The Consett Iron Company Ltd was an industrial business in the Consett area of County Durham. It owned coal mines and limestone quarries and manufactured iron and steel. The company was registered on 4 April 1864 as successor to the Derwent and Consett Iron Company, which had succeeded the Derwent Iron Company, founded in 1840. It was nationalised in 1951, and the steelworks was privatised in 1955. In 1967 the company was absorbed into the British Steel Corporation. The works closed in 1980, and the company no longer existed as a trading business.
Once the best local ironstone was exhausted, local railways, including the Stockton and Darlington Railway, were extended to carry ironstone from Cleveland to the works. The Derwent Iron Company bought the southern section of the Stanhope and Tyne Railway, later part of the company's routes. A 10-ton tank wagon, No. 41, built in 1917 for the company, is preserved at Beamish Museum. The first batch of Consett-associated iron ore wagons was built for Teesside in 1972 and ran between Redcar and Consett until 1980. They were then sold to Procor, which leased them out for carrying aggregates.
- Location: Consett area, County Durham
- Registered: 4 April 1864
- Nationalised: 1951
- Works closed: 1980
Sources
- Consett Iron Company , Wikipedia (accessed 3 November 2026)
- Consett Iron and Steel Works (1840-1980) , Co-curate (Newcastle University) (accessed 3 November 2026)
- Stanhope and Tyne Railway , Wikipedia (accessed 3 November 2026)
- File:Consett-tankwagon41.jpg - Wikimedia Commons , Wikimedia Commons (MilborneOne) (accessed 3 November 2026)
- PTA/JTA/JUA Iron Ore Tipplers Overview , Livery guide PDF (N. Leaver, hosted on ekmcdn) (accessed 3 November 2026)
Checked · Model Rail Database
