About Clayton and Shuttleworth

Clayton & Shuttleworth Limited was established as a private Company in 1842 by Nathaniel Clayton and Joseph Shuttleworth, Grandfather of Richard Shuttleworth who founded The Shuttleworth Collection, on a plot of land in the South East of Lincoln, covering 1½ acres, half of which was under water for the greater part of the year.

The first work undertaken was as iron and brass founders with one of the earliest contracts for the iron pipes of the Minningsby – Boston water supply. At this time development was being made in the steam engine, and the firm were among the earliest to undertake the manufacture of steam engines, with the first engines being made in 1845. The company went on to manufacture steam traction engines, thrashing machines, elevators and chaff cutters as its core business.

The main Works (known as the Stamp End Works) were situated on the South bank of the River Witham, at the south eastern side of Lincoln. The company opened a factory in 1857 in Vienna for its sales into Europe and the Russian Empire. A network of Agencies was opened around the World to support their sales growth. Additions and an extension to the Stamp End works were built over time. In 1911 a new Foundry, Pattern Shop, Smithy, Finished Engine and Machine Stores (later known as the Titanic Works), New Turnery for Thrashing Machine Parts, and a complete Electric Power Plant were built, the steam for which was raised by burning the waste wood from the Saw Mill. With no further land being available on the South bank, later extensions were on the North bank of the river. These included those built during World War One, a new Power House, Stamping and Forging Shops (known as the Abbey and Tower Works), and Aeroplane Shop and Aerodrome. 

By 1920, the Works occupied over 100 acres, and employed around 4,000 people, with over 120,000 Thrashing Sets have been made, and sold in all parts of the world. The Company was now producing: Portable and Fixed Steam Engines, Steam Tractors and Traction Engines, Steam Road Rollers, Steam Motor Wagons, Oil Tractors and Ploughing Engines, Fixed Oil Engines and Centrifugal Pumps, Thrashing Machines for all grains, Clover Hullers, Elevators, Chaff Cutters, Maize Shellers, and Motor Wagon Bodies. They were also producers of railway rolling stock.

The Company suffered in the 1920s from a combination of assets that had been confiscated by the Soviet authorities in the USSR, reduced sales due to ‘the Great Depression” and interest payments on a loan. The company finally closed in 1928 and was split up.