| Administrative History | There has been ironworking in and around Stanton by Dale since at least Roman times. In 1846, Benjamin Smith of Chesterfield, and his son Josiah Timmis Smith (1823-1906) brought three blast-furnaces into production beside the Nutbrook Canal. This concern was incorporated in 1855 as the Stanton Iron Works Co. The original three furnaces (on the site known as the 'old works') were replaced with five new furnaces in 1865-1867, producing approximately 20 tons of pig iron per day.
After the Smiths experienced financial difficulties, the business was bought by George and John Crompton, two brothers who were partners in the Crompton and Evans Bank. In the 1870s, the company expanded and constructed new furnaces and foundries (known as the 'new works') beside the Erewash Canal. In 1877 they built a new factory to produce cast iron pipes; this was the first factory to install electric arc lighting. By 1878 the business included three collieries: Teversal, Pleasley and Dale
In 1878, the company was incorporated as the Stanton Ironworks Company Ltd, continuing as a family-run business under the chairmanship of George and John Crompton. In 1917, Edmund John Fox became Managing Drictor, leading a period of dramatic growth. including a new colliery at Bilsthorpe, Nottinghamshire. The success of their pipe production meant that they were commissioned to supply pipos for the London Underground and Mersey Tunnel in the 1920s.
In 1939 Stanton Ironworks Company Ltd became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Stewarts and Lloyds. Their collieries were nationalised in 1947, and Stanton Ironworks was nationalised under the Iron and Steel Act in 1951, becoming part of the Iron and Steel Corporation of Great Britain, and was subsequently privatised again in 1961, becoming Stanton and Staveley. |