One of the Earliest Clayton & Shuttleworth Items Enters the Collection

The Shuttleworth Collection is delighted to have been donated a Clayton & Shuttleworth sluice gate from Witham 1st District Internal Drainage Board. The gate, manufactured in 1842, has the potential to be one of the oldest surviving Clayton & Shuttleworth items in existence.

According to The Stamford Mercury (9 September 1842), Clayton & Shuttleworth was officially formed on 6 September 1842, making this sluice gate an exceptionally early product of the firm as it was made within the first four months of the company’s operation.

The sluice gate originally formed part of the Timberland pumping station, constructed to the west of Tattershall, Lincolnshire on the west bank of the River Witham. The pumping station was built following an 1839 Act of Parliament which authorised the drainage of approximately 2,500 acres of the Timberland and Thorpe Tilney Fens. Within this system, the sluice gate played a crucial role – controlling the water levels.

This donation provides a tangible link to the very earliest days of Clayton & Shuttleworth and to the broader story of Victorian engineering and land management. We would like to thank Witham 1st District Internal Drainage Board for taking care of this artifact and donating it to Shuttleworth so we can continue its preservation.

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