General view from WSW showing Calder Cabinet Works with Viewfield Cabinet Works in background

Description General view from WSW showing Calder Cabinet Works with Viewfield Cabinet Works in background

Date 1965

Collection Papers of Professor John R Hume, economic and industrial historian, Glasgow, Scotland

Catalogue Number SC 648787

Category On-line Digital Images

Scope and Content Viewfield Cabinet Works, Calder Street, Lochwinnoch, Renfrewshire Furniture manufacture became an important industry in Beith and Lochwinnoch from the 1860s and the 1880s respectively, replacing textiles as a major employer. This was the larger of the two Lochwinnoch works, and was founded in 1887 by Joseph Johnstone. This shows the works from the south-west, with the yellow brick factory range in the middle. The tower housed a water tank to supply a sprinkler system for fire control. Along the left-hand boundary of the complex is a long wooden shed used to store seasoning timber. The impetus to found these concerns was two-fold: the development of machinery to make parts of furniture which had previously been made by hand; and a burgeoning demand for furnishings for houses ships and hotels. The industry declined in the 1960s, and this works became a cooperage. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

External Reference H35/65/8/27

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/648787

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap