INDUSTRIES 



were at work in Darlington.'"^ From one of 

 these small foundries, started some fifty years ago, 

 the Darlington Forge has developed. At one 

 time Sir Thomas Bouch, the engineer of the 

 fatal Tay Bridge, was connected with the works. 

 In the early days they were chiefly employed in 

 supplying the needs of the North Eastern Rail- 

 way, but now their chief work is marine forgings 

 and castings. 



The stupendous size of some of these 

 emphasizes the growth in the dimensions, during 

 the last few years, of the liners for which they 

 are made. The castings for the two Cunarders, 

 the Mauretania and the Lmitanla were made by 

 this firm during the current year (1906). They 

 are the heaviest and most complicated castings of 

 this type hitherto produced. The total weight of 

 stern frame, rudder, and brackets for each ship is 

 223I tons.'"^ Gun tubes for the Government are 

 also made here, and the propeller shafts for H.M.S. 

 Defence, 76 ft. long, 23!^ in. external diameter, 

 were supplied by this firm. 



The Weardale Iron Company have also exten- 

 sive wagon and engineering works in Darlington. 



The St. Bede Works at Tyne Dock were 

 opened in April, 1900, by the Fownes Forge 

 and Engineering Company. Possibly the success 

 of the enterprise owes something to the position 



of the works, for they are situated between South 

 Shields and Jarrow, abutting on Jarrow Slake, 

 the dreariest district in the whole of England, 

 but in the very centre of industrial activity. 

 The works were enlarged in 1902 according to 

 the design of Mr. Henry Fownes, managing 

 director, whose experience has been gained on 

 the Mersey, the Clyde, and as manager of the 

 Ouseburn Forge on the Tyne. A huge hydraulic 

 forging press capable of crushing ingots of 40 tons 

 weight is a marked feature of the works, but the 

 extent to which hydraulic power is utilized is 

 also remarkable. 



The great marine engineering firm of Messrs. 

 Richardsons, VVestgarth & Co. is situated on the 

 west side of the harbour at Hartlepool. This 

 business was founded about 1 842 at Castle Eden 

 by Mr. Richardson. It was transferred to 

 Hartlepool in 1847, and carried on under the 

 name of T. Richardson & Sons. In 1894 the 

 business became a private company, and in 1900 

 an amalgamation was arranged between Sir C. 

 Furness, Westgarth & Co. of Middlesbrough and 

 William Allan & Sons of Sunderland, the new 

 company being called Richardsons, Westgarth & 

 Co. ; originally builders of locomotives and 

 stationary engines, since 1854 they have 

 specialized on marine engines and boilers. 



THE CHEMICAL WORKS' 



Rock salt was discovered in the county of 

 Durham about i859,but itwas not until 1885 that 

 a company was started for utilizing the discovery. 

 It was, however, rather the revival of an old trade 

 than the beginning of a new industry, for as 

 early as 1290 there is an allusion to the working 

 of salt at Hart. This reference is found in a 

 grant '" by Robert de Brus, lord of Annandale, 

 grandfather of Robert Bruce, king of Scotland, to 

 Sir John de Rumundebi of a salt-pan in the 

 territory of Hart, formerly held by Adam the 

 Miller, at the rental of a pair of white gloves or 

 a penny at Easter. The date is not given, but from 

 intrinsic evidence it must have been previous to 

 the passing of Quia Emptores in 1290. 



But even in the fourteenth century Cowpen 

 was the centre of the salt industry ; a list of 

 salt-pan holders for 1396 is given with the rent 

 paid in kind.^ 



The Halmote Court Rolls ' and the Durham 

 Account Rolls'* give many interesting details of 



"^ White and Parson, op. cit. i, 249. 



'" ' Darlington Forge Works,' by Thomas Putnam, 

 managing director, Syren and Shipping, Mar. 1906. 



' It is difficult for me to acknowledge adequately 

 t'le help I have had in this section from Canon 

 Greenwell and Mr. Bayley of Durham, and Mr. 

 Craster of All Souls College, Oxford. 



the Cowpen salt trade ; in 1330, 35 quarters of 

 salt were bought at different prices, but the total 

 cost was j^5 75. bd. It is somewhat difficult to 

 get a precise idea of the manner in which these 

 early salt-pans were worked, but an account 

 is preserved of the working of the pans a few 

 miles from Cowpen, at Coatham, and probably 

 the same method was followed in both places. 



And as the Tyde comes in, yt bringeth a small 

 wash sea-cole which is imployed to the makinge of 

 sake, and the Fuell of the poore fisher Townes 

 adjoininge : the oylie sulphurousness beinge mixed 

 with the Sake of the Sea as yt floweth, and conse- 

 quently h.ird to take fyre, or to keepe in longe with- 

 out quenchinge, they have a Meanes, by makinge 

 small vaults to passe under the hearthes, into which by 

 fore-setting the wynde with a board, they force yt to 

 enter, and soe to serve insteede of a payre of bellowes, 

 which they call in a proper worde of Art, a 

 Blowecole.' 



'"The grant is in the possession of Mr. William 

 Brown of the Old House, Sowerby, Thirsk. It 

 was printed in the Proc. Soc. Antiq. (New Ser.), iv, 

 211. 



^Dur. Treas. Rentale Bursarii, 1396. 



^ Dur. Hal. R. (Surtees Soc. jxxxii). 



*Dur. Hal. R. 1330; Dur. Treas. MSS. ; Dur. 

 Acct. R. (Surtees Soc. xcix-ciii). 



' B.M. Cott. MS. Julius, F. vi, 185, fol. 455. 



293 



