Soho Manufactory, Mint and Foundry, West Midlands: where Boulton, Watt and Murdoch made history

The Soho Manufactory, Mint and Foundry, West Midlands: where Boulton, Watt and Murdoch made history, by George Demidowicz, Historic England, 2022, 274 pages, lavishly illustrated with black and white and colour photographs, maps, prints and technical drawings.

Anyone with a basic knowledge of industrial history will know that Boulton and Watt were pioneers in the design and manufacture of steam engines. Fewer will know that they worked in the west midlands from 1775. No one will know more than a tiny fraction of the information about the buildings they worked in, which is imparted in this lavishly produced study.

The book acknowledges that much has already been published on their achievements and their machines but, while it can not avoid lauding the contributions of Boulton and Watt to the global industrialisation process, it provides a whole new dimension to the understanding of their enterprises, in conjunction with William Murdoch and others. It concentrates on Soho, the area then on the outskirts of Birmingham where the action took place, and in particular on the three separate sites (albeit two were adjacent and all close by), where a vast range of metal goods were produced: the Soho Manufactory, the Soho Mint and the Soho Foundry.

The demolition of the Soho Manufactory (1775–1863) and the Soho Mint (1788–early 1850s) has not been a barrier to a remarkable record and understanding of these long-gone buildings, not least as the Library of Birmingham holds a vast amount of records, plans, images and correspondence. These have been sifted through, selectively reproduced to the highest of standards and interpreted in this study, providing a clear understanding of the complex geomorphology of the sites and the activities which took place at them. Further evidence was unearthed by the Time Team archaeological excavations in 1996, notwithstanding its annoying TV-imposed time limits of ‘only got three days to get it done’. Parts of the Soho Foundry (1795 onwards) survive, providing better opportunity for assessment and comparison between those parts today and in various past phases.

The extent of research to carefully illustrate and explain the buildings and the machinery is forensic and meticulously referenced. Yet it is a relatively easy read, as it is well illustrated and subdivided, chronologically and into subjects, each with its clear sub-heading. It would be no surprise if the book were a lifetime’s work. It is certainly an achievement which the author and Historic England can be proud of in its attention to detail and comprehensiveness. Indeed, the author’s first publication on the site was back in 1996. His long-standing devotion to recording and promoting the significance of the site is clear.

The study provides a ‘brief’ history of the buildings at all three sites, collectively and individually, peeling back the layers of history at each one and providing detailed descriptions of the buildings and machinery. It includes stories of bricks and mortals as well as bricks and mortar, notably in an appendix of personal biographies of 13 influential personalities. The stylistic design of the buildings and the architectural appreciation of them and their architects are equitably covered.

For good reason, William Wyatt’s Manufactory is likened to a Palladian country house, with a confident assertion that it could ‘share the topmost rank in the architectural “hierarchy of decorum’”. These fine classical expressions are a reminder that few industrial buildings then or now are invested with the same level of consideration for aesthetics as for ‘value engineering’ and the process of production. Even so, the historic sketches portray the buildings in false idyllic scenes, omitting any suggestion of pollution that they may have pumped out into the air, the watercourses and the ground, or the daily grind of those who worked in them.

In true Historic England textbook form, the descriptions and the histories are followed by ‘The significance of the three Sohos’, but despite the author’s obvious passion for the site, he avoids unwarranted hyperbole and tempers his claims for ‘firsts’ and superlatives. Indeed, he places the Soho works in the industrial ‘gradualism’ rather than the industrial ‘revolution’.

This book will have a niche market for the local historians of Soho (now Smethwick in Sandwell) and for industrial enthusiasts, but it serves that niche admirably.

This article originally appeared as ‘Bricks and mortals’ in the Institute of Historic Building Conservation’s (IHBC’s) Context 173, published in September 2022. It was written by John Hinchliffe, Hinchliffe Heritage.

--Institute of Historic Building Conservation