of beam engines for William Lund and Son, North Beck Mills, Keighley.
- 1871 William Roberts bought the company.
- 1895 Became a private limited liability company.
- Between 1880 and 1895 they built over twenty mill engines in the range 300 to 1000 ihp. A further 25 textile mill engines were built in the 20th century.
- 1929 Built a 1100 ihp Corliss-valved engine for Juggilal Kamlapat Jute Mills Co., Cawnpore, India. They had previously built a smaller engine for J and N Cowlas, Cawnpore.
- 1959 Phoenix Foundry closed and subsequently demolished, the site becoming a bus station and car park.
Sources of Information
- 'The Textile Mills of Pendle and Their Steam Engines' by Geoff Shackleton, published by Landmark Publishing. ISBN 1-84306-215-1
- Stationary Steam Engines of Great Britain by George Watkins. Vol 10