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Fonds

ICI Paints Division, Stowmarket

Catalogue reference: HC411

What’s it about?

This record is about the ICI Paints Division, Stowmarket dating from 1871-1979.

Is it available online?

Maybe, but not on The National Archives website. This record is held at Suffolk Record Office, Ipswich Branch. How to view it.

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Not at The National Archives, but you may be able to view it in person at Suffolk Record Office, Ipswich Branch. How to view it.

Full description and record details

Reference
HC411
Title
ICI Paints Division, Stowmarket
Date
1871-1979
Description

Records relating to the I.C.I. Paints Division site at Stowmarket, comprising original records of successive owners of the site from the early 1880s, sundry printed papers re I.C.I. Ltd., and photographs, including some of the aftermath of the 1871 explosion at the works.

HC411/1 MINUTES, 1929 - 1932

HC411/2 REGISTERS OF EMPLOYEES, etc. c. 1883 - 1974

HC411/3 FINANCIAL RECORDS c. 1913 - 1938

HC411/4 PHOTOGRAPHS, c. 1871 - 1970s

HC411/5 MISCELLANEOUS

Held by
Suffolk Record Office, Ipswich Branch
Language
English
Creator(s)
  • <corpname>Patent Safety Gun Cotton Co Ltd, 1863-1874, Stowmarket, Suffolk, manufacturers</corpname>
  • <corpname>Necol Industrial Collodions Ltd, 1918-1926, industrial lacquer manufacturers</corpname>
  • <corpname>New Explosives Co Ltd, 1885-1907, Stowmarket, Suffolk</corpname>
  • <corpname>Nobel Chemical Finishes Ltd, 1907-1919, Stowmarket, Suffolk</corpname>
  • <corpname>ICI Ltd, Paints Division, 1926- , Stowmarket, Suffolk</corpname>
  • <corpname>Imperial Chemical Industries Ltd, Paints Division, 1926- , Stowmarket, Suffolk</corpname>
Physical description
5 series
Immediate source of acquisition

Received by Suffolk Record Office on 14 July 1981

Acc. no. 6141

Administrative / biographical background

A brief history of the Stowmarket Works

The Stowmarket Gun Cotton works (Patent Safety Gun Cotton Co. Ltd.,) was built in 1863 on land owned mainly by the Prentice family. An explosion on 11th August 1871 demolished the works, killing 24 people and injuring 75. The works was rebuilt in 1873/74 and re-named the Stowmarket Guncotton Company. The Prentice family sold the factory in 1880 when a new company, the Explosives Company took over. The factory was extended in 1885 and the name changed to the New Explosives Co. Ltd. More land was purchased in 1896 when building of a new Cordite factory commenced, being completed in 1898. By 1907 the works had been acquired by Nobel's Explosives Ltd. The factory was put on a war footing in 1914, employing women for the first time. After the war, the factory was turned over to the manufacture of industrial lacquer etc., and the name changed to Necol Industrial Collodions Ltd. The site was acquired by I.C.I. in 1926.

Record URL
https://beta.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/id/00bad737-b187-4f01-8c63-e540754af59c/

Catalogue hierarchy

236,974 records

This record is held at Suffolk Record Office, Ipswich Branch

You are currently looking at the fonds: HC411

ICI Paints Division, Stowmarket