Page 26 - The Tale of Two Fountains

hare fencing and every other article manufactured in wrought iron. Best price given for old cast and wrought iron, copper brass, lead etc’’. The Compa- ny was named the Eagle Foundry.
The Company was dissolved in 1826 and it is understood that Barwell formed a new2 partner- ship with Thomas Hagger at the Eagle Foundry in Northampton. The new Company flourished and produced some remarkable ornamental castings including railings to All Saints Church in Northampton and bridges, balustradings, greenhouses, gates and arches.
Railings at Derngate
of ironwork at the Great Exhibition. 16
THE TALE OF TWO FOUNTAINS
However in 1833, the Barwell & Hagger part-
nership was dissolved and E.H Barwell contin-
ued on his own under the name of Barwell &
Co, remaining at the same premises. The Eagle
Foundry in Bridge Street, Northampton was
producing a wide range of cast iron work such
as railings2A, gates, water pumps, fire grates and
stoves which are still in existence. The highly
ornamental railings for the grand staircase at Wrest Park in Bedfordshire are an example of the Company’s well-known works. In 1842, the Company was engaged in building St Peter’s Bridge on the outskirts of Northampton. The Company also produced machinery for the boot & shoe trade. These are just a few examples of the Company’s works. It is believed that the Company’s catalogue of its products showed over 300 designs. More information on E.H Barwell and his works is very well documented in Peter Perkin’s book ‘Edward Harrison Barwell – 19th Century Northampton Iron Founder’, published by NIAG in 2019.
Barwell & Co also exhibited some of their products at the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park, London, in 1851. A number of manufacturers got their orders by exhibiting at this International exhibition and issuing their catalogues. We did find some ref- erences in respect of this in old Times of India newspaper articles. Reference is made of Com- panies like Edmund Roughton, Robert Smith & Co and Coalbrookdale & Co. who were doing business in India at the time. Coalbrookdale Foundry, based in Coalbrookdale in Shropshire, was one of the important Iron Founders of that period. They manufactured the very first iron bridge in the world over the River Severn in 1779 at Ironbridge. They also exhibited a wide range
Advertisement of the Eagle Foundry