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Carron: Scotland's Forge |
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Blast Furnace 1931
© Scran |
Other famous collaborations ensued between Carron and important designers and engineers of the day: James Watt carried out unsuccessful work on steam power; the cylinders of the first steamship – the Charlotte Dundas – were manufactured at Carron, and the famous designer, Robert Adam, created many domestic items, such as stoves and fireplace surrounds, for Carron. Adam’s brothers, James and John, were also involved in work at the works with John even becoming a director of the company. Another significant contribution came when Col. Henry Shrapnel was invited to test his new antipersonnel shell in 1804. The tests were a huge success and shrapnel shells began being manufactured at Carron a year later. By the time of Waterloo shrapnel would account for 10% of all British artillery shells.
However, Gascoigne was not to stick around to enjoy the success of the foundry. In 1786 he was invited to St Petersburg by the Scot Samuel Greig – an Admiral in the Russian Navy – in order to establish an iron works on the model of Carron there, and, in a state of insolvency, he had no qualms about upping sticks and trying his luck in Russia. By the time of his death there in 1806, Gascoigne owned 5 iron works and had been given the title of State Councillor!
By 1814 Carron was the largest iron works in Europe with over 1,000 employees. The works continued to thrive throughout the 19th Century, and the company became vertically integrated, controlling the supply chain of its products from the factory to the consumer. The Carron Shipping line, established in 1772, operated a service four times a week from Grangemouth and Bo'ness to London, a service which ran until after World War II. Other Carron vessels carried the raw materials along the Forth and Clyde Canal to the works. The company owned its own collieries, iron mines and shops to sell its wide range of goods in; by 1938 it even owned 60 km of railway track, 16 locomotives and 400 railway wagons.
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