NHER 2674 (Building record) - Plowright and Sons Foundry

1949. Stray find.
Garden of foundry (later idenfitied as H. Plowright and Sons, Market Place, behind Whitesands Road. E. Rose.).
Worn sestertius of Trajan.
Private possession sent to R. R. Clarke (NCM) for identification.
Information from Record Card (S1).
Transcribed in (S2).
Amended H. Hamilton (HES) 17 July 2023.

January 1973. Listed, Grade II.
Listing Description excerpt:
"Foundry, now shopping arcade. c1860. Converted to shopping arcade 1982. Yellow brick facade under slate roof (front) and pantiles (rear); rear ranges of flint with brick dressings and pantiled or corrugated asbestos roofs."
Please consult the National Heritage List for England (S3) for the current listing details.
The adjacent house to the north, nos 34 and 34A Market Place was also listed Grade II in 1973 and is now recorded separately as NHER 67252.

Foundry is listed - early 19th century three of five furnaces remain.
E. Rose (NAU).

1975. Building Survey and Documentary Research.
Documentary research indicates that the Plowright business had begun by 1775, when the name was listed as a tinsmith.
The earliest evidence of the premises in the Market Place is an 1836 listing in White's Directory for a Wm. Plowright, ironmonger. By 1864 the directory listed H. Plowright, ironfounder and ironmonger, and by 1883 two premises were listed for H. Plowright and sons (then ironmonger, iron founders, and agricultural implement makers): Market Place and Lynn Street. The firm was taken over by Wiggs of the Boundary Foundry, Beccles, in 1940 and they in turn were taken over by Dalgety in 1965 but the company remained trading as H. Plowright and Sons. Products changed gradually over time. The primary focus was farm machinery and equipment, but patterns also remain for grate bottoms, boilers, railing standards, door pulls, and at least one instance of furniture. The firm was also casted the iron supports for the bridge at Gooderstone. It is stated that the business originally had its own transport and stables, but these were demolished in 1972. Casting ceased in the 1950's and the associated equipment was removed.
The buildings currently standing in the Market Place were constructed in 1870 and housed the engineering works for the firm. They consist of a forge room, a machine room and fitting shop which housed trimming and grinding machines, and a foundry and casting shop which housed a furnace used for casting until the 1950's as well as a Blackstone Diesel engine used in the early 20th century. The forge room originally contained five forges but at the time of survey retained only three. However, one of those three was still in use. The machine room could not be examined in detail as it housed explosives and chemicals.
See published journal article (S4) for further details including plans.
H. Hamilton (HES) 17 July 2023.

1982. Foundry Converted to Shops.
See press cutting (S5) which outlines plans to develop this site. The scheme was to involve obtaining new premises for Plowrights on the opposite side of Whitsands Road.
Information from press cutting (S5).
Amended H. Hamilton (HES) 17 July 2023.

1996. Listing Revision.
1996 revised listing states that nothing of interest was seen in the interior except two cast iron columns in the central carriageway. Presumably the furnaces have gone or been hidden when foundry was converted to shops 1982.
Date of foundry given as around 1860.
E. Rose (NLA), 16 March 1999.