2-362-243 - Worldwide Photography/Heritage-Images

Blast furnace at the Stanton Iron Co, Ilkeston, Derbyshire, 1962. Iron production had taken place in the Ilkeston area since Roman times and after the construction of the area's first blast furnace in 1788 the area established itself as a centre for steel production. The Stanton Ironworks was created in 1846 when a Chesterfield man, Benjamin Smith and his son Josiah, brought three blast furnaces into production alongside the banks of the Nutbrook Canal. Five new furnaces were brought into production by 1987 and the site became known as the Old Works. The company experienced difficulties and a series of takeovers followed. It was eventually taken over by Stewarts and Lloyds Ltd and was merged with the Staveley Iron and Chemical Company Ltd in 1960 to form Stanton and Staveley, which was later incorporated into the British Steel Co. The company produced bomb casings and gun barrels during the Second World War in addition to a wide variety of other products, which included tube products, street furniture and tunneling components, which were used in the construction of the London Underground and the Mersey Tunnel. By the late 2000s the site was derelict and scheduled for demolition.