Patent Shaft

'''Patent Shaft''', formerly '''The Patent Shaft and Axletree Company''', established in 1840, was a steel-making company that operated large steelworks situated in [[Wednesbury]], then in [[Staffordshire]] (now [[West Midlands (county)|West Midlands]]), [[England]], in a region known as the [[Black Country]] due to its industrialisation. It was in operation for 140 years, and employed hundreds of local people.

== History ==

[[File:Patent shaft makers plate.jpg|thumb|Patent Shaft & Axletree makers' plate, dated 1885, on the [[Ibigawa Bridge]], Gifu prefecture, Japan]]

The metalwork for [[Blackfriars Bridge]] in London was built by The Patent Shaft, following their takeover of Lloyds, Foster and Company.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://charlessaumarezsmith.com/2017/10/31/blackfriars-bridge/|title=Blackfriars Bridge |first=Charles Saumarez |last=Smith|date=31 October 2017}}</ref><ref name="Parker1">{{Cite web |first=Bev |last=Parker |url=http://www.historywebsite.co.uk/articles/Wednesbury/PatentShaft1.htm |title= The Patent Shaft & Axletree Company - The Early Years |website=A History of Wednesbury |access-date=3 February 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://maierstorm.org/Vampire/index.php/Blackfriars_Bridge|title=Blackfriars Bridge - The World Is A Vampire|website=maierstorm.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Reference Number: BS-PS/8/1 |url=https://www.blackcountryhistory.org/collections/getrecord/GB146_BS-PS_8_1 |website=Black Country History |access-date=3 February 2024}}</ref>

[[File:Stourport Bridge, Stourport-on-Severn - geograph.org.uk - 1651614.jpg|thumb|Stourport Bridge]]

They provided metalwork for the 1870 rebuild of the road bridge over the [[River Severn]] at [[Stourport-on-Severn|Stourport]].<ref name="BCH-main">{{cite web |title=Patent Shaft Steel Works Ltd, Brunswick, Monway and Old Park Works, Wednesbury |url=https://www.blackcountryhistory.org/collections/getrecord/GB146_BS-PS |website=Black Country History |access-date=3 February 2024}}</ref>

They made the steel girders for the [[Ibigawa Bridge]], Gifu prefecture, Japan; and for [[Malviya Bridge]], then known as Dufferin Bridge, the first metal bridge over the [[Ganges]], opened in 1887.<ref name="Parker3">{{Cite web |first=Bev |last=Parker |url=http://www.historywebsite.co.uk/articles/Wednesbury/PatentShaft3.htm |title= The Patent Shaft & Axletree Company - Take Over |website=A History of Wednesbury |access-date=3 February 2024}}</ref>

[[File:The Engineer - 1900-01-19 - p66 (cropped).jpg|thumb|The first of the prefabricated Tugela River spans, seen at the Wednesbury works, from ''[[The Engineer (UK magazine)|The Engineer]]'', 19 January 1900 ]]

In 1900 they built prefabricated sections for two bridges, one of five spans and one of two, over the [[Tugela River]] in South Africa, at [[Colenso, KwaZulu-Natal|Colenso]] and [[Frere, South Africa|Frere]] respectively.<ref name="Engineer">{{cite journal |title=The New Colenso and Frere Bridges |journal=[[The Engineer (UK magazine)|The Engineer]] |date=19 January 1900 |page=66, 71 |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_engineer_january-5-june-29-1900_89/page/71/mode/1up}}</ref> These replaced earlier bridges, of different design, which they had made in 1877 and which were destroyed by the Boers during the [[Second Boer War]].<ref name="Engineer" />

A decline in the manufacturing industry during the 1970s meant that even the largest factories were faced with threat of closure. Patent Shaft closed in 1980 after 140 years, resulting in hundreds of job losses. The factory buildings were demolished in 1983.

== Legacy ==

In the decade following its closure, the Patent Shaft site was substantially transformed. The construction of the [[Black Country Spine Road]] between [[Bilston]] and [[West Bromwich]] opened up several square miles of previously inaccessible land in 1995. The Spine Road actually passed through the Patent Shaft site, and an Automotive Component Park was opened on another part of the site on 2 March 1993. This development - exclusively occupied by car component manufacturers - was the first of its kind in [[Europe]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Those were the days |url=https://static.expressandstar.com/days/1976-2000/1993.html |website=Express and Star |access-date=3 February 2024}}</ref>

[[File:The Patent Shaft Gates - roundabout on Dudley Street, Wednesbury (44616635204) (cropped).jpg|thumb|Factory gates, Dudley Street, Wednesbury, seen in 2018 ]]

The Patent Shaft factory gates still exist, situated on a traffic island in Wednesbury at the junction of Holyhead Road and Dudley Street, having been moved from their original location around 30 years after the factory’s closure.{{efn|Factory gates coordinates: {{Coord|52.5520788|-2.0247664|region:GB_type:landmark |name=Factory gates}} }}

The archives of Patent Shaft are held at [[Sandwell Community History and Archives Service]].<ref name="BCH-main" />

==Notes== {{Notelist}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons category}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20100509121938/http://www.localhistory.scit.wlv.ac.uk/articles/Wednesbury/Industry.htm History of Wednesbury, Bev Parker]

[[Category:Defunct manufacturing companies of the United Kingdom]] [[Category:Wednesbury]] [[Category:Defunct companies based in the West Midlands (county)]] [[Category:Buildings and structures demolished in 1983]] [[Category:Demolished buildings and structures in the West Midlands (county)]]