WEEK 42

New Wharf Road Estate in the distance

John Baker & Bessemer Limited, Kilnhurst

These steel works can be traced back to 1828. In 1863, the works were purchased by John Brown & Company of Sheffield at which time the works were known as Swinton Iron Works. John Baker purchased the works in 1903 and were renamed Kilnhurst Steel Works and began manufacturing component parts involving a Siemens Steel Melting Furnace. During the First World War, the company concentrated on shell forgings. In 1929, the company purchased 90% of the shares of Henry Bessemer & Company Limited, resulting in the changing of the works name again.

Gas was directly supplied to the steel works via a pipe that ran from Manver’s Main coking plant in Wath.

It was announced in October 1963 that Baker and Bessemer in Kilnhurst would be closed by owners, the United Steel Companies and the English Steel Corporation.

Circa 2009, a new housing estate was built on the site of these steel works on Wharf Road.