Scottish shale Scottish shale

Cobridge Oil Works

Former parish and county:
Parish of Hanley, County of Stafford, England
Local authority:
City of Stoke-on-Trent
Ownership:
Ward & Co.
Cobridge Oil Company
Opened:
Pre 1865
Closed:
Post 1896
Current status of site:
Parkland

cobridgeworks500.jpg

The Coal Commission report of 1865 records that "Ward's & Co" of Hanley employed 18 retorts to produce oil.

The case of North Staffordshire Railway v. Ward in 1867 (see transcript) shows that Henry Ward conducted business under the title of the Corbridge Oil Company. A further court case in 1867 (see transcript) questioned the legality of the partnership behind the Corbridge Oil Company. Henry Ward put the works up for sale 1871.

In 1874 the firm of Walker Brothers was formed, operating from Cobridge Oil Works, presumably having taken over the works from Henry Ward. It is unclear whether crude oil continued to be produced on site, or whether Walker Brothers only refined and retailed oils. The company were renamed Century Oils in 1900.

Mapped by the Ordnance Survey of c.1898, showing the oil works still in operation.

Number of retorts: 18 (in 1865).

  • Location map
  • Detailed maps
  • Newspaper references
    • To be LET, on Lease, COBRIDGE OIL REFINERY, situated In the heart of the Pottery District, and centre of the great North Staffordshire coalfield, where any quantity of fine Crude Oil and Shale can be had cheap, is a rare opportunity for enterprise being In the midst of a fine district for the sale of all the products. Apply: H.L. Ward, Hanley, Staffordshire

      Birmingham Daily Post, 19th October 1871

      .......

      WalkerBrothers advert.jpg

      Staffordshire Chronicle, 1st January 1876