Patent Shaft
Encyclopedia
Patent Shaft, formerly The Patent Shaft and Axeltree Company Est 1840, was a large steelworks situated in Wednesbury
, West Midlands
, England
. It employed hundreds of local people from its opening during the 19th century, and was a key player in the Industrial Revolution
that spread across the Black Country
at this time, and gave the region its iconic name.
A decline in the manufacturing industry during the 1970s meant that even the largest factories were faced with threat of closure. Patent Shaft closed in 1980 after 140 years in use and left hundreds of local people out of work. The factory buildings were demolished in 1983.
In the early to mid 1990s the Patent Shaft site was substantially transformed. The construction of the Black Country Spine Road between Bilston
and West Bromwich
opened up several square miles of previously inaccessible land. The Spine Road actually passed through the site of one of the Patent Shaft buildings, and an Automotive Component Park was opened on another part of the site on 2 March 1993. This development - exclusively occupied by car component manufacturers - was the first of its kind in Europe
.
The Patent Shaft gates, situated alongside the Walsall Canal
, are still in existence today, thirty years after the factory's closure.
Wednesbury
Wednesbury is a market town in England's Black Country, part of the Sandwell metropolitan borough in West Midlands, near the source of the River Tame. Similarly to the word Wednesday, it is pronounced .-Pre-Medieval and Medieval times:...
, West Midlands
West Midlands (county)
The West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western central England with a 2009 estimated population of 2,638,700. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972, formed from parts of Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire. The...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It employed hundreds of local people from its opening during the 19th century, and was a key player in the Industrial Revolution
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
that spread across the Black Country
Black Country
The Black Country is a loosely defined area of the English West Midlands conurbation, to the north and west of Birmingham, and to the south and east of Wolverhampton. During the industrial revolution in the 19th century this area had become one of the most intensely industrialised in the nation...
at this time, and gave the region its iconic name.
A decline in the manufacturing industry during the 1970s meant that even the largest factories were faced with threat of closure. Patent Shaft closed in 1980 after 140 years in use and left hundreds of local people out of work. The factory buildings were demolished in 1983.
In the early to mid 1990s the Patent Shaft site was substantially transformed. The construction of the Black Country Spine Road between Bilston
Bilston
Bilston is a town in the English county of West Midlands, situated in the southeastern corner of the City of Wolverhampton. Three wards of Wolverhampton City Council cover the town: Bilston East and Bilston North, which almost entirely comprise parts of the historic Borough of Bilston, and...
and West Bromwich
West Bromwich
West Bromwich is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, in the West Midlands, England. It is north west of Birmingham lying on the A41 London-to-Birkenhead road. West Bromwich is part of the Black Country...
opened up several square miles of previously inaccessible land. The Spine Road actually passed through the site of one of the Patent Shaft buildings, and an Automotive Component Park was opened on another part of the site on 2 March 1993. This development - exclusively occupied by car component manufacturers - was the first of its kind in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
The Patent Shaft gates, situated alongside the Walsall Canal
Walsall Canal
The Walsall Canal is a narrow canal, seven miles long, forming part of the Birmingham Canal Navigations, and passing around the western side of Walsall, West Midlands, England.-Route:...
, are still in existence today, thirty years after the factory's closure.