James Fussell

James Fussell was the name of several men from the same family who established a business grinding edge tools and forging iron plates at several sites on the Mells River and its tributaries around Mells, Somerset, England. They were iron magnates operating several mills including the Old Ironstone Works, Mells in Vallis Vale between Mells and Great Elm.[1]

James Fussell I (died 1755) leased the site in Mells in 1744 from the Horners of Mells Manor, to erect "a good, firme and substantiall Mill or Mills for Grinding Edge Tools and forging Iron plates".[2][3] He expanded the business adding another mill at Nunney in 1760.[1]

James Fussell II (1748–1832)[4] leased a water power site at Wadbury. He was a promoter of the Dorset and Somerset Canal and further developed the business.

At one time it employed 250 people and continued for many years, with various members of the Fussell family operating a total of six sites in the local area: the Upper Works further up the Wadbury Valley, the Great Elm Edge-Tool Works, the Chantry Works, the Railford Works and a small site at Gurney Slade.[5] Tools produced by Fussells were exported to Europe and America, and the family expanded its activities to include coal mining and banking, with the business issuing its own banknotes at one stage.[3]

The business declined towards the end of the 19th century, due in part to a failure to convert from water to steam power until a late stage, and also to the collapse of English agriculture in the 1870s.[3] By 1895 production had ceased,[6] and the company folded in 1900.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b Thornes, Robin (2010). Men of iron. The Fussells of Mells. Frome Society for Local Study. ISBN 9780956586919. 
  2. ^ Atthill, Robin (1964). Old Mendip. Newton Abbott: David and Charles. ISBN 0715351710. 
  3. ^ a b c Fussell, James (2001). The Fussell ironworks at Wadbury, Mells: An Introduction. Retrieved 8 February 2010.
  4. ^ Atthill, Robin (1971). Old Mendip (2nd ed.). Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 0715351710. 
  5. ^ Industrial archaeology - Fussell's iron works, British Geological Survey. Retrieved 8 February 2010.
  6. ^ The Fussells Iron Industry Story, Fussells Iron Industry Society. Retrieved 8 February 2010.
  7. ^ Mark Adler (December 2010). "When Fussells had the edge". Mendip Times 6 (7): 89. 

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