Nasmyth, Gaskell and Company

Nasmyth, Gaskell and Company

The Liverpool and Manchester Railway, and Bridgewater Canal pass the Bridgewater Foundry, pictured in 1839
Former type	General partnership
Industry	Engineering Heavy industry
Predecessor	The Bridgewater Foundry
Successor	James Nasmyth and Co. Patricroft Ironworks Nasmyth, Wilson and Co.
Founded	1836
Founder	James Nasmyth Holbrook Gaskell
Defunct	Dissolved 1940
Headquarters	Patricroft, Salford, United Kingdom
Products	Heavy machine tools Locomotives

Nasmyth, Gaskell and Company, originally called The Bridgewater Foundry, specialised in the production of heavy machine tools and locomotives. It was located in Patricroft, in Salford England, close to the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, the Bridgewater Canal and the Manchester Ship Canal. The company was founded in 1836 and dissolved in 1940.

The company was founded in 1836 by James Nasmyth and Holbrook Gaskell. Nasmyth had previously been employed in Henry Maudslay's workshop in Lambeth and his interest was mainly, but not limited to, specialist machine tools.

The Bridgewater Foundry is an example of modern materials handling that was part of the evolution of the assembly line.

The buildings were arranged in a line with a railway for carrying the work going through the buildings. Cranes were used for lifting the heavy work, which sometimes weighed in the tens of tons. The work passed sequentially through to the erection of the framework and final assembly.

In the period up to 1856, the foundry concentrated on building a large number of machine tools. Before Nasmyth, machine tools were custom built on demand. Nasmyth published a catalogue of standard designs which he then marketed. His design for the steam hammer was produced first in France by Le Creusot, another firm. On seeing it, Nasmyth then ensured that it was correctly patented. He produced a complete range of steam hammers, planers and shapers. He designed and produced pile drivers and a hydraulic press.