1. The History
Located in the Malin Bridge area of Sheffield, La Plata works was the former home of BURGON & BALL LTD, makers of shears, hammers and tools. The company was set up in 1866 by the partnership of Charles Burgon, a cutlery manufacturer, and James Ball, described as a scythe maker. Ball had previously patented the production of solid steel sheep shears the year before in 1865 which became market leaders due to their strength and lightness.
Initially at Globe Works, Philadelphia in Sheffield, in 1873 they moved to the site at Malin Bridge, Sheffield, next to the River Loxley, which provided power for production. A fire in 1878 destroyed much of the firm’s trading record. In 1882 the partnership ended and Charles Burgon carried the business forward still as Burgon and Ball, buying out Ball's rights. Looking to tap markets in both America and Australia, son Frederic Burgon went to Australia to the Adelaide Fair in 1887, while other son Harry Burgon made several journeys to South America and Australia. The latter explains why the works were named after the River Plate in Argentina. Burgon & Ball make sheep shears one of their largest export markets is to Argentina. In 1890 Charles Burgon was prosecuted by Ball Brothers (founded by James Ball's two sons) for illegal use of a trademark.
Old engraving of the works:
Charles Burgon died in 1894 (and buried at Wardsend Cemetery) a dispute between his two sons ensued. Fred carried the business on and it became a limited company in 1898. Meanwhile Harry went into partnership with William Wilkinson establishing Burgon and Wilkinson, only to go bankrupt in 1899. Burgon and Ball then bought up its assets from the liquidators, integrating their trade but selling off the Spring Works in Grimesthorpe. A year later in 1900, Fred Burgon died and the managing director role passed to Benjamin Hind.
Old advertisement:
In addition to the sheep shearing machines they made) the company sold other machines, including bikes with rubber tyres from about 1894, and branched out into selling cars in 1903-06 and in the early 1920s, driven by the fact Benjamin Hind was an enthusiastic motorist. By 1920, the production of garden shears and equipment had overtaken sheep shear production.
Fast forward fifty or so years and in 1974, a new forge and a new dispatch warehouse were completed, facilitating more modern production systems. Patr of the company’s success was down to the majority of their garden tools being indorsed by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) since in 2012, including their legendary topiary sheers. Today, Burgon & Ball still exist but merged with Canadian company, Venanpri Tools in early 2018. They then relocated to new premises on a modern industrial estate in S3, leaving La Plata works. The site has remained empty and unoccupied since.
2. The Explore
Took me a while to finally get round to exploring here and putting up my report, possibly because I knew it was going to be difficult to get close to the quality of @tarkovsky and his report from July 2023 HERE. As he notes, an empty building is a lot less impressive than a fully-operational toolmakers, but these are almost non-existent in Sheffield these days. While the place is empty, there are enough original features to make for a reasonably interesting report.
3. The Pictures
Some externals first:
From the side:
Cobbled works yard:
In we go:
One of the few bits of graff:
Upstairs, and more empty spaces:
And a 500kg crane:
Mother of all extractor funnels:
Street entrance - still getting mail:
Customer hatch:
Upstairs to the administrative rooms. And this safe:
Old board room?
Nice old fireplace in an adjacent room:
And more empty factory floor space:
Lovely old wooden staircase to the first floor:
A piece of old furniture, most likely used for storing records:
Work space on the ground floor:
Bye-bye La Plata works:
THATS ALL FOLKS!!!
Located in the Malin Bridge area of Sheffield, La Plata works was the former home of BURGON & BALL LTD, makers of shears, hammers and tools. The company was set up in 1866 by the partnership of Charles Burgon, a cutlery manufacturer, and James Ball, described as a scythe maker. Ball had previously patented the production of solid steel sheep shears the year before in 1865 which became market leaders due to their strength and lightness.
Initially at Globe Works, Philadelphia in Sheffield, in 1873 they moved to the site at Malin Bridge, Sheffield, next to the River Loxley, which provided power for production. A fire in 1878 destroyed much of the firm’s trading record. In 1882 the partnership ended and Charles Burgon carried the business forward still as Burgon and Ball, buying out Ball's rights. Looking to tap markets in both America and Australia, son Frederic Burgon went to Australia to the Adelaide Fair in 1887, while other son Harry Burgon made several journeys to South America and Australia. The latter explains why the works were named after the River Plate in Argentina. Burgon & Ball make sheep shears one of their largest export markets is to Argentina. In 1890 Charles Burgon was prosecuted by Ball Brothers (founded by James Ball's two sons) for illegal use of a trademark.
Old engraving of the works:
Charles Burgon died in 1894 (and buried at Wardsend Cemetery) a dispute between his two sons ensued. Fred carried the business on and it became a limited company in 1898. Meanwhile Harry went into partnership with William Wilkinson establishing Burgon and Wilkinson, only to go bankrupt in 1899. Burgon and Ball then bought up its assets from the liquidators, integrating their trade but selling off the Spring Works in Grimesthorpe. A year later in 1900, Fred Burgon died and the managing director role passed to Benjamin Hind.
Old advertisement:
In addition to the sheep shearing machines they made) the company sold other machines, including bikes with rubber tyres from about 1894, and branched out into selling cars in 1903-06 and in the early 1920s, driven by the fact Benjamin Hind was an enthusiastic motorist. By 1920, the production of garden shears and equipment had overtaken sheep shear production.
Fast forward fifty or so years and in 1974, a new forge and a new dispatch warehouse were completed, facilitating more modern production systems. Patr of the company’s success was down to the majority of their garden tools being indorsed by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) since in 2012, including their legendary topiary sheers. Today, Burgon & Ball still exist but merged with Canadian company, Venanpri Tools in early 2018. They then relocated to new premises on a modern industrial estate in S3, leaving La Plata works. The site has remained empty and unoccupied since.
2. The Explore
Took me a while to finally get round to exploring here and putting up my report, possibly because I knew it was going to be difficult to get close to the quality of @tarkovsky and his report from July 2023 HERE. As he notes, an empty building is a lot less impressive than a fully-operational toolmakers, but these are almost non-existent in Sheffield these days. While the place is empty, there are enough original features to make for a reasonably interesting report.
3. The Pictures
Some externals first:
From the side:
Cobbled works yard:
In we go:
One of the few bits of graff:
Upstairs, and more empty spaces:
And a 500kg crane:
Mother of all extractor funnels:
Street entrance - still getting mail:
Customer hatch:
Upstairs to the administrative rooms. And this safe:
Old board room?
Nice old fireplace in an adjacent room:
And more empty factory floor space:
Lovely old wooden staircase to the first floor:
A piece of old furniture, most likely used for storing records:
Work space on the ground floor:
Bye-bye La Plata works:
THATS ALL FOLKS!!!
