Vulcan Iron Works
Vulcan Iron Works was the name of several iron foundries in both England and the United States during the Industrial Revolution and, in one case, lasting until the mid-20th century. Vulcan, the Roman god of fire and smithery, was a popular namesake for these foundries.
England
During the Industrial Revolution, numerous entrepreneurs independently founded factories named Vulcan Iron Works in England, notably that of Robinson Thwaites and Edward Carbutt at Bradford, and that of Thomas Clunes at Worcester, England. The largest of all the ironworks of Victorian England, the Cleveland Works of Bolckow Vaughan in Middlesbrough, were on Vulcan Street.
Thwaites & Carbutt, Bradford
The Vulcan Works at Thornton Road, Bradford was a spacious and handsome factory. It was described in Industries of Yorkshire as
Ley's, Derby
The Vulcan Iron Works at Osmaston Road, Derby was founded in 1874 by Francis Ley (1846-1916). On a site occupying 11 acres by the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway, he manufactured castings for motor cars. The company became the Ley's Malleable Castings Company Ltd. In the London Gazette of April 14, 1876, Ley was granted a patent for "improvements in apparatus for locking and fastening nuts on fish plate and other bolts". The iron foundry was closed and demolished in 1986.
Ironworks
An ironworks or iron works is a building or site where iron is smelted and where heavy iron and/or steel products are made. The term is both singular and plural, i.e. the singular of ironworks is ironworks.
Ironworks succeed bloomeries when blast furnaces replaced former methods. An integrated ironworks in the 19th century usually included one or more blast furnaces and a number of puddling furnaces and/or a foundry with or without other kinds of ironworks. After the invention of the Bessemer process, converters became widespread, and the appellation steelworks replaced ironworks.
The processes carried at ironworks are usually described as ferrous metallurgy, but the term siderurgy is also occasionally used. This is derived from the Greek words sideros - iron and ergon or ergos - work. This is an unusual term in English, and it is best regarded as an anglicisation of a term used in French, Spanish, and other Romance languages.
Varieties of ironworks
Primary ironmaking
Ironworks is used as an omnibus term covering works undertaking one or more iron-producing processes. Such processes or species of ironworks where they were undertaken include the following:
Iron Works
Iron Works may refer to:
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