Chamberlin & Hill Castings (S. Russell & Sons), Leicester
Dating back to 1920 the iron foundry on Bonchurch Street in Leicester produced small to medium sized castings until its closure in 2016.
Visited April 2017 Bonchurch Street , Leicester, UK
Formed in 1864 when Samuel Russell moved to Leicester from Loughborough, the brass and iron foundry based its head office, engineering and foundry operations on Bath Lane in Leicester. The company later became S. Russell & Sons when his two sons joined the firm in 1881.
Chamberlin & Hill Castings, Leicester – Front entrance
As the company expanded, 1920 saw the opening of a further works in Bonchurch Street in the Woodgate area of Leicester. The Bonchurch Street foundry produced medium-sized castings, weighing 30-100kg primarily for the hydraulics and rail industries.
The Bonchurch Street foundry was taken over by Chamberlin & Hill Castings in 2004 and S. Russell & Sons were dissolved the following year. By 2016 demand for the products produced at the foundry had dwindled, and management announced it would be closing by the end of that year.
Furnaces
Starting where the raw materials and scrap metal arrive, the furnaces would melt it all down ready to be poured into moulds
Chamberlin & Hill Castings, Leicester – The three electric furnaces
Chamberlin & Hill – Furnaces
Chamberlin & Hill – Tiny control room
Chamberlin & Hill Castings, Leicester – Control panel to one sideChamberlin & Hill Castings, Leicester – Inductotherm control panel
Casting and moulding
This is where the molten metal is cast in moulds
Chamberlin & Hill Castings, Leicester – Floor mould for larger castings
Chamberlin & Hill – Hand mould shop
Chamberlin & Hill – Hand mould shop
Handling and Blast Cleaning
The next stage of the process is to cool and open up the moulds and then clean up the castings
Chamberlin & Hill Castings, Leicester – Moving through to the handling area
Chamberlin & Hill – Sand and dust processing
Chamberlin & Hill – Hunter HV Turntable
Chamberlin & Hill Castings, Leicester – Hunter HV mould handling machineChamberlin & Hill Castings, Leicester – Hunter HV mould handling machineChamberlin & Hill Castings, Leicester – Continuous Tumblast cleaning machineChamberlin & Hill Castings, Leicester – Beside the CT3
Chamberlin & Hill – View towards offices
Chamberlin & Hill – Roller conveyors
Chamberlin & Hill Castings, Leicester – Roller conveyors with boxes for moving castingsChamberlin & Hill Castings, Leicester – Roller conveyors with boxes for moving castingsChamberlin & Hill Castings, Leicester – A large area was dedicated to shotblastingChamberlin & Hill Castings, Leicester – Shotblasting machine
Core Shop
The core shop is where cores are machined in the process of creating the moulds for casting
Chamberlin & Hill Castings, Leicester – Eurocor machines in the core shopChamberlin & Hill Castings, Leicester – Eurocor Corjob-H16
Chamberlin & Hill – Inside the core machine
Chamberlin & Hill – Machining area
Chamberlin & Hill Castings, Leicester – Area for manual machining of cores
Chamberlin & Hill – Racking
Chamberlin & Hill – Shelves of cores
Chamberlin & Hill Castings, Leicester – Core store room
Finishing and Dispatch
The building housing the heat treatment, finishing and dispatch facilities was a later addition, one of the last buildings to be built on the site.
Chamberlin & Hill Castings, Leicester – Heat treatment area
Chamberlin & Hill – HT Kiln
Chamberlin & Hill – Finishing workstation
Chamberlin & Hill Castings, Leicester – The finished product, although these castings were rejects
Workshops
As well as the production areas, there were a number of workshops to support the main functions of the factory
Chamberlin & Hill Castings, Leicester – The main workshop was crammed full with machinesChamberlin & Hill Castings, Leicester – Main workshopChamberlin & Hill Castings, Leicester – Main workshop
Chamberlin & Hill – 1922-45 regulations
Chamberlin & Hill – Items in office
Chamberlin & Hill Castings, Leicester – Old office with various items
Bathhouse and Office Block
The bathhouse was quite an old building, with a few features remaining. Unfortunately nice skylights and features in the offices had been covered by suspended ceilings.
Chamberlin & Hill Castings, Leicester – Bathhouse showers
Chamberlin & Hill – Locker room
Chamberlin & Hill – Small lab
Externals
Chamberlin & Hill – Main buildings
Chamberlin & Hill – Repton Street elevation
Chamberlin & Hill – Ghost sign revealing the buildings origins as S. Russell & Sons Ltd, Ironfounders
S. Russell & Sons Ltd, Ironfounders were as well known as their successors, perhaps more so because the name is found to this day on man-hole covers throughout the region.
Bonchurch Street , Leicester, UK 
I’m interested to see what the future plans are for this site.Any information?
I’m not sure what the plans are for redevelopment, but the buildings have now been demolished.
S. Russell & Sons Ltd, Ironfounders were as well known as their successors, perhaps more so because the name is found to this day on man-hole covers throughout the region.
This takes me back, was a furnace technician on the birwelco induction furnace at bonchurch street untill made redundant in 1980.