Description and History of Site:-
Patterned brickwork, hard glazed. almost tile faced. Single storey. The Farnley Iron Co works, of which nothing remains, were founded in 1844 by the Armitage brothers of Farnley Hall. Their estate was fortunate in having considerable deposits of coal, fireclay and iron ore. The Farnley collieries were able to supply coal with an unusually low sulphur content. This, together with an elaborate process of smelting, refining, puddling, hammering and rolling produced a particularly well regarded product known as "Best Yorkshire Iron" which was much in demand for use as boiler plates. Iron production seems to have lasted until the 1920s
By 1903, the fireclay side of the business was at least as large as the iron manufacturing. The highly refractory clays were ideal for manufacturing firebricks, retorts and highly heat resisting glazed wares and bricks. This side of the company was still in production into the 1960s.

Further Reading and References:-
YAHS - Hatcher Card Index. Research funded by the Yorkshire Arts Association 1972.
Hatcher, J. The industrial architecture of Yorkshire. Phillimore, 1985.
http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/1903_Institution_of_Mechanical_Engineers:_Visits_to_Works#Farnley_Iron_Co

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Key Words :- offices iron firebricks fireclay

Address :- Whitehall Road, Farnley, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS12 6JU
Grid Ref :- SE 25668 31414
Co-ordinates :- Lat 53.778430 , Long -1.611974
Local Authority :- Leeds Council
Pre 1974 County :- Yorkshire - West Riding
Site Status :- Site demolished or no longer extant
Site Condition :- Site cleared - no above ground remains visible
Site Dates :- 1892 -
Record Date :- 19 May 2015

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