Saracen Foundry
The Saracen Foundry was the better-known name for the
Walter Macfarlane
Walter Macfarlane was born in
With his own main home at 22 Park Circus, Glasgow, Macfarlane became a prominent figure in local politics, becoming the President of the Glasgow Liberal Association and a City Councillor. He died in 1885, and is buried in Glasgow Necropolis cemetery.[citation needed]
Saracen Foundry
MacFarlane, with partners Thomas Russell and James Marshall, incorporated W MacFarlane & Co. Ltd in 1850. They took over a foundry works in Saracen Lane, behind the Saracen Head Inn, in the Gallowgate. The foundry had previously (from at least 1825) been in the control of Stephen Miller (father of Daniel Miller).[2] In 1862 the business relocated briefly to Washington Street.[1]
Possilpark
But the business kept growing, and MacFarlane needed a vast area of land on which to build both a foundry and a village-styled infrastructure on which to house his workforce. He agreed a deal with the son of
MacFarlane oversaw the removal of all the trees, creating the foundry on 14 acres (57,000 m2), with its main gates at 73 Hawthorn Street. After creating
MacFarlane renamed the location Possilpark, which went from being residence to 10 people in 1872, to 10,000 in less than two decades later in 1891. The developing layout of Possilpark was described by the then Glasgow Town Council as: "Their work is one of the finest and best conducted in Glasgow, and the new suburb of Possil Park, laid out by them with skill and intelligence, is rapidly becoming an important addition to the great city."[4] Ironically, the foundry's pollution earned Macfarlane the nickname "the Laird of Fossiltown."
Design-led expansion
Having joined the firm in 1871, in 1880 Macfarlane's
Subsequently, the Saracen Foundry made to a set of standard designs, a series of decorative iron works, from
Macfarlane's most celebrated work is the
In the 1860s,
Owing to their earlier tie-ins with the architectural trade, between the two world wars Saracen Foundry produced many cast-iron panels for commercial buildings, including the former
Collapse
After the war, the combination of the collapse of the British Empire, the move away from steam power and the adaptation of new designs and materials meant a vast decline in orders for Saracen's standard designs. The MacFarlane company moved into standard foundry work, including being one of five foundries casting
MacFarlane's was taken over by Allied Founders in 1965, which was itself absorbed by Glynwed Ltd. Possilpark was by this time underinvested and rather decrepit, and so the works closed and the infrastructure demolished in 1967.[1] The site is now occupied by Allied Vehicles and Possilpark Industrial Estate.[citation needed]
Piece dispersal
Owing to the long duration of the factory's life, and the wide distribution of their works, Saracen Foundry pieces can be seen in most parts of the world. Those of note include:
- Glasgow
- King's Theatre, Glasgow
- Coats Observatory, Paisley
- Dundee
- Magdalen Green Bandstand
- Garden Railings (design No 830, page 231, Illustrated Catalogue of Macfarlane's Castings. 6th Edition, Volume 1 1890s.)[7]
- United Kingdom
- Slough railway station – roof crestings.
- Wolverhampton East Park – bandstand
- Dartmouth railway station – roof crestings
- Minehead railway station, Somerset, England – water fountain.[8]
- Vivary Park, Taunton, Somerset, England – the main park gates from 1895, and the Queen Victoria Memorial Fountain of 1907.[8]
- King's Hall, Herne Bay, Kent – ironwork verandah surrounding theatre vestibule, 1904.
- Oaklands Park, Chelmsford – street light column, originally erected in Plymouth and returned to Chelmsford, where light fittings were made.
- Royal Victoria Hall, Southborough, Kent – ironwork verandah surrounding theatre, 1900 (now removed) donated by Sir David Lionel Salomons
- Ward Jackson Park, Hartlepool, England – water fountain – donated to the town in 1902 by Alderman John Rickinson
- Caversham Public Convenience, Chiltern Open Air Museum - 1906, built to stand next to the Reading Corporation Tramways terminus at Caversham Bridge. Closed 1980 and dismantled in 1985 to be re-erected at the museum.[9]
Some royal coats of arms can be seen in former HM Customs & Excise Offices. The Pembroke Dock Custom House, now Home Home Office Border Force, has a well-maintained example that started life at Custom House Milford Haven. The Fishguard Customs CoA was scrapped by the building maintenance contractor as the mounting was highly corroded.
- Other
- Lau Pa Sat in Singapore - interior columns.
- Rondebosch Fountain in Cape Town, South Africa
- Elder Park Rotunda was presented by Thomas Elder in 1881.[10]
- Williamstown, Victoria Australia - The Wilkinson Memorial Drinking Fountain (Cnr Syme Street and Nelson Place). Inaugurated on 17 October 1876 by the Bishop of Ballarat, Dr Thornton, in the presence of the Mayor of Williamstown, ministers of all denominations and over 2000 people, the Wilkinson Memorial Drinking Fountain is the earliest known memorial drinking fountain in Melbourne
- Law Courts, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada - balustrade of the stairs.[11]
- Egmore Railway station, Chennai, India - interior iron pillars and trusses
- Library of Brasil - balustrade of the stairs.[12]
- Theatro Brasil - front entrance and internal works.[5]
- Brasil
- Lauro Sodré Institute (now court of law in the state of Pará), Brasil- Various iron details. In particular, iron pillars inside the building.
- India, Bangalore (Bengaluru) Karnataka - Lalbagh botanical gardens horticultural exhibition building - cast iron and curved glass construction - foundation stone laid by the Prince of Wales in 1889.
- India, Bangalore ( Bengaluru) Karnataka, Cubbon park Band stand - Band stand pillars.
Replicas
The crestings at Kidderminster Town railway station on the Severn Valley Railway are modern replicas. The patterns for the castings were produced by measurement of broken remnants of those similar ones recovered from Ross-on-Wye railway station shortly after it was demolished. At the request of the structural engineer for Kidderminster Town railway station the replicas were produced in aluminium. These are of a similar pattern to those on parts of Slough Railway station, Dartmouth Railway station and HSBC Bank in Derby.
Gallery
-
The Kibble Palace, Glasgow West End
-
Pitlochry railway station drinking fountain, c 1970
-
Memorial Fountain in March, Cambridgeshire commemorates the Coronation of King George V in 1911
-
Iron Fountain in Paraná Entre Ríos Argentina donated by British citizens in 1901
-
Paraná Fountain Close Up with Inscriptions
-
Iron Fountain in Paraná Plaque Close up. The plaque reads "Los residentes britanicos de Entre Rios al Municipio de Parana en conmemoracion del Gobierno de S.M. la reina Victoria como prueba de gratitud por el sentimiento demostrado por el pueblo argentino.- Parana Enero 22 de 1901"
-
Lalbagh Pavilion Bangalore India 1889
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Lalbagh Pavilion at night
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Lalbagh Pavilion internal view
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Manufacturer's name on cast-iron upright in Lalbagh Pavilion Bangalore
References
- ^ a b c d "Walter Macfarlane & Co". glasgowsculpture.com. Retrieved 26 August 2008.
- ^ Glasgow Post Office Directory 1825
- ^ "Saracen Foundry". Retrieved 11 February 2008.
- ^ "The old country houses of the old Glasgow gentry - Possil". Strathclyde University. Retrieved 26 August 2008.
- ^ a b "Walter MacFarlane & Co Ltd". scottishironwork.org. Archived from the original on 8 June 2008. Retrieved 26 August 2008.
- ^ "Scottish Ironworks - News". Scottish Ironworks. Summer 2005. Archived from the original on 10 June 2008. Retrieved 26 August 2008.
- ^ "Illustrated Catalogue of Macfarlane's Castings. 6th Edition, Volume 1, 1890s". Walter Macfarlane and Co. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
- ^ a b "News from November 2005". West Somerset Railway. November 2005. Retrieved 26 August 2008.
- ^ "Caversham Public Convenience". Chiltern Open Air Museum. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
- ^ "Scottish Ironwork - listing by category". Archived from the original on 21 June 2006. Retrieved 10 July 2006.
- ^ "Canada Vancouver balustrade". scottishironwork.org. Retrieved 26 August 2008.
- ^ "Brazil Manaus Library balustrade". scottishironwork.org. Retrieved 26 August 2008.