Development and transitions of ironworks.

[HuzzButt]

Did the English ironworks commonly diversify during the 19th century? I live in the locale of the longest continously operating iron works in Sweden and through the centuries the proprietors expanded and diversified into just about every thing that can be done with iron and wood and beyond, I'm the process of changing the roof on my barn. The tiles are 90 year old concrete ones, made from the foundrys casting sand and the excess lime that didn't go to making slagbricks. I wonder if the same type of diversification happened elsewhere or if urbanization eliminated the possibilities.

 

[Henry IX]

John 'iron mad' Wilkinson (the founder of the famous knife brand) was an ironmaster and a crucial figure in the early industrial revolution. He notably developed a cannon foundry and the technique of boring a solid iron block to make cannon. This technique gave a precise and even bore which improved the qualities of the guns. He used the same technique to bore high precision pistons for James Watt's steam engines, hugely increasing their efficiency and power output, as steam was no longer lost from the top of the cylinder.

At his Bradley works he also had brickworks, potteries, glassworks and a rolling mill. So, at least during the early part of the industrial revolution it appears that diversification was common.