Description and History of Site:-
Mostly demolished now, since Nestlé built a more modern production facility to the north of the original site. Currently (2018) there are plans to refurbish/redevelop the site as mixed residential and commercial properties. Rowntrees began operations in central York (NYK00778) but by 1890 had outgrown their original site and so built on a 20 acre site on Haxby Road. In the early part of the 20th century, the company struggled somewhat to make a success of simple chocolate production, partly due the competition from the Cadbury/Fry companies. They diversified into chocolate based confectionery more generally and were more successful in this, becoming major producers from the 1950's onwards. Rowntrees was taken over by Nestle in 1988.

At the time of a visit to the site by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in 1935 the site employed over 6,000 workers and consumed an average of 2,500 kW during the day and 1,800 kW at night. The electricity was supplied direct from York's Foss Island power station. In addition, considerable quantities of solid fuel were used (nearly 28,000 tons per annum according to the IME account of their visit) generating steam, though it isn't clear how much of this was used for motive power and how much for the manufacturing processes. The plant also consumed 166 million gallons (750 million litres) of water p.a. from the York waterworks and a further 230 million gallons (1,000 million litres) from two boreholes on site, together with 24 million cubic feet of town gas.

The site featured a very considerable refrigeration capacity and a 4000 line automatic telephone exchange.

Further Reading and References:-
http://www.historyofyork.org.uk/themes/victorian/rowntree-co-chocolate-manufacturers
http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/lifestyle/homes-gardens/new-homes-for-nestle-factory-but-rowntree-name-remains-1-8389654

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Key Words :- confectionery chocolate cocoa works

Address :- Haxby Road, York, North Yorkshire, YO31 8TA
Grid Ref :- SE 60494 53627
Co-ordinates :- Lat 53.975177 , Long -1.079177
Local Authority :- York City Council
Pre 1974 County :- Yorkshire - North Riding
Site Status :- Site demolished or no longer extant
Site Condition :- Site redeveloped to mixed use
Site Dates :- 1890 - 2008
Record Date :- 12 February 2018

Copyright :- cc-by-nc-sa 4.0 © Nick Nelson