Our collection is housed in the former foundry building of Whatley and Hosier, a water and agricultural engineering firm who moved from Wootton Rivers to Pewsey in about 1870. The firm was well located to access coal, steel stock and cast iron brought along the canal to Pewsey Wharf; latterly raw materials would have come in by rail.
After patenting several pump and valve designs, the company flourished and expanded into agricultural engineering with the advent of mechanisation on the farms of the fertile Pewsey Vale in the nineteenth century. The firm, now known as Whatley and Co, built and repaired this equipment as well as manufacturing replacement components.
Whatley’s built a new foundry in 1873 to accommodate their casting and machining work; this is the building in which the Heritage Centre is located. The managing director, Uriah Whatley, made use of cheaply available limestone blocks left over from works associated with the canal and the railway.
The building is a veritable Victorian temple of industry: there are stone semi-circular arches over all doors and windows and a fan shaping of the top glazing panes in the windows. Originally there were huge doors in the west and south walls, capable of allowing a traction engine inside. Despite a fire destroying the original roof in 1919, the remainder of the building is as constructed. The floor of the foundry was originally of sand, to facilitate the casting process. This was concreted over as the use of the building changed. The building was also fitted with a hand operated overhead 5 ton travelling crane, which is still in place.
