Old Foundry
This building was originally part of the Phoenix Iron and Steel Works 1832 – 1986 and was last used by the Old Foundry Workshops.
This old foundry building is deceptively long with all manner of workshops and lots of yummy things to point my camera at.
There was all manner of studios and workshops in there once upon a time and only a few weeks prior to this building being vacated I had a look around inside whilst it was still being used.
See Old Foundry Workshops Photos Here
Sadly this building and many others will soon be gone under the North Street Quarter area regeneration plans of Lewes. Most of the tenants in the area have now either left or have been evicted.
History of the iron and steel works. The Works were founded by John Every in 1832. The business was started in a small building at the bottom of North Street, Lewes.
It was originally a simple furnace, with the fan to supply the blast driven by a horse attached to a wheel. In 1861 John Every purchased land at the bottom of North Street and moved the business into entirely new premises.
The business developed quite rapidly and in 1872 he was joined by his son, John William Every. By 1885 the third John Every, John Henry Every had joined his father and grandfather.
By the early 1930s John H Every was running the business. At this point, the works was vast and employed at least 500 men and women. There were two furnaces and it wasn’t unusual to make 25 tons of castings a day.
In addition to the furnaces there was an engineering department and departments for the fabrication and construction of steelwork which included a hydraulic riveting plant.
The power to drive all the machines came from two steam engines. A large amount of the material travelled by river and vessels were served by two steam powered cranes.
J.H. Every purchased part of the Paddock Playing field and erected a pavilion in the grounds for use of the Phoenix Sports Club members.
In 1943 J.H. Every’s son, John Morris Every, changed the name to John Every Lewes Ltd which can be seen on many drain covers around Lewes.
In 1951 the works was sold to Mr Burchell and was renamed East Sussex Engineering Company Ltd. During the 1950s and 60s the demand for cast iron was declining and the company concentrated on heavy engineering and structural steel work.
By the 1970s there were few works in England that had the capabilities to take on a job such as the gangways made for the cruise ship SS Canberra’s visit to Hong Kong’s Kowloon Wharf.
However the engineers at East Sussex Engineering Company played a major role in the design and the entire works was involved in the creation of these gangways.
In 1976 Aurora Holdings bought the factory. They sold off the assets and most of the employees lost their jobs. The non-ferrous metal side was bought by GKS Coxheads Ltd in 1978.
They continued trading until April 1986, when the last casting was made and the last four men to be employed were made redundant.
Old Foundry Abandoned Derelict Urbex Urban Exploration UE Scene, Scenes, Image, Images, Photograph, Photographs Lewes Based Photographer In Sussex South Downs National Park Photography by Nikon Camera
