Industrial History Online
Altham's Iron Works
Key Words :- ironworks
Address :- Albert Street, Penrith, Cumbria
Grid Ref :- NY 51578 30301
Co-ordinates :- Lat 54.665449 , Long -2.752235
Local Authority :- Westmorland and Furness Council
Pre 1974 County :- Cumberland
Site Status :- Listed - Grade II
Historic England List No :- 1145134,
Description and History of Site:-
Thomas Altham & Son Ltd, ironfounders, ironmongers and builders merchants.
Plaque:
The Quaker Altham family has greatly influenced Penrith, Thomas Altham buying the ironmongers business in 1844 after apprenticeship and gaining wider experience as 'traveller' on horseback from Liverpool to Ayr for Whitehaven ironmongers. In mid-Victorian times water came from pumps or at ½d for 4 gallons by cart from the River Eamont, there was a bellman or town crier, little lighting, Thacka Beck was a sewer, parts of the town were 'sinks of iniquity', 18 common lodging houses were 'abominable places', and the churchyard overcrowded with 30,000 burials since 1598.
Thomas Altham became Chairman of a much needed Board of Health, was involved with the workhouse and administration of the Poor Laws, the foundation of the Ullswater Steamer Navigation Company, and Cockermouth, Keswick and Penrith Railway Company, the 'Cumberland and Westmorland Herald', and a JP. He died on 14 August 1900.
Meanwhile the Altham's ironmongery business, led by its founder and succeeding family members including Thomas Edward Altham and William Ronald Altham, acquired premises in Devonshire Street, King Street, Burrowgate, and an iron foundry in Albert Street. It responded to a 'cycling craze' in the 1880s, later sold cars, household hardware, were gunsmiths and silversmiths, sold sporting goods, and were ironfounders including famous domestic cooking ranges, as well as supplying the needs of builders, carpenters, plumbers, gardeners and farmers. The business had the first telephone in the 1880s, sold radios and other electrical goods, and in 1951 received the new TV broadcasts.
Dr James Altham (1856-1906), eldest son of Thomas Altham, founded a medical practice with Dr Daniel Edington at Birbeck House, Duke Street, and owned the first motor car in Penrith. In 1894, concerned about drug traffic, he moved a Penrith Urban Council resolution 'indignantly protesting against the continued growth and sale of opium and its exportation to China, for any but medicinal purposes, because we believe it to be a poison, and not a fit article of commerce'.
In the year 2000 Altham's business is in extensive premises on Ullswater Road, Penrith, kindly sponsoring this plaque for Penrith Millennium Trail.
Further Reading and References:-
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Grid Ref :- NY 51578 30301
Co-ordinates :- Lat 54.665449 , Long -2.752235
Local Authority :- Westmorland and Furness Council
Pre 1974 County :- Cumberland
Site Status :- Listed - Grade II
Historic England List No :- 1145134,
Thomas Altham & Son Ltd, ironfounders, ironmongers and builders merchants.
Plaque:
The Quaker Altham family has greatly influenced Penrith, Thomas Altham buying the ironmongers business in 1844 after apprenticeship and gaining wider experience as 'traveller' on horseback from Liverpool to Ayr for Whitehaven ironmongers. In mid-Victorian times water came from pumps or at ½d for 4 gallons by cart from the River Eamont, there was a bellman or town crier, little lighting, Thacka Beck was a sewer, parts of the town were 'sinks of iniquity', 18 common lodging houses were 'abominable places', and the churchyard overcrowded with 30,000 burials since 1598.
Thomas Altham became Chairman of a much needed Board of Health, was involved with the workhouse and administration of the Poor Laws, the foundation of the Ullswater Steamer Navigation Company, and Cockermouth, Keswick and Penrith Railway Company, the 'Cumberland and Westmorland Herald', and a JP. He died on 14 August 1900.
Meanwhile the Altham's ironmongery business, led by its founder and succeeding family members including Thomas Edward Altham and William Ronald Altham, acquired premises in Devonshire Street, King Street, Burrowgate, and an iron foundry in Albert Street. It responded to a 'cycling craze' in the 1880s, later sold cars, household hardware, were gunsmiths and silversmiths, sold sporting goods, and were ironfounders including famous domestic cooking ranges, as well as supplying the needs of builders, carpenters, plumbers, gardeners and farmers. The business had the first telephone in the 1880s, sold radios and other electrical goods, and in 1951 received the new TV broadcasts.
Dr James Altham (1856-1906), eldest son of Thomas Altham, founded a medical practice with Dr Daniel Edington at Birbeck House, Duke Street, and owned the first motor car in Penrith. In 1894, concerned about drug traffic, he moved a Penrith Urban Council resolution 'indignantly protesting against the continued growth and sale of opium and its exportation to China, for any but medicinal purposes, because we believe it to be a poison, and not a fit article of commerce'.
In the year 2000 Altham's business is in extensive premises on Ullswater Road, Penrith, kindly sponsoring this plaque for Penrith Millennium Trail.
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Contributor :- Robert Mason - 8 May 2025
Copyright :- cc-by-nc-sa 4.0 © Robert Mason
Copyright :- cc-by-nc-sa 4.0 © Robert Mason