Riverside House Nature & Heritage

WELCOME TO RIVERSIDE HOUSE

Welcome to a blog about the Riverside House site in Stourbridge, a personal account of an ongoing fascination with this beautiful and enigmatic place and an attempt to capture its heritage, its wildlife and its potential to be conserved and preserved, cherished and nurtured, by the local community.

Much has been researched and written about Stourbridge, its glass and iron industries. The intention here is not to recapitulate the fantastic work that has already occurred. Rather, it is an attempt to capture the spirit of the Riverside site through my personal encounter with the place itself and people I have met who have also had a connection and can contribute to its story and ongoing narrative.

One of the purposes of this blog is to capture the folk memories and recollections of the Riverside House site, so please feel free to contribute where and whenever possible.

About

THE HERITAGE

Riverside House is nestled between the River Stour and the Stourbridge Canal and close to the town centre. The site includes woodland, a grade II listed house with its walled garden, grade II listed workshops, dry dock and narrow boat basin.

The site is part of an historic industrial site which was once amongst the largest ironworks in the country and at the cutting edge of technology. The ironworks, which was established at the dawn of the 19th century, was situated here due to the abundance of the necessary clay and sand, used for the manufacture of the casts and furnaces, and the nearby derived iron ore, coal and limestone. The site consisted of forges, fineries, rolling-mills and foundries which transformed pig iron into casted products and wrought iron which was, at that time, the most widely used form of iron product. In its heyday the forge and ironworks conglomerate employed 600 people.

The entrance to the site in foreground with the New Foundry (Lion Health Medical Centre) in background. Image courtesy of Lee Vivash

The dry dock and weir. Image courtesy of Lee Vivash

The entrances to canal boat basins with Riverside House in background. Image courtesy of Lee Vivash

Mother nature has since reclaimed her authority. Concealed in the midst of abundance and diversity are the remains of two hundred years of fascinating heritage.

Contact and Location

CONTACT

For further information or to become involved please contact Lloyd Stacey

t/ 07903 672280

e/ lloyd.stacey@riverside-house.org.uk

w/riverside-house.org.uk

LOCATION

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir//52.4616256,-2.1565066/@52.4611713,-2.1574508,17z?hl=en

SITE MAP

Most of the photography is my own. Where otherwise, images and other source material is credited. With special thanks to Graham Fisher MBE and his book ‘Jewels in the Cut.’

Here is a list of useful references relating to Stourbridge Ironworks (John Bradley & Co.) and the processes which were used there:

James Foster of Stourbridge – Roy Peacock – Black Country Society Publication 2006

The Foster Family: A study of a midland industrial dynasty 1786-1899 – N. Mutton – unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of London, 1974 (copy in Stourbridge Library)

See www.topforge.co.uk/processes for a description of the puddling process and subsequent shingling and rolling to produce usable wrought iron.

See www.topforge.co.uk/glossary for definitions of the terms used.

I moved to Stourbridge in 2005, fell in love with the place and settled. I purchased a brick terraced house in King Street, Wollaston which was originally built for the workers of the Foster Rastricks Ironworks.