CHAPTER 15
COADE'S ARTIFICIAL STONE WORKS
[See plates 37, 38 and 39.]
It is beyond the normal scope of this survey to give a detailed account
of an industry which has long since ceased to function and whose buildings
have disappeared, but Coade stone was so extensively used on buildings
and for statuary during the 70 years that the factory flourished, in the
immediate neighbourhood, in London generally, and throughout the country,
that it seems a pity not to put on record the information about Coade's
Artificial Stone Manufactory which has come to light during the preparation
of the volume.
Coade's Stone Works were not the first of their kind in the area.
In 1722 Richard Holt took out 2 patents, (ref. 127) one, in conjunction with Thomas
Ripley, for a “compound liquid metal, by which artificial stone and marble
is made, by casting the same into moulds,” and the other, in conjunction
with Samuel London, for a composition (without clay) for making whiteware, “formed and moulded in a new method”. In a pamphlet about his
work, published in 1730 (ref. 128) and dedicated to the Earl of Burlington, Holt
advertised that his wares were on show in a building by the river stairs at
Cuper's Bridge and warned intending customers against a “ certain pretending
Architect,” who was trying to steal his secret. Holt seems to have gone out
of business soon after. In 1770, Daniel Pincot, who described himself as an
“Artificial Stone Manufacturer,” published an essay on the “Origin, Nature,
Uses, and Properties of Artificial Stone” (ref. 129) and stated that he had recently
opened a factory “ by King's Arms Stairs, Narrow Wall, Lambeth, opposite
Whitehall Stairs.” A plan of the Jesus College property made in 1770 (ref. 60)
shows Daniel Pincot as tenant of a piece of ground north of College Street
and fronting on Narrow Wall. Pincot did not claim to have invented the
process and he took out no patent. He claimed superiority over Holt solely
in the design of his products, and it would appear that he either sold his
factory to Eleanor Coade within a year or two of its opening, though no
record of such a transaction has come to light, or he was acting as her agent,
for it was her name and not his which became attached both to the factory
and its products. (fn. a)
Mrs. Eleanor Coade must have been a remarkable woman for her
period, for she ran the factory for about 25 years. Her husband, George
Coade, died in 1769, (ref. 131) the year the factory was opened, and it seems improbable that he had any hand in it. The couple came from Dorset, and it is
possible that their families had been connected with the pottery industry
there. When she took a partner it was her nephew, John Sealy. (fn. b)
The composition and method of manufacture of Coade stone are not
fully known, but the finds on the site during excavations for the Festival of
Britain show that the materials were finely ground and after mixing were
either modelled or cast in moulds or cast and then finished by a modeller.
They were fired in a muffle furnace. The grindstone, of granite, has been
placed outside the Royal Festival Hall and a number of the moulds, casts and
specimens of the finished product have been preserved.
A descriptive catalogue of “Coade's Artificial Manufactory, At
King's Arms Stairs, Narrow Wall,” was published in 1784. (ref. 134) It refers to the “period of fifteen years, since this burnt Artificial Stone Manufactory” had
been erected and to the “ several other Manufactories passing under the
same denomination” which had been extinct for some years and whose
productions had been ascribed to the Coade Works, and gives as an example
the gateway to Syon House, Isleworth. The picture on Plate 48 of old
Westminster Bridge, shows King's Arms Stairs in the foreground with a sign
advertising Coade's factory.
In 1800 Mrs. Eleanor Coade, junior, opened and exhibition gallery for
her wares at the north-east corner of Narrow Wall and Westminster Bridge
Road (see p. 69). (ref. 45) A Catalogue of ornamental stone in the “Gallery of Coade
and Sealy” published about 1799 lists a large number of stock statues,
busts and architectural ornaments designed by John Bacon, Benjamin West,
James Wyatt and others which could be bought. The engraving facing the
title page depicts “Fire defending Sculpture and Architecture against
Time.” (ref. 135)
Eleanor Coade, senior, died in 1796 at the age of 88 and was buried
in Bunhill Fields. (ref. 131) Her daughter, also Eleanor, had taken her place in the
business some years previously, and John Sealy continued in partnership until
his death in 1813. He was buried in the churchyard of St. Mary's, Lambeth,
and his tomb, of Coade stone, records also the names of his wife, Elizabeth,
and his brother and sister-in-law, William and Harriet (see p. 117). John
Sealy left no children and his estate of £7,500 passed to his spinster sister
Maria Sealy. (ref. 136) Eleanor Coade also remained unmarried and there was no
one of the younger generation either in her branch of the family or Sealy's to
learn the business. Eleanor therefore took as her successor a cousin by
marriage, William Croggon, (fn. c) and from 1814 onwards Croggon paid rates
for the factory, though until 1823 it is entered in the directories as Coade
& Co.
In 1811, Eleanor Coade was living in Great Surrey Street (later
Blackfriars Road), Southwark, (ref. 138) but at the time of her death in 1821 she was
described as “of Camberwell Grove.” (ref. 138) She was then in her 89th year. (ref. 65) She
also was buried in Bunhill Fields and left legacies to a number of her relatives,
the Sealys and Enchmarchs, and to charities both in London and at Lyme
Regis, Dorset. (ref. 138)
In 1828 William Croggon obtained from the authorities of Jesus
College a new lease of his premises in Belvedere Road for 9½ years at a rent
of £140 a year. The ground is described as approximately 195 feet from east to west and 85 feet from north to south. (ref. 60) The plan on this page shows the site in 1804 before the formation of Belvedere Road, and on Plate 38a is a view of the Narrow Wall and frontage at about the same date on which the curved line of Narrow Wall and of the path running towards the river by the side of the factory, can be clearly seen. Considerable alterations took place, just before Croggon got his lease, to improve the new frontage to Belvedere Road. At
the Duchy of Cornwall office is a water colour drawing by Buckler made after the alteration. It shows that the old house was altered and adapted, but not entirely rebuilt.
Figure 18:
Plan of Jesus College Property (the Hopes) in 1804. From a delonging to Jesus College, Oxford
William Croggon was succeeded by his son Thomas John Croggon
in 1836, (ref. 48) but the days of the artificial stone factory were numbered. The
last dated pieces of Coade stone which have been found are the large lion
from the Lion Brewery which, as shown on the inset drawing, has the date
May 24th, 1837, and the initials W.F.W. (the sculptor Woodington) on
its paw, (fn. d) and the coat of arms of Queen Victoria
outside No. 6 Suffolk Street, Westminster, the
business premises of the Queen's tailors, which has the
inscription“T.C[r]og[gon, Lam]beth” and which
must have been made after June, 1837. The younger
Croggon gave up the factory in Belvedere Road in
1837, (ref. 60) and although he was subsequently in business in the north of London, it was as a factor or
agent for various materials, and not as an artificial
stone manufacturer. (ref. 48)
Figure 19:
Inscription on lion's paw, Lion Brewery, Lambeth. Pen and ink drawing by F. A. Evans
The premises in Belvedere Road were let in 1837 to Thomas Routledge and John Danforth Greenwood. (ref. 60) Routledge & Co. carried on a terracotta and scaglioli works there for a number of years, but Coade stone was
made no more.
It seems remarkable that a product with so many useful qualities as
Coade stone should have gone out of use. The claim that it would resist the
weathering of frost, rain, heat, and smoke has been
amply proved. On many buildings, as for example
the Royal Society of Arts building in the Adelphi,
it has been subjected to more than 150 years of the
London atmosphere without deterioration. It was
cheaper than stone and in some cases cheaper than
wood.
The most probable explanation seems to be
that the composition of the stone was a family
secret which the last survivor did not fully share or
which, perhaps, he had not sufficient nous to
exploit. Perhaps in time modern chemists may rediscover the formula, but it seems likely that the
original inventor will remain a mystery. One thing
is certain and that is that the work of the Eleanor
Coades, mother and daughter, will survive to
intrigue many future generations. A few examples
are illustrated in this volume. The large lion from
the Lion Brewery (Plate 31) which is 13 feet long
and 12 feet high was made in separate parts and
cramped together. The charity school boy from the
Lambeth Ragged School, which stands now in the
hall of Archbishop Temple's School, Lambeth Road, is also of Coade stone.
He was probably one of the stock patterns advertised in the 1784 catalogue
as on sale for £16 10s. the pair (boy and girl). (ref. 134)
Figure 20:
Plan of Coade & Sealy's Works, Belvedere Road, 1837. From a deed in the possession of Jesus College, Oxford