This volume provides a comprehensive analysis of the ground-breaking historic industrial complex created to the west of Birmingham in the eighteenth century and associated with Matthew Boulton, James Watt, and William Murdoch. The Soho Manufactory (1761-1863) and Soho Mint (1788-1850s) were both situated in the historic parish of Handsworth, now in the city of Birmingham, and the Soho Foundry (1795-1895) lay in the historic township of Smethwick, now within Sandwell Metropolitan Borough. Together they played a key role in the Industrial Revolution , achieving many world 'firsts': the first working Watt steam engine, the first steam-engine powered mint and the first purpose-built steam engine manufactory (the Soho Foundry), to name but a few. Existing literature focuses largely on the biography of the people, primarily Boulton and Watt, or the products they manufactured. The place - the Soho complex - has attracted very little attention. This volume is the first to concentrate on the buildings themselves analysing not only their physical origins, development and eventual decline but also the water and steam power systems adopted. An interdisciplinary approach has been employed combining archival research in the magnificent Soho collection at the Library of Birmingham with the results of archaeological excavations. The volume is profusely illustrated with archival material, most published for the first time, and contains a large number of reconstruction plans and drawings by the author.

About the Author
George Demidowicz, FSA, is an Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of History, University of Birmingham.

Reviews
'This is a magnificent work that synthesises much unpublished material to cover a largely neglected topic... I have no hesitation in recommending this book to anybody interested in Boulton and Watt, historical manufacturing buildings, power system development or steam engine manufacture.'
Chris Allen, International Stationary Steam Engine Society Bulletin
'[The Soho Manufactory, Mint and Foundry, West Midlands] clarif[ies] this fascinating story on a comprehensive scale and in a definitive manner, while also indicating new lines of research in the future.'
James Douet, Industrial Archaeology Review

'It would be no surprise if the book were a lifetime's work. It is certainly an achievement which the author and Historic England can be proud of in its attention to detail and comprehensiveness.'
John Hinchcliffe, Context

'Based on archival research, archaeology and landscape studies, the author has created an original and informative publication... This is a beautifully illustrated book which contains scores of images, most in full colour including maps, prints and photographs. It is a major piece of research and a tribute to Demidowicz's dedication, energy and scholarship.' Malcolm Dick, Midland History

'Demidowicz dedicates equal amounts of attention to all three phases of the history of the Soho works, providing detailed biographies of the three sites over the entirety of their operations and demonstrating how the once cutting-edge Soho enterprises each entered a period of decline... He likewise captures the incremental nature of technological innovation at Soho... (Demidowicz) supplies a rich sense of the hybrid of hand and mechanized processes involved in early industrial enterprises, in which human muscles, simple tools, steam engines, and "hand- or foot- operated machines" worked in concert.' Christopher Ferguson, Technology and Culture

'The book is not primarily a study of the three individuals who are central to the book... but an analysis of the evolution of sites and buildings. Based on archival research, archaeology and landscape studies, the author has created an original and informative publication... It is a major piece of research and a tribute to Demidowicz's dedication, energy, and scholarship.' Malcolm Dick, Midland History

Book Information
ISBN 9781800349285
Author George Demidowicz
Format Hardback
Page Count 296
Imprint Historic England
Publisher Liverpool University Press