Leadworks

Roman Lead
Early evidence for "industry" in Chester points to leather, lead and linen as significant commodities traded here. Remains from Roman Chester include lead ingots, one being inscribed IMP•VESP•AVGV•T•IMP•III (the word DECEANGI appears on the side, pointing to a source in North Wales) which means it can be dated to AD74.

"Modern" Lead
Lead had been mined at Minera since at least the 13thC.

A lead mine was discovered on property forming part of the Owen Jones bequest around 1744. Lead prospecting was promoted by Alderman Richardson of Chester. Between 1761 and 1781 the city companies had received nearly £13,000 in royalties.

The Walkers
In 1778 Samuel Walker (1715-1782), in partnership with Richard Fishwick and Archer Ward of Hull, began a white lead manufacturing business at Elswick, near Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Samuel was the second son of Joseph and Ann, was only 13 when his father died. He qualified himself for keeping a School at Grenoside, until 1746, where he taught reading, writing, and arithmetic. In addition, Samuel supplemented his living by land surveying, and making sun dials.

Samuel Walker provided most of the capital for the leadworks, while his partners contributed business and practical expertise. This enterprise was extended, producing not only white and red lead but also lead shot and pipes. Rising prices for lead encouraged many others to enter this trade about this time. In 1802 Samuel Walker Parker joined the lead partnership, which then became known as "Walker, Parker and Co".

A later member of the family, Sir Edward Samuel Walker (1799-1874), educated at Rugby and St. John's College Cambridge, was a partner in the "Lead House" of Walker, Parker & Co., Chester, managing their factory there and at Baglit. He was Mayor of Chester in 1838, being knighted while in office, in 1841 and 1848. He was also JP for Chester and Cheshire. The leadworks at various times traded under names reflecting its shifting ownership between various combinations of Walkers and Parkers, and in the 1850's there was a noted law-suit in the US (Pollen v. Le Roy) in which the dubious argument hinged on whether lead marked "Walker and Parker" needed to be paid for if ordered from "Walker, Parker and Walker".

Sources and Links

 * The Walkers of Rotherham;

Shot Tower
William Watts of Bristol (a plumber) took out a patent (number 1347, granted on March 28th, 1782) for his new technique, a process:


 * "for making smallshot perfectly globular in form and without dimples, notches and imperfections which other shot hereto manufactured usually have on their surface".

According to a legend (of which there are many versions), William Watts, while watching the rain fall, possibly in a dream, noticed that the raindrops formed perfect spheres as they fell. Watt's patented technique, was to allow molten lead, to which the deadly poison arsenic had been added, to be poured from the top of a tower, passing through a griddle to separate it into pellets before landing in a wooden vat of water below. During the fall, the pellets became spherical, and the various sizes obtained could be graded using sieves.

A Leadworks was established by the Chester Canal in 1790's and its shot tower, dating from 1799 was used for making lead shot for the Napoleonic Wars. It is the oldest remaining shot tower in the UK.

The circular red-brick tower is 168 feet (41.2 m) tall and 30 feet (9.1 m) in diameter at the base tapering to 20 feet (6 m) at the top, with small arched windows. A lift shaft dating from 1971 remains attached to the exterior; the interior retains a spiral staircase.

Decline
The leadworks continued to specialize in white lead production, which by 1890 took up over half the operational site. The production of lead shot also remained important, and Chester benefited from the decline of the firm's Bagillt works as the increasing import of overseas lead undercut ore produced, smelted, and refined in north Wales. The transfer of lead milling to Chester was completed in 1909, and shortly before the First World War the decision was taken to open a new lead refining plant. Finally, in 1929 the smelter was moved from Bagillt to Chester and the north Wales works closed completely. The production of acetic acid for the white lead process was, closed down before 1900 because synthetic acid could be bought in more cheaply.

The Chester works also suffered from more fundamental problems. In the 1880s the Walkers Parker partnership was destroyed by an acrimonious dispute between two of the partners, one of whom was manager of the Chester works. In 1889 the new limited company of Walkers, Parker & Co. bought out the partners' assets and took over the Chester works. The change came at a time when trading conditions in the lead industry were difficult, and the new concern's financial performance was poor throughout the 1890s. Parts of the site were sold to improve the financial position. Employment grew only slowly between 1880 and 1914 before expanding dramatically during the First World War.

Sources and Links

 * Comments by the Chester Archaeological Society.