CHARLES BURRELL & SONS' ST NICHOLAS, THETFORD WORKS
In 1889 the Thetford works covered around 3 acres in the centre of Thetford Town divided in two by Minstergate. The works was named St Nicholas after the church of St Nicholas. Thetford was a fairly isolated, rural town which gave Burrell's a conservative attitude to engineering by comparison to the Midlands and the North of England. This gave Burrells an advantage when it came to quality of workmanship. Many employees were second and third generation craftsmen who worked in an atmosphere far from the demands of continual improved productivity. When Burrells built their first Showmans engines in the 1890's they employed around 300 men, including a number of apprentices. By 1914 they employed 400 men.
Main departments within the works were:
Drawing Office: Each part would be drawn here, usually in full-size as well as general arrangements.
Iron foundry: here the cylinders and other large parts would have been cast
Pattern Shop: this is the deptartment were the patterns for parts to be cast were made in wood.
Boiler Shop: Here the boiler steel was rolled and riveted. The boiler is the main chassis for the engine.
Brass Foundry: a specialist department casting smaller items such as bearings and glands.
Fitting Shop: Here the smaller parts were built up into sub-assemblies to be added to the engine.
The Erecting Shop: parts were brought to this shop to be added to the boiler.
Carpenters' Shop: here the engine roofs would have been built.
Paint Shop: Once the engine had been tested in steam it would have been taken to the paint shop.
Stores: The many fixings and piping required to build an engine would be stored here.
Some of the buildings still exist and have become the Charles Burrell Museum.
See http://www.norfolkheritage.co.uk/charles-burrell-museum
Main departments within the works were:
Drawing Office: Each part would be drawn here, usually in full-size as well as general arrangements.
Iron foundry: here the cylinders and other large parts would have been cast
Pattern Shop: this is the deptartment were the patterns for parts to be cast were made in wood.
Boiler Shop: Here the boiler steel was rolled and riveted. The boiler is the main chassis for the engine.
Brass Foundry: a specialist department casting smaller items such as bearings and glands.
Fitting Shop: Here the smaller parts were built up into sub-assemblies to be added to the engine.
The Erecting Shop: parts were brought to this shop to be added to the boiler.
Carpenters' Shop: here the engine roofs would have been built.
Paint Shop: Once the engine had been tested in steam it would have been taken to the paint shop.
Stores: The many fixings and piping required to build an engine would be stored here.
Some of the buildings still exist and have become the Charles Burrell Museum.
See http://www.norfolkheritage.co.uk/charles-burrell-museum