Chatwood Safe Co Ltd

Shrewsbury should celebrate two men who through their ingenuity and business enterprise brought employment and prosperity to the town. John Hall of Altrincham in Cheshire started a business in 1812 as a merchant dealing in metals, particularly iron and Samuel Chatwood in 1858 produced his first safe from the Bolton Lock and Safe Co. in Lancashire. "The Chatwood Safe Co Ltd" emerged in 1910 and it was acquired by the Hall family in 1915. Hall's son, Ernest B. Hall, who was also in the business with his father, made changes which developed the company and resulted in the expansion of the workforce and the need to move to larger premises. When safe-making was resumed after the war Chatwood had planned to move to a larger site at Bradley Ford, near to Bolton, intending to build a model village there to house the workforce. However this plan was cancelled and instead it was resolved to move and develope a large plot of 385 acres at Harlescott, near Shrewsbury. The new factory would have adequate space formanufacture and be fully equipped with modern machinery for the production of high quality Chatwood safes and strong rooms.

The Chatwood Safe Co. moved to Shrewsbury at Harlescott between 1925 and 1928, building a factory and model village alongside the plant to house the Company employees. In a 1926 Shrewsbury Chronicle newspaper they announced that two large bays of the factory had been completed and that the transfer of workmen from Bolton was expected in May and a number of new houses would be ready by then. The newspaper stated on 16th July 1926 that the Council had approved plans for a new power house and that four large workshops were in use. Also, the first section of the Model Housing Village was nearly completed. The transfer of the Works was done in stages to avoid disruption to production, and by 1928 Chatwood had finally left Bolton. All new employees were issued with the ‘Chatwood Handbook - Then & Now’ which provided information about the Company history and the new factory and their production methods..

Extracts from Internet website, www.antique-locks.com