150 years of the Shelton Works

Early exhibition stand for the Shelton Iron, Steel and Coal Co. Ltd.

Early steam engine and its operators

But it was on steel that the future was to be built. In 1892 there was just two steel furnaces in production, making 12 tons of steel 11 times a week.

Further developments were under way, with a new 30-inch rolling mill being constructed which would take its power from a 1,000 horsepower steam engine.

At Etruria there were 28 puddling furnaces, three three-ton shingling hammers and a 20-inch forge train, along with a 22-inch blooming mill, a 22-inch bar mill, and a 22-inch plate mill together with four reheating furnaces.

Shelton had 59 puddling furnaces, three 50-hundredweight shingling hammers, forge trains of 19 and 22 inches, and two ball furnaces. There were a number of smaller mills around the site as well.