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Description: | The records in this section of the collection relate to the period in which Bilston Steelworks was owned by Stewarts and Lloyds Ltd., between 1920 and 1967.
Stewarts and Lloyds Ltd., a large steel tube- manufacturing firm with numerous other national and international works (including Coombs Wood Tube Works at nearby Halesowen), acquired the Bilston works in 1920 from Alfred Hickman Ltd. However, they retained the name 'Alfred Hickman Branch' for some years after this, and this name appears on some of the records of this period. They produced high-quality carbon and low alloy steels for the production of seamless tubes.
A new blast furnace, known as the 'Elisabeth' furnace was first lit in 1954. The furnace was named Elisabeth after the daughter of the chairman of Stewarts & Lloyds Ltd. Elisabeth produced 275,000 tons of steel per year.
In 1963, Stewarts and Lloyds also acquired Wolverhampton and Birchley Rolling Mills, to provide an outlet for the additional capacity produced at Bilston and Corby Steel Works. Some records of the Wolverhampton and Birchley Works, situated at Oldbury, Smethwick, appear in this section.
With the completion of major redevelopments, the Bilston works became one of the most modern integrated works of its kind in the country. As part of the nationalisation of the steel industry in 1967, Bilston Steel Works became part of the Northern and Tubes Group of the British Steel Corporation, but by 1980 the works had ceased production and the Elisabeth furnace was demolished. | License: | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/uk/ | Publisher: | Wolverhampton Archives | Rights holder: | Wolverhampton Archives | Temporal: | 1912-c1990s | Source: | Black Country History | Identifier: | http://www.blackcountryhistory.org/colle... | Go to resource |
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