Carron: Scotland's Forge
“We cam na here to view your warks, In hopes to be mair wise, But only, lest we gang to hell, It may be nae surprise” Robert Burns, Impromptu On Carron Iron Works 1787
The town of Falkirk lies almost at the mid point of Central Scotland, the lowland area of the country which supplies the bulk of the population – and the bulk of its industry. Prior to the Industrial Revolution, Falkirk was mainly a market town, a hub for cattle farmers to bring their herds to. However, in the 18th Century, a dramatic shift in employment in Falkirk occurred, which led to its becoming one of the premier sites of metalworking in the world.
The catalyst for the development of the iron industries in the Falkirk area, as in many of the burgeoning industrial areas, was the arrival of the canal network. It was natural, that with its position between Scotland’s two main cities, Falkirk could not fail to have a canal beside it. The construction of the Forth and Clyde canal was authorised by a 1768 Act of Parliament and construction began the following year at Grangemouth, under the charge of engineer John Smeaton. This canal opened in 1790, connecting Falkirk with the rapidly growing commercial hub of Glasgow and, in 1822 the Union Canal opened, providing a link to Edinburgh.
The Carron works had actually been founded in 1760, but with the coming of the canal, Bo’ness, at the mouth of the River Carron, became a natural port to export the wares of the company to the rest of the nation and beyond and gave the Carron works a major opportunity to become a major player in the newly burgeoning iron industry.
The original founders of Carron were: John Roebuck, a doctor from Sheffield; his two brothers, Thomas and Ebenezer Roebuck; Samuel Garbet, a merchant from Birmingham; William Cadell, Senior, a merchant from Cockenzie, in East Lothian; William Cadell, Junior; and John Cadell. These visionary men realised that Falkirk had all the prerequisites for a successful ironworks: good local supplies of iron ore, coal for power and an easily controllable supply of water in the form of the River Carron.
The major early products at Carron were horse-drawn ploughs and cannonballs, but at first profitability proved somewhat elusive and when Carron moved into the production of artillery success again eluded them at first. Cannons supplied to the Royal Navy by Carron were regarded as liable to misfire and eventually the Navy issued instructions that no further cannons were to be bought from Carron. However this incident, although it seemed to deliver a mortal blow to the company, actually resulted in a change that was to lead to massive expansion for Carron.
The Carron company had only recently been taken over by Charles Gascoigne, an Englishman who was son-in-law to Samuel Garbet. Gascoigne instituted a review of the cannon produced at Falkirk, and soon commissioned a new piece which was to make Carron a worldwide name. Originally intended to be called the Gascoignade, the Carronade was a short cannon with a high calibre, firing a large ball slowly – ideal for naval vessels as it ripped large gashes in the wood of ships’ hulls – and quickly proved a hit with the Royal Navy. The fame created by this weapon led to such a reversal of fortunes that, during the Peninsular campaign, the Duke of Wellington insisted that his armies were only equipped with their cannon.
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.
Carron manufactured an amazing range of products – from artillery and ordnance for the army, pots and pans for domestic purposes to postboxes, telephone boxes and manhole covers the world over.
The demands of war and the heavy industry still based around central Scotland kept the Carron works busy for most of the first half of the 20th Century, but after World War II, the decline in the traditional Scottish industries, together with competition from abroad, led to a decline in the fortunes of the plant. Attempts at product diversification were made, but it was too late to do much more than stave off the inevitable. In 1982 the axe fell on Carron, and amid much protest, led by the SNP and newly founded SDP, the gates finally closed on over two centuries of metal working at Carron.
However, this is not the end of the iron industry in the Falkirk area, as many smaller foundries still survive in the area and a company called Carron Phoenix carries on the great name adjacent to the original foundry – even if it manufactures sinks, not cannons.
