The Iron Duke is a calender machine that was used to bind sheet rubber and cotton together. This was an important part of the vulcanisation process that was used to make waterproof fabric used in the production of waterproof capes and footwear worn by troops in the Crimean War.
It was the first machine used for this purpose in the United Kingdom. It was named the Iron Duke after the Duke of Wellington and the rubber produced by the machine was used in the production of wellington boots.
The machine was an integral part of the rubber factory established in Bradford on Avon by Stephen Moulton in 1848, which led to the town becoming the cradle of the UK’s rubber industry.
In 1973, the 16-tonne machine went into storage at the Industrial Museum in Bristol and returned to Bradford on Avon in 2016.
What to see at the Iron Duke
There’s not a lot to see here as the Iron Duke is just a single exhibit rather than an entire museum but it is interesting nonetheless.
The machine sits on a reinforced plinth and it is protected from the elements by a roof and glass panels. There is an information board with details about the history of the Iron Duke and how it was used in the rubber vulcanisation process.
Visiting the Iron Duke
The machine is in a glass display case at Kingston Mill on Kingston Street in the town centre, which is the same site where it operated for around 120 years. It is free for anyone to visit at any time.
A visit to the Iron Duke is easy to combine with a wander around Bradford on Avon and it shouldn’t take much longer than 5–10 minutes to have a look and read the information board below the machine.
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