Monument record 7198/63 - Charles Wickstead: Wickstead Leisure: Stamford Road Works

Charles Wickstead
1876 established business in Stamford Road making machine tools / steam ploughing machines. By 1907 he had invented a motor car gear box, during the war he became involved in munitions and later branched out into making playground apparatus and seats. Company is now a member of the Dorade group and has five major product lines - playground equipment, machine tools, power drive sawing machine, tube expander tools, aircraft component parts and sub assemblies, high precision engineering components with iron castings. The company has a ,2 million turnover. Wickstead Leisure now in buildings off Stamford Road. The buildings appear intact and comprise a number of single storey north lights which have been added to since 1926 Film7, photo 19,20. (1)

{2}
Digby Street, Stamford Road
1876 Charles Wicksteed opened small works in Stamford Road
1884 Charles Wicksteed, engineer and steam plough maker
By 1890 Stamford Road works established to make engineers machine tools
1910 Charles Wicksteed Ltd
After First World War, firm started to make swings and playground equipment
1920 Charles Wicksteed & Co
Surviving examples of earlier products include iron frames for seats on the south bank of the River Thames just downstream from the "Cutty Sark" at Greenwich and the unusually decorative frames for a seat now at the Chalk Pits Industrial Museum, Amberley, Sussex. These examples all have have the circular plate of the firms name fastened to one of the longitudinal wooden members for the back of the seat. Other named examples are amongst children's playground equipment.

<1> Ballinger J., 1999, Northamptonshire Extensive Urban Survey: Industrial Period, (unchecked) (Digital archive). SNN4.

<2> STARMER G., 1981, A Check-List of Northamptonshire Foundries, P. 9 (Extract). SNN103905.

Record last edited

Mar 21 2000 12:00AM