The Weardale Iron and Coal Company, established in the 1840s, produced iron and steel at Tow Law and Tudhoe in County Durham in England, where it also owned collieries.
The founder of the company, Charles Attwood (1791–1875), was born in Halesowen in the west midlands of England; his father and grandfather were involved in the iron industry of that area. His brothers Matthias Attwood and Thomas Attwood were bankers and politicians, and other brothers also had notable careers. Charles Attwood had other business interests during his career, and was a politician. [1]
The company, founded in 1845 as the Weardale Iron Company, was created to exploit iron ore in Weardale; leasing rights were obtained there in the manors of Stanhope and Wolsingham. Six blast furnaces were built at Tow Law in County Durham, and the company built a railway to transport the iron ore to the ironworks. The company became in 1846 the Weardale Iron and Coal Company, with Attwood as a managing partner; it was controlled financially by Baring Brothers. Collieries were established in the area, and the company built houses for employees. [1] [2]
In 1853, an ironworks was built in Tudhoe, near Spennymoor in County Durham. Forges and rolling mills were built, and collieries were opened. [1] [3]
In 1861 the company began to make steel by the Bessemer process in Tudhoe, the first to do so in northern England. At Tow Law Attwood was the first licensee of the Siemens regenerative furnace to make steel. [1] [3]
In 1865 Attwood retired as managing partner of the company. [1] The ironworks at Tow Law had closed by 1882; [2] Tudhoe Iron and Steel Works had closed by 1901. [3]
Spennymoor is a town and civil parish in County Durham, England. It stands above the Wear Valley approximately 7 mi (11 km) south of Durham. The town was founded over 160 years ago. The Town Council area, which includes the villages of Kirk Merrington, Middlestone Moor, Byers Green and Tudhoe, has a population of approximately 20,000.
Tudhoe is a village in County Durham, in England. It is situated approximately 8 km (5.0 mi) south of the city of Durham. It lies just outside Spennymoor, a short distance to the west of the Great North Road. The village is now a quiet backwater, its green a cul-de-sac that runs down from the main road towards the River Wear. In former times, however, Tudhoe lay at the centre of a network of roads: one ran to Durham by way of Sunderland Bridge and Croxdale, another to Kirk Merrington, a third to Bishop Auckland, a fourth to Whitworth and Byers Green, and a fifth across a ford to Brancepeth Castle and village on the far side of the river. All except the Brancepeth road are shown, somewhat schematically, on Thomas Jeffrey's map of County Durham of 1758.
Tow Law is a town and civil parish in County Durham, England. It is situated a few miles to the south of Consett.
Wolsingham is a small market town in Weardale, County Durham, England. It is situated by the River Wear, between Crook and Stanhope in North West Durham.
Weardale is a dale, or valley, of the east side of the Pennines in County Durham, England. Large parts of Weardale fall within the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) – the second largest AONB in England and Wales. The upper valley is surrounded by high fells and heather grouse moors. The River Wear flows through Weardale before reaching Bishop Auckland and then Durham, meeting the sea at Sunderland.
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Tredegar Iron and Coal Company was an important 19th century ironworks in Tredegar, Wales, which due to its need for coke became a major developer of coal mines and particularly the Sirhowy Valley of South Wales. It is most closely associated with the Industrial Revolution and coal mining in the South Wales Valleys.
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