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Bellshill, Clydesdale Street, Clydesdale Tube Works

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Steel Works (19th Century) - (20th Century)

Site Name Bellshill, Clydesdale Street, Clydesdale Tube Works

Classification Steel Works (19th Century) - (20th Century)

Alternative Name(s) Clydesdale Iron And Steel Works

Canmore ID 73835

Site Number NS75NE 17

NGR NS 75200 59634

Datum OSGB36 - NGR

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/73835

Ordnance Survey licence number AC0000807262. All rights reserved.
Canmore Disclaimer. © Bluesky International Limited 2025. Public Sector Viewing Terms

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First 100 images shown. See the Collections panel (below) for a link to all digital images.

Administrative Areas

  • Council North Lanarkshire
  • Parish Bothwell (Motherwell)
  • Former Region Strathclyde
  • Former District Motherwell
  • Former County Lanarkshire

Archaeology Notes

NS75NE 17 7538 5945

Previously known as Clydesdale Iron and Steel Works, Stewart and Lloyd's Clydesdale Works was established in the late 19th-century, specialising in the manufacture of Siemens-Martin open-hearth steel. This was used in the production of steel plate for boilers, ships and bridges and for lap-weld iron and steel tubes for products including multi-tubular boilers, boring tubes and oil well casings. By 1945, specialism had occurred and the works had four open-hearth 60 ton capacity furnaces supplying the plate rolling mills used to produce lap-weld tubing. Further specialisation occurred with the decision to build a sealmess tube mill to satisfy the demand for higher quality tubes needed for a new generation of power stations.

The building of the first mill, known as No.1 Rotary Forge Mill, was began in 1945 and was commissioned in April 1948. A second mill was establishd subsequently, and despite the later modernisation, the basic principle of generation remained unchanged. However, in 1975, the four open hearth furnaces were superceeded by two 70 ton electric arc furnaces, each producing liquid steel for a continuous casting process from which the steel ingots used in the process are derived.

By the mid-1980s, the Clydesdale Works had gone through phases of private and public ownership and emerged as as one of a small group of Scottish works retained by the British Steel Corporation. The plant covered approximately 124 acres, employed 2, 500 people and produced seamless steel tubes ranging in diameter from 6 inches to 18 inches in diameter. The plant, which was the only producer of seamless tubes in the United Kingdom, operated in conjunction with Calder Works (closed 1986) in Coatbridge (which specialised in tube end joints and extruded plastic coatings) and the Imperial Works in Airdrie. Most output was destined for use in the oil industry. Clydesdale Works was closed on the 5th May 1991.

Information from RCAHMS (MKO) gathered during a photographic survey, 1991.

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