James Meredith & Co.

The Meredith iron foundry traces its history to at least the early eighteenth century and was, by the 1880s, the largest employer in the town of Kington, Herefordshire. It was acquired by the Meredith family through the marriage in 1739 of Richard Meredith (1712-1779) and Elizabeth Miles, whose father, Thomas Miles, left his ironmongery business to Richard upon his death. Richard Meredith was at this time a wool stapler by trade and the family continued to operate a drapery alongside the ironmongery.

Under Richard’s ownership the business expanded to include a new workshop and a warehouse at Lower Cross, Kington, and became so successful that Richard’s assets were valued at £100,000 at his death in 1779.

The ironmongery business was inherited by Richard’s nephew, John Meredith (1758-1823) who expanded the business further with the assistance of his three sons, John Junior, James and Henry, setting up a nail making shop behind the Old Lion Inn. In 1815 he set up a new foundry in an adjoining barn and in 1820 he purchased a new site at Sunset, east Kington, from Lord Oxford on which he erected a purpose built foundry with offices and workshops powered by water from a weir he created in the nearby Back Brook. The coal for the foundry was transported via the Kington Tramway, opened the previous year with John Meredith’s financial support.

At his death in 1823, his three sons continued the business. In 1826 they built ‘Nail Row’, a complex of ten stone cottages and eight forges for their nail workers to live and work in. In addition to nails, the foundry also manufactured agricultural implements.

On the deaths of John, James and Henry, the business was continued by their sons, employing 135 men and boys by 1882. The business was sold in 1901 to Alexander Duncan and Co. of Leominster and ceased to operate as a foundry in 1927.