Whifflet Foundry

Location type

Works

Name and dates

Whifflet Foundry (1857-1996)

Served by the Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway.

Description

This was a roll foundry making rolls used in the steel industry and other products. It was founded by Robert Tennent in 1857 whose firm was R. B. Tennent & Sons Ltd.

The foundry initially supplied the Lanarkshire malleable iron works and went on to supply rolls for steel rolling.

The works was located on the east side of the Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway at Whifflet. Rail access was from the south with connections from Whifflet East Junction and Whifflet Central Junction.

The works expanded and at its greatest extent, before the opening of the nearby Meadow Works, it was bounded by Tennent Street to the north, Coatbridge Street and the railway to the west, the railway to the south and Tennent Street and the Speedwell Wire Works to the east.

The works was very successful and sold rolls worldwide. It became a limited company in 1900 and a major part of British Rollmakers Corporation in 1942.

The Meadow Works, to the south east opened in 1961.

Rolls were made for locations such as the Ravenscraig Steel Works and Margam Abbey Steel Works.

The original works closed in 1995, the business being concentrated in Meadow Works. After remaining derelict for some time the older works was demolished in 2001. The site is now a DIY store and car park.

A Sentinel made locomotive from the works survives at the Summerlee Museum of Scottish Industrial Life.

Tags

Foundry rolls

External links

Canmore site record
NLS Collection OS map of 1892-1914
NLS Collection OS map of 1944-67
NLS Map
NLS Map
NLS Map
NLS Map
06/08/2020



Books

The Monkland & Kirkintilloch and associated railways