Description

TL 8428-8528 EARLS COLNE FOUNDRY LANE
(west side)

8/61 Central block of Atlas
Works

GV II

Foundry, now engineering workshop, and water tower. 1869-85. Foundry of white
and red brick in Flemish bond, roofed with corrugated asbestos and slate. Water
tower of yellow brick in Flemish bond, with dressings of red and blue bricks,
with cast iron tank and slate roof. The foundry is in 4 parallel ranges aligned
E-W, with main entrances to the E, and extending approximately 55 metres to the
W. Beyond this and to N and S are later buildings physically connected to it,
but of less historical and architectural interest. The water tower was
originally freestanding, approximately 8 metres S of the W end of the foundry,
but is now integrated by later buildings of less historical and architectural
interest. The E elevation comprises 4 similar gable ends with minor
differences. Each has a central wide arched doorway with double sliding doors
and above it a round cast iron window, within one arched recess, and on each
side a large cast iron window with semi-circular head, in an arched recess.
Inside the recesses the bricks are red, outside they are white. The dressings
are also of white brick, but they have weathered to a darker tone than the
remainder. The most northerly range was built first, and has a semi-circular
arch to the doorway, and a cast iron recessed plaque with inscribed letters "R.
Hunt 1869'. The other 3 ranges have semi-elliptical arches to the doorways, and
similar plaques inscribed respectively 'R. Hunt 1871, 'R. Hunt 1871 and
'1872'. The third range from the N has a louvred wooden vent in the apex of the
gable, and the fourth range has 4 original cast iron vents. The first 3 ranges
have roofs of corrugated asbestos, the fourth of slate. The roof structures are
original, of softwood, with queenposts and raking struts. Between the ranges
are lines of cast iron columns. The water tower has C20 doorways and casements
on the ground floor, and on the first floor 2 original cast iron casements with
semi-circular heads in the S elevation, one in the E and W elevations, recessed
within semi-circular arches. Plain pilasters divide the S elevation into 2
unequal bays. The outer arches and window arches are of red bricks. Dogtooth
course of red bricks, and cornice of blue bricks. The tank is in 12 panels to N
and S, 8 to E and W, with on the S side a cast iron plaque with 'R. Hunt & Co.
1885' in raised lettering. Weatherboarding in the gables. The foundry
established by Reuben Hunt made a major contribution to the improvement and
mechanisation of agriculture in Essex in the C19, and changed Earls Colne from a
village into a prosperous small industrial town. The earliest buildings survive
in exceptionally unchanged condition. (J. Booker, Essex and the Industrial
Revolution, 1974, 16, 20, 81, 203-6). See item 8/62.

Listing NGR: TL8545228846

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26463357

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  The Victorian House Manual (2nd Edition): How They Were Built, Improvements & Refurbishment, Solutions to All Common Defects - Includes Relevant ... ... Properties (Haynes Manual) (Haynes Manuals)
• 
  Gloucestershire 2: The Vale and The Forest of Dean: Vale and Forest of Dean Pt. 2 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Suffolk: East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  For the Record
• 
  Wiltshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)