Famous Folk Who Forged the Village - Engineers & Entrepreneurs

Wickham Market Movers & Shapers

Wickham Market is a village indebted to and forged by ingenuity, innovation and industry – but you might not know it at first glance. Its landmark church tower and spire along with today’s modern plastics companies, may hint at a tradition of engineering prowess, but there’s a whole untold story of industry and entrepreneurial spirit in between – the story of a business ranked amongst Suffolk’s top three giants of agricultural engineering in the 19^th century: Wickham Market’s Whitmore & Binyon Iron & Engineering Works.

Wander around Wickham Market and you can’t help noticing the beautiful ironwork of the village sign, carefully crafted iron railings, gates and balustrades … discover the story and its soon clear how they reveal real local flavour and displays of ‘pride of place’.

The legacies of Wickham Market’s Victorian engineering pioneers and philanthropists live on in more than just bricks and mortar…

From millwrights & more…

Nathaniel Whitmore had a small millwright’s business in Wickham Market from around 1780. It was made into a flourishing concern by John Whitmore (1801-1872) and later generations who followed the trade and also did building and carpentry work. On top of crafting milling machinery, they supplied a well, pump and 100 iron bedsteads to the village’s Plomesgate Workhouse (now housing) when it opened in 1836, later built it an extension and provided pews for the parish church!

Many of the local mills – Sampson’s Mill and the since demolished George Mill in Wickham Market, for example, Buttrum’s Mill in Woodbridge and Saxtead Green Post Mill near Framlingham – were created, kitted out or worked on by the Whitmore family.

To world-class exporters of engineering

By 1846, the Whitmore foundry and millwrights business down near the Deben was exporting windmills to South America, Australia and New Zealand. In 1851 it employed 20 men, by 1864 – 200! A medal won in 1862 at an international exhibition for ‘excellence of work in steam engineering and flour milling machinery’ and teaming up with George Binyon (related to the Sims engineering family) in 1868 influenced the growth. The agricultural engineering firm exported its products across the globe, putting industrious Wickham Market on the map.

The partnership lasted until the firm’s demise in 1901, but with company offices across the country and overseas, George lived only briefly in the village. In contrast, the Whitmores were great movers and shakers around the place…

The smart white brick frontage of the **Whitmore & Binyon Iron Works site** hardly gives itself away today. *Right to left: Former Works offices and drawing studio – Entrance to Iron Works Site – Haldon House, Whitmore residence – Whitmore business shop window and shop front.*

The Devil’s in the detail

A pair of spiked-ball gateposts either side of a would-be drive mark the entrance to the former ironworks. You’ll find the old works office buildings next door faced with white brick – a sign of booming times, under William Whitmore in 1867. The final cottage on a short terrace swaps out a white brick frontage for brown slag. The gates of a modern house in Gospel Hall Close celebrate Foundry End. From fancy embellishments to rusty railings, once you get your eye in, there’s all sorts to discover at the bottom of High Street!

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Family affairs – High Street houses

From The George all the way down to the River Deben, old Snowdon Hill (High Street) is dotted with residences and memories of Whitmores and Binyons. George Binyon lived briefly at smartly symmetrical Lynn House, whilst Wyndham House and Snowdon House were Whitmore territory. Praetoria Villas was named in tribute to William’s son who worked on Pretoria’s Union buildings in South Africa. Why not take the Engineers & Entrepreneurs walk to find out more?

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Staunch supporters of village life

The philanthropic Whitmore family left many legacies throughout the village of Wickham Market. John Whitmore (buried in All Saints’ churchyard) signed off plans for the National School, funded a town hall and donated towards the church organ amongst other good deeds. Unfortunately though, their gift to the village of a double-spouted water pump to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee never quite held water!

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World-class Innovation

Whitmore and Binyon boilers and milling machinery got Wickham Market talked about around the globe. Amongst the company’s most ground-breaking designs was the revolutionary ‘roller mill’ – a steam-powered machine which made flour in a new, modern and super-efficient way.

Whitmore & Binyon’s first ever roller mill produced went to a local client – and the delivery team didn’t have very far to transport the heavy machinery and its component parts…

Home of the first pioneering roller mill

Mr Rueben Rackham owned Deben Mills, next to the ironworks in Wickham Market. The mill buildings still stand today astride the river today. The 1868 brick-built steam mill building (right in the picture) has lost its towering chimney. It housed the first-ever roller mill and condensing steam engine, bought from Whitmore & Binyon in 1893 for £250.00.

The engine last worked the mill in 1957. Today the mill is a picturesque spot on the river , its buildings Grade II* listed, with Rackhams at the mill still operating as family business.

The engine was gifted to the then Museum of East Anglian Life (now The Food Museum) in Stowmarket where it remains on display.

About the Deben Flour Mills steam engine

Constant speed and power are essential in ensuring that the roller milling machinery made good quality flour.

The speed of the Whitmore & Binyon engine was controlled automatically by the patent Nordberg governor on top of the cylinder, so that the belt drive around the fly wheel took regulated power to the milling machinery.

The Deben Mills steam engine is on display in The Food Museum in Stowmarket. It is still operational and is occasionally run.

Foreign (cast iron) bodies

Not all cast iron in Wickham Market hails from the local Whitmore & Binyon foundry… Garretts & Sons of (nearby) Leiston seem to have had a bit of a monopoly on the production of milestones and bridges in the area! They outstripped Ransome (Sims) of Ipswich and Whitmore and Binyon as producers of steam engines and machinery, operating the UK’s first assembly line – ‘The Long Shop’ – which is now a must-see industrial heritage museum.

Long Shop Museum

Interested in finding out more?

Why not enjoy a directed walk around Wickham Market’s ironworks legacies, mills and more? There’s something for all levels of interest.

The Wickham Market Area Archive & Resource Centre has detailed information about the history of the village and its people. It offers a range of publications for sale, including the highly informative Whitmore & Binyon – The History of a Firm by local historian, Rodney West.

Walking Trails Resource Centre Archive Group