14. The Old Foundry

The old foundry building, which has parts dating back to the early 1800s, was part of the factory which closed in 1999 and was the centre of village life and prosperity for nearly 200 years. In 1820, Richard Roberts, a blacksmith from nearby Wicken, established his business in Deanshanger on the site of two cottages and a smithy, near Willow Green, the area now in front of the Parish Council Offices. Over the years this was developed into an iron foundry by his son John and later into the thriving Britannia Iron Works of E & H Roberts, by his grandsons; Edwin and Henry. The factory manufactured a range of world-renowned agricultural implements and was particularly well known for their medal-winning Mephisto ploughs and the famous Hercules, a wind-powered water pump. The factory grew and prospered, exporting many of its products throughout the world to regions such as South Africa, Australia and South America. In its peak, it employed between 120-150 people.

The business provided jobs and security during the early years of the Industrial Revolution, but between 1912 and 1927, it suffered several setbacks: firstly a disastrous fire. Although this was an opportunity to replace some of its aging machinery, the business was under-insured. Over the next few years, the economic situation in the country (the Great Recession) as a whole took its toll on Deanshanger. During this time, there was a series of strikes and in 1927, despite attempts by the family to rescue the business, it went into liquidation.

The factory finally closed and stood idle for several years. In the 1930's, it was eventually purchased by Abraham Wreschner who reopened it as the Deanshanger Oxide Works which manufactured oxide for the colouring of glass, cosmetics, tarmac, bricks and more. In 1979 the company joined forces with Billitons, a division of Shell, and in 1979, this was renamed 'Deanox'. In 1981, the company was taken over by Harrison and Crosfield and in 1982 was branded as 'Harcross', which was later rebranded in 1998 as 'Elementis'.

The last shipment from the factory was made on the 30th March 1999 and 95 jobs were lost with the closure. Demolition of the site began and in 2000 re-development plans were submitted for changes to vast tracts of land within the heart of the village for residential and light commercial properties.

The old foundry building has now been converted into private housing.