The Vulcan Works, Southport: The Archaeology of an Edwardian Car Factory

The widespread adoption of the motor car had what was perhaps the greatest impact on the physical and social landscape of 20th-century Britain, and yet virtually none of the early car factories have been subject to formal archaeological investigation. In 2019-20, Salford Archaeology carried out a comprehensive survey of the former Vulcan Works, a purpose-built factory that was erected near Southport in 1907 by Thomas and Joseph Hampson, two pioneers of the British motor-manufacturing industry. Initially, this ‘state-of-the-art’ factory comprised an architecturally impressive two-storey office with a single-storey machine and erecting shop to the rear, together with the associated power plant. Extensive additions had increased the size of the works to more than 3.6 hectares by 1924, and whilst the buildings were repurposed as a general engineering works in 1937, the original Edwardian car factory remained largely unaltered. The archaeological survey, coupled with historical research and limited excavation, has provided a unique record of a rare survivor of Britain’s fledgling car-manufacturing industry prior to its demolition.