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THE
JOURNAL OF THE WILKINSON SOCIETY
Issue No. 19, 1997
John Wilkinson and the Iron Bridge
Betancourt sheds Light on the Wilkinsons
The Industrial Archaeology of Shropshire
Book Reviews
Betancourt sheds Light on the Wilkinsons
The chance discovery of a new book in the
Library of the Institution of Civil Engineers provided a new insight into
sources for the activities of the Wilkinsons. A Spanish Engineer, Agustin de
Betancourt y Molina (1758-1824), had spent time travelling in England, France
and Russia, and recorded what he saw in a large number of detailed drawings
similar to those found in encyclopaedias from the period. The range of subjects
was enormous, but the immediate interest is in sets of drawings of the new James
Watt double-acting engines, prepared from information obtained somewhat
clandestinely, and possibly for the same group that had ordered the Watt pumping
engines at Chaillot for the Paris waterworks, provided in large part by John
Wilkinson about 1780 (for which, see Wilkinson Studies II); and of the cast iron
cannon manufactory at Indret, an island in the lower Loire, in which his brother
William played a part. However,
this is only linked to the publication of a much larger catalogue, containing
sixteen studies on different activities and industries, profusely illustrated
with original drawings from collections all over Europe — not all by Betancourt; and
also an extended bibliography linked to Betancourt. Unfortunately the scale of
many of the illustrations does not do full justice to the detail — particularly so in the case
of the Indret works. The
work is: Betancourt: los inicios de Ia ingenierla moderna en Europa, Madrid
1996. Colegio de ingenieros de caminos, canales y puertos; colección ciencias
humanidades e ingenieria, No 54. ISBN 84-380-0112-2. The
section concerning the works at Indret (“Yndrid”) is dated 1791, and is from
the collections of the Biblioteca del Palacio Real, Madrid, IX-Mesa 97. It is
stated that in order to cast the cannon vertically, care had to be taken to
avoid problems with inundation of the pit by high tides in the river. The same
high tides were originally used to drive a pair of waterwheels for the boring
engines. The raw material for the furnaces was primarily defective old cannon,
and a tall crane was provided to raise these to a great height, in order to drop
and fracture them, to reduce then to manageable pieces for the furnaces — other cannon acting as the
anvil. This machine is reproduced as one of some dozen plates also covering
boilers, single-acting engines and the building and machinery for boring cannon.
The site also had an iron tramway with turntables to move the cannon during
production, which reached 150 a year. Wilkinson appears to have had no hand in
later developments of sand moulding, and the replacement of the waterwheels with
steam engines, which were actually the work of Delamotte, an associate of the Périer
brothers, who ordered the 1780 Paris engine from James Watt/John Wilkinson. The
text presented does not actually define who built which parts of the manufactory
illustrated, but the bibliography refers to manuscripts by Betancourt which
include historical surveys; so there may be a mass of additional information.
There are also sets of drawings for Spanish intallations at Seville and
Barcelona. The
text on the double-acting engines is equally brief, but describes Betancourt’s
visits to Birmingham and to Albion Mills (Blackfriars) in 1789 (financed by the
Périers, it is suggested, with intent to acquire knowledge of the double-acting
engine, still only a rumour on the Continent). In Birmingham he was received
with courtesy, but obtained no information. At Blackfriars however, he was
allowed a limited view of a machine at work — conspicuously without the chain transmission of
the single-acting engine, but with other parts such as the centrifugal governor
obscured. Betancourt nonetheless presented a Memoria to the French Academy, and
the secrets were out. Betancourt appears to have directed the construction of a
new double-acting engine for the Périer brothers during 1790. On 23 July 1790
Watt belatedly wrote to Boulton about not trusting foreign visitors. There are
three drawings of an unidentified Watt double-acting engine in the book,
including one detail sketch of the valve gear, all from the Ponts Ct Chaussées
collection. Again,
there is a possibility of significant new information from this source on the
role of the Wilkinsons in the dissemination of new technology, though not
directly from the two publications described here. The catalogue, however, is
well worth seeking out in its own right, as a magnificent collection of drawings
of engineering works from the Wilkinson era. Richard Barker The Industrial Archaeology of Shropshire
By Barrie Trinder (Phillimore, 1996) At
the outset the author explains that this book springs from nearly three decades
of teaching and field work in Shropshire, and he acknowledges the conversations
with countless students and colleagues which have influenced his work. The
outcome, the first comprehensive survey of the county’s industrial archaeology,
was completed before he took up his new post at Nene College, Northampton. Those
who have contributed to and benefited from Bame Trinder’s scholarship over the
years—whether as a result of his editorship of the Shropshire Newsletter (the
twice-yearly newsletter of the Shropshire Archaeological Society, to which
Barrie
added a distinctly industrial archaeological flavour in the late 1960s and early
1970s); or his classes, research groups and field trips (when he was Shropshire
Adult Tutor for Historical Studies); or his work at the Ironbridge Institute
(where he became Senior Fellow in Industrial Archaeology)—wilI particularly
welcome its publication. Barrie Trinder has gained an international reputation
as a leading figure in the field of industrial archaeology as a result of his
enthusiasm and dedication, the breadth and depth of his research and the clarity
and readable nature of his many publications—and all these characteristics are
present in this volume. It is in practice not the study of the whole of the physical evidence of
society in recent centuries, but one which centres on manufactures and mining
and their associated transport systems, civil engineering works and services,
and overlaps into many areas of concern that are shared with other disciplines.
(p. 351) This present volume provides a theoretical
foundation for industrial archaeological research of relevance both within and
beyond the borders of Shropshire. The method it advocates is to use
‘archaeological evidence in a disciplined manner to enhance understanding of
the past, to set up models, to pose questions, to accumulate data about the
artefacts, images, structures, sites and landscapes which form the subject
matter of Industrial Archaeology, to analyse it and reach conclusions about it
which enhance our understanding of the past’. The purpose of industrial
archaeology, it suggests, is ‘not merely to summarise nor to ossify but to
stimulate, not to bring comfort and congratulation but to provoke, to consider
not just questions of local history but the place of mining and manufactures in
man’s past’ (Introduction, p. 6). The national importance of Shropshire’s
industrial past cannot be overestimated, and Barrie Trinder’s book, like his
earlier The Industrial Revolution in Shropshire, is a major contribution to our
understanding of the subject. Neil Clarke |
