Report - Stanton Iron Works Ilkeston - Feb 19

[bmichelle]

Thought I’d check out Stanton Irom Works on my day off today, Mookster pointed me in the right direction thankfully!
First I went to the exhibition building which was pretty roughed up but still took a few pictures. Then went onto the site itself, I only managed to get in one building before a not so friendly security guard escorted me off site. Only got a few pictures but thought I’d post anyway.
(I’m going to head back at the weekend to hopefully get into the main buildings).

Stole Mookster’s history too:

It was established in 1855 with an office staff of four, and three small furnaces, a small foundry, iron fields at Stanton and in the neighbourhood parish of Dale Abbey, and the Ironstone Bell pits at Babbington. The partners were Messrs George and John Crompton - brothers and partners in the firm of bankers of Crompton and Evans - Mr Newton and Mr. Barber. At first the pig iron was made entirely from local ore, but in 1865 Northamptonshire ores were introduced into the company's mixtures, and a little later iron mines in Leceistershire and Northamptonshire were acquired and developed. In 1878 the pipe foundry, now probably the largest in Great Britain, if not in the world, was started under the management of Mr James Chambers. Ten years prior to this date the company sunk its first colliery at Teversal, the Pleaseley Colliery followed in 1873, and The Silverhill in 1878. As indicating the progress of the firm it may be mentioned that in the twenty years immediately prior to 1914, the output of coal had increased by 94 per cent, the ironstone output by 38 per cent, the pig iron output by 29 per cent and the cast iron pipe output by 184 per cent.

Circa 1914 the company had 7000 people on its pay roll - 3000 at Stanton, the same number at the collieries and 1000 at the ironstone mines.

In 1951 it was nationalised and became part of the Iron and Steel Corporation of Great Britain.

In 1960 the company was taken over by Stewarts & Lloyds Ltd. and was merged with Staveley Iron & Chemical Co. to form the Stanton & Staveley company.

In 1967 Stanton & Staveley was incorporated into British Steel.

During the early 1980s Stanton became part of the French Pont-a-Mouson Group and later part of Saint Gobain, manufacturing cast iron pipes. Production ceased on May 24th 2007, and subsequently a huge amount of the site was demolished around 2009/2010.

However, not all of it was. There is one large part left which is attached to an even bigger part of one of Saint Gobain's very much in-use manufacturing plants. A little further afield on the outskirts of the plant sits the empty Exhibition Building, Training Centre and Fire Station all built in the mid 1940s in a matching style. The Exhibition Centre would have at one time housed a company cinema as well as, I guess, some kind of social club style thing. The Training Centre was accessible but looking through the windows barely worth it, and the Fire Station is currently located in the middle of an active yard belong to another business.

The Exhibition Building:

One part of the industrial site:

 

[host]

Shame you got busted good effort all the same. I guess security will be a bit more on top and the cameras must work too.

 

[bmichelle]

Shame you got busted good effort all the same. I guess security will be a bit more on top and the cameras must work too.

Honestly I don’t think the cameras work, it was just pure bad luck that he stumbled across me I think. Going to head back this weekend to get a better look hopefully!

 

[mookster]

Shame you got busted good effort all the same. I guess security will be a bit more on top and the cameras must work too.

Trouble is around 2/3s of it is an active pipe manufacturing facility so going on a weekday will always be more risky.

 

[expedition]

Yeah, Sundays are the best days to go here. We spent about 2 hours in both buildings and my other friends spent about 4/5. No security, no alarms, no cameras, nothing.

As Mookster said, a lot of the site is still active, so aim to go on a weekday, or just go pure ghost mode if you try during the week.

 

[bmichelle]

Yeah, Sundays are the best days to go here. We spent about 2 hours in both buildings and my other friends spent about 4/5. No security, no alarms, no cameras, nothing.

As Mookster said, a lot of the site is still active, so aim to go on a weekday, or just go pure ghost mode if you try during the week.

It’s only 10 minutes away from my house so I went with the intention to just look around the exhibition centre then wander up to see what access was like on the main site (to come back with my boyfriend) but because it was easy I had a look around. Wasn’t too bummed about getting caught

 

[expedition]

It’s only 10 minutes away from my house so I went with the intention to just look around the exhibition centre then wander up to see what access was like on the main site (to come back with my boyfriend) but because it was easy I had a look around. Wasn’t too bummed about getting caught

The exhibition centre's decent. There's also the train tracks behind that lead to active tracks and a derelict train tunnel if you haven't been. Some bunkers on the field that lead to the ironworks as well.

Some pretty decent bandos in and around Ilkeston, to be fair.

 

[bmichelle]

The exhibition centre's decent. There's also the train tracks behind that lead to active tracks and a derelict train tunnel if you haven't been. Some bunkers on the field that lead to the ironworks as well.

Some pretty decent bandos in and around Ilkeston, to be fair.

Cheers dude I’ll check them out when I go back!