Soho Foundry, pattern stores and erecting shops (Smethwick)
United Kingdom /
England /
Hockley /
Smethwick /
Foundry Lane
World
/ United Kingdom
/ England
/ Hockley
place with historical importance, abandoned / shut down, industrial building, Grade II* Listed (UK), do not draw title, 18th century construction
The drawn boundary shows the Grade II* listed buildings.
The early history of the Soho Foundry is of pivotal importance both to the history of the industrial revolution and to the study of the development of management theory. The Soho Foundry stood out from other factories of the day in the sophistication of its planning, its production processes and its management techniques; practising concepts that wouldn't become commonplace until a century later. Comparing its workings to the techniques of mass production and scientific management made famous by Henry Ford and Frederick Winslow Taylor in the United States in the early 20th century, the economist Eric Roll wrote "Neither Taylor, Ford nor any other modern experts devised anything in the way of plan that cannot be discovered at Soho before 1805".
In 1794 Matthew Boulton &James Watt established the firm of Boulton & Watt, and in 1794-95 they built the Soho Foundry to manufacture steam engines more efficiently. Matthew Boulton had required a power source for his earlier factory (the Soho Manufactory, demolished 1860) and James Watt had been called in to act as a consultant, eventually resulting in their historic partnership. At the new Soho Foundry Boulton and Watt produced, for the first time, complete steam engines, making and assembling all the separate components on one site. From 1798 the foundry manager was William Murdock, engineer and inventor of gas-lighting, which was installed at the Soho Foundry from 1800-03, making it one of the earliest factories to be lit by gas-light.
historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1268...
The early history of the Soho Foundry is of pivotal importance both to the history of the industrial revolution and to the study of the development of management theory. The Soho Foundry stood out from other factories of the day in the sophistication of its planning, its production processes and its management techniques; practising concepts that wouldn't become commonplace until a century later. Comparing its workings to the techniques of mass production and scientific management made famous by Henry Ford and Frederick Winslow Taylor in the United States in the early 20th century, the economist Eric Roll wrote "Neither Taylor, Ford nor any other modern experts devised anything in the way of plan that cannot be discovered at Soho before 1805".
In 1794 Matthew Boulton &James Watt established the firm of Boulton & Watt, and in 1794-95 they built the Soho Foundry to manufacture steam engines more efficiently. Matthew Boulton had required a power source for his earlier factory (the Soho Manufactory, demolished 1860) and James Watt had been called in to act as a consultant, eventually resulting in their historic partnership. At the new Soho Foundry Boulton and Watt produced, for the first time, complete steam engines, making and assembling all the separate components on one site. From 1798 the foundry manager was William Murdock, engineer and inventor of gas-lighting, which was installed at the Soho Foundry from 1800-03, making it one of the earliest factories to be lit by gas-light.
historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1268...
Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soho_Foundry
Nearby cities:
Coordinates: 52°29'52"N 1°57'4"W
- Westpoint 12 km
- 3M United Kingdom Plc 30 km
- Former Avro Woodford Aircraft Factory (New Assembly) 95 km
- Rehau 145 km
- London Dock development 170 km
- Associated Newspapers printing works 172 km
- Earnshaw's Chemical Factory 209 km
- Skypark Main Building 404 km
- Hyundai Factory 409 km
- Aluminum Smelter 1035 km
- Middlemore Industrial Estate 1.1 km
- Victoria Park 1.2 km
- Handsworth 1.4 km
- Soho Loop 1.6 km
- Summerfield Park 1.7 km
- City Hospital 1.7 km
- Ladywood 3.8 km
- Sandwell 4.3 km
- Perry Barr 4.4 km
- Edgbaston 5.4 km