Consett Iron Company

Consett Iron Company was a British iron and steel enterprise based in the Consett area of County Durham. It was formally registered on 4 April 1864 as the successor to the Derwent and Consett Iron Company, which itself followed the Derwent Iron Company founded in 1840 by local businessmen led by Jonathan Richardson. The business combined mineral extraction, ironmaking, steelmaking, engineering-related production and extensive industrial infrastructure. Its assets included coal mines, limestone quarries, coke ovens, blast furnaces, rolling mills, a foundry, a brickworks, workers’ housing and welfare facilities. The company’s early development was shaped by the exhaustion of the richest local ironstone. To maintain production, it supported improvements to railway connections and obtained ore from more distant sources, including the Cleveland Ironstone Formation from 1851. Financial difficulties became acute during the 1850s. The earlier enterprise owed the failed Northumberland and Durham District Bank almost £1 million by 1857, and an attempted transfer to a newly established successor company did not proceed. The 1864 company was established with £400,000 of capital and acquired an industrial base that included 18 blast furnaces, substantial land and a large estate of workers’ cottages. Under general manager William Jenkins, who served from 1869 to 1894, Consett achieved sustained profitability despite severe fluctuations in the iron and steel market. The company retained significant capital rather than distributing all available funds to shareholders, reducing its dependence on borrowing and helping it withstand downturns. Jenkins also supported schools, churches, a park, a hospital and other community facilities, reinforcing the company’s role as both industrial operator and dominant local institution. Consett repeatedly adapted its product mix to technological and market change. The spread of steel railway rails reduced demand for malleable iron rails and contributed to a production decline in the mid-1870s. The company shifted toward iron plates for shipbuilding, then invested in Siemens-Martin open-hearth steelmaking from the early 1880s. Its first Siemens furnaces entered production in 1883. From 1887 it produced steel angles, bars, rolled joists and girders, while the Angle Mills expanded the site’s capacity for shipbuilding materials. By the late nineteenth century the works were described as one of the world’s largest steel plate manufacturing sites. The company remained an important employer into the twentieth century, but limited space at Consett made modernization difficult. It did not adopt electrical power as rapidly as some competitors, and its equipment increasingly lagged behind newer facilities. During the Second World War it continued production using lower-quality ore and employed about 12,000 workers. Its coal mines were nationalized in 1947, while the remaining iron and steel operations were nationalized in 1951. The works were returned to private ownership in 1955, and a new steel plate mill opened in 1961 to serve shipbuilding. In 1967 the works were nationalized again and absorbed into the British Steel Corporation. By then the business faced declining British demand for iron, coal and shipbuilding, obsolete equipment, rising raw-material costs and insufficient capital investment. Consett Steel Works closed in 1980 after sustained political controversy, worker protests and demonstrations. Approximately 3,000 to 4,000 jobs disappeared, and local unemployment reached about 35 percent, roughly twice the national rate at the time. Most physical remains of the works were later removed. The site’s industrial memory is preserved in part by the Terra Novalis sculptures, made using materials associated with the former steelworks.

The industrial lineage of Consett Iron Company began in 1840, when local businessmen led by Jonathan Richardson established the Derwent Iron Company to quarry and smelt ironstone around Consett. The richest local ore was depleted relatively quickly, encouraging the company to improve railway connections and bring in supplies from further afield. From 1851 it obtained ore from the Cleveland Ironstone Formation near Eston in North Yorkshire. The earlier enterprise experienced serious financial problems. By 1857 it owed almost £1 million to the failed Northumberland and Durham District Bank. After an attempted sale to the Derwent and Consett Iron Company failed, a new Consett Iron Company Ltd was registered on 4 April 1864. The new company had £400,000 in capital, 18 blast furnaces, extensive land and a large housing estate for employees. It also controlled or operated collieries, quarries, coke ovens and other supporting facilities. William Jenkins became general manager in 1869 and remained in that role until 1894. His tenure is associated with the company’s first sustained period of profitability. Rather than distributing all profits, the company retained capital, allowing it to rely less heavily on loans during market downturns. Jenkins also expanded the company’s paternalist role in Consett through support for education, religion, healthcare, recreation and housing. By 1894 the company’s share of British steel production had reached a reported peak, although its share declined by 1910. Changing technology repeatedly forced the company to adjust. The increasing use of steel railway rails from the mid-1870s damaged demand for malleable iron and reduced production. Consett responded by moving toward iron plate for shipbuilding. It then began converting to steel plate production using the Siemens-Martin open-hearth process. The first Siemens furnaces were operating in 1883, and from 1887 the works produced angles, bars, joists and girders. The Angle Mills, established on a large industrial site, became a major center for steel plate and structural-section production. In the 1890s the company also operated a foundry at Crookhall and a brickworks, while its housing estate had expanded to approximately 2,700 cottages. After Jenkins’s period, the company’s technological position weakened. Consett’s constrained location limited the ability to rebuild the works, and the company did not move to electrical power as quickly as some competitors. Although it continued to invest in equipment during the nineteenth century, parts of the plant became obsolete. The business remained large: by the Second World War it employed approximately 12,000 workers and continued making iron and steel despite using lower-grade ore. State intervention transformed the company after the war. Its coal mines passed to the National Coal Board in 1947. The remaining iron and steel undertaking was nationalized in 1951, then denationalized in 1955. A new plate mill opened in 1961, supporting the shipbuilding market. In 1967 the works were nationalized again and became part of the British Steel Corporation. The final period was marked by structural decline. British Steel faced weak demand in traditional heavy industries, aging plant, rising coal and oil costs and inadequate capital investment. The Consett works operated below capacity while policy pressures encouraged the retention of employment. Closure in 1980 followed intense public debate and large demonstrations. Between 3,000 and 4,000 workers lost their jobs, and Consett’s unemployment rate rose to about 35 percent. Demolition removed nearly all of the physical works, although the Terra Novalis sculptures and local historical collections preserve elements of the site’s industrial legacy.

1. 1980Steelworks closes

   The Consett works shut after prolonged industrial and political controversy, ending the site’s major steelmaking role.

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2. 1967Works join British Steel Corporation

   The Consett works were renationalized and absorbed into British Steel Corporation.

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3. 1961New plate mill opens

   The company opened a plate mill designed to supply shipbuilding customers.

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4. 1951Iron and steel operations nationalized

   The works entered the Iron and Steel Corporation of Great Britain.

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5. 1947Coal assets nationalized

   The company’s seven collieries and associated coal operations passed to the National Coal Board.

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6. 1887Structural steel production expands

   The company began producing angles, bars, joists and girders for shipbuilding and related industrial uses.

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7. 1883Siemens furnaces begin production

   The company introduced open-hearth steelmaking to expand beyond traditional iron products.

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8. 1869William Jenkins becomes general manager

   Jenkins began the management period later associated with improved profitability and extensive community investment.

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9. 1864Consett Iron Company Ltd registered

   A successor company was formed with £400,000 of capital after years of financial difficulty affecting the predecessor business.

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10. 1851Imported Cleveland ore enters the supply chain

    Rail connections enabled the works to obtain ironstone from the Cleveland Ironstone Formation near Eston.

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11. 1840Derwent Iron Company founded

    Local businessmen led by Jonathan Richardson established the predecessor enterprise to exploit and smelt ironstone around Consett.

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A vertically integrated regional iron and steel producer whose competitive identity rested on control of mineral resources, large-scale works, transport access and a broad industrial and community estate.

• Pig ironIronmaking1864

  Pig iron was one of the company’s core early outputs, made in blast furnaces from ironstone and coke. The 1864 company controlled 18 blast furnaces and had stated capacity for approximately 80,000 tons of pig iron annually.

• Finished ironIron products1864

  Finished iron represented the company’s traditional malleable-iron business before market conditions pushed it toward steel. Reported capacity around the company’s formation included approximately 50,000 tons of finished iron per year.

• Steel plateFlat steel1883

  Steel plate became a major strategic product after the company shifted away from declining rail-related iron demand. It was particularly important for shipbuilding and remained central to the later works, including the plate mill opened in 1961.

• Structural steel sectionsLong steel1887

  From 1887 the company made steel angles, bars, rolled joists and girders. These products were manufactured at the Angle Mills and served shipbuilding, construction and other heavy industrial applications.

• Iron castingsFoundry products

  A foundry at Crookhall produced iron castings and had reported capacity of approximately 150 tons per week in the early 1890s.

• BricksConstruction materials

  The company also operated a brickworks, producing roughly 12,000 bricks per week according to nineteenth-century descriptions of the industrial estate.

• 1980Closure of Consett Steel WorksOther

  The works faced declining heavy-industry markets, obsolete technology, rising raw-material costs and insufficient capital investment.

  What changed. British Steel closed the Consett works despite intense debate, worker opposition and large demonstrations.

  Aftermath. Approximately 3,000 to 4,000 jobs were lost, local unemployment reached about 35 percent, and most of the industrial site was later demolished.

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• 1938Support for the New Jarrow Steel CompanyM&A

  The collapse of Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company had left industrial assets in the Jarrow area available for redevelopment.

  What changed. Consett Iron Company helped finance the creation of the New Jarrow Steel Company.

  Aftermath. The investment connected Consett with a wider regional effort to preserve steelmaking and industrial employment.

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• 1882Conversion to open-hearth steelmakingStrategy

  Market demand was moving from traditional iron products toward steel, especially for shipbuilding.

  What changed. Consett began converting production to steel plate using the Siemens-Martin process, with its first Siemens furnaces operating in 1883.

  Aftermath. The investment broadened the company’s product range and supported the expansion of the Angle Mills and steel plate operations.

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• 1876Shift from rail-related iron toward plate productsStrategy

  The growing adoption of steel railway rails reduced demand for malleable iron and cut Consett’s production by about one-third.

  What changed. The company redirected capacity toward iron plate, benefiting from expanding shipbuilding demand.

  Aftermath. The shift helped preserve the business while preparing it for a later move into steel plate and structural sections.

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• 1980Consett Steel Works closes

  The works closed after protests and demonstrations, eliminating approximately 3,000 to 4,000 jobs and causing a severe local employment shock.

  BankruptcyOther
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• 1967Consett works absorbed into British Steel Corporation

  The steelworks were renationalized and incorporated into the newly established British Steel Corporation.

  M&ARegulation
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• 1961New steel plate mill opens

  A new plate mill was opened to supply the shipbuilding industry, at a time when the works employed about 6,000 people.

  Product launchOther
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• 1955Consett steelworks returned to private ownership

  The works were denationalized after a short period under state ownership.

  RegulationOther
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• 1951Consett Iron Company nationalized

  The remaining iron and steel operations entered state ownership through the Iron and Steel Corporation of Great Britain.

  RegulationOther
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• 1947Consett coal mines transferred to the National Coal Board

  The company’s collieries were nationalized as part of the post-war restructuring of Britain’s coal industry.

  RegulationOther
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1. Consett Iron Company
2. The Profitability of Consett Iron Company Before 1914