Staveley Coal and Iron Company

Staveley Coal And Iron Company

The Staveley Coal and Iron Company Limited was an industrial company based in Staveley, near Chesterfield, North Derbyshire. It exploited local ironstone quarried from land owned by the Duke of Devonshire on the outskirts of the village. It developed into coal mining, owning several collieries and also into chemical production, first from those available from coal tar distillation, later to cover a wide and diverse range. Part of the plant at Staveley was a sulphuric acid manufacturing unit making use of the Contact Process.

It was during the years of World War 1 that the company developed its chemical operations beyond coal-tar chemicals and began production of sulphuric and nitric acids. During the war they also made picric acid, TNT and guncotton. Following the end of hostilities the company laid plans to develop a range of chlorinated organics and to this end purchased salt-bearing land near Sandbach, Cheshire. The salt was produced by a new company formed specifically for the purpose and named the British Soda Company. The salt being needed to feed a new installation of mercury cells at the Staveley works. The first cells at Staveley came into operation in 1922 and in 1926 they went into partnership with the Krebs Company of Paris and Berlin to develop a new cell, which was based on lessons learned. This was marketed worldwide as the Krebs-Staveley cell. This installation lasted into the late 1950s when the cellroom at Staveley was replaced with German-made mercury cells.

In 1960 the Staveley Iron and Chemical Company, which had been taken over by Stewarts & Lloyds Limited was merged with the Ilkeston-based Stanton Iron Works to form Stanton and Staveley Ltd. In 1967 Stewarts and Lloyds became part of the nationalised British Steel Corporation, Stanton and Staveley also being incorporated.

By 1980 BSC sold off sections of the site as they divested themselves of non-core activities and by 2007 most of the former works at Staveley has been shut down and cleared. The only plant remaining now is a p-aminophenol plant that produces active ingredients for paracetamol production. However at the time of writing 13/12/11, notice has been served on this plant and will cease production in June 2012, marking over 100 years of chemical production at Staveley. The worldwide brand of Staveley Chemicals has finally been laid to rest.

The former Chesterfield MP Eric Varley was an apprentice with the company in leaving school before he became a trade union man and then latter became Chairman of another local firm Coalite.