Charles Roe Copper Works, Wellington Road, Toxteth , Liverpool

Charles Roe and Company
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The founder of Roe and Co., also known as the Macclesfield Copper Company, was Charles Roe (1715-1781) a leading industrialist in the 1700's. Charles Roe was born in Castleton, Derbyshire but later moved to Macclesfield in Cheshire which became his adopted town. It was here that he established himself as a silk manufacturer and mill owner, indeed he did much to establish Macclesfield as a centre of the silk trade. There is a memorial tablet to him in Christ Church, Macclesfield, detailing at length his lifetime achievements in the silk and metal trades and it was from metals, and smelting, that much of his weath derived.

By 1758 when he was well established in the silk trade he is recorded to be simultaneously mining copper ore in the ancient mines of Alderley Edge, nearby in Cheshire and from a mine site, in the Lake District at Coniston. This same year Roe also built a copper works on Macclesfield Common to smelt the mineral concentrates from his new mining ventures. Roe’s initial choice of Macclesfield for his new copper works was due to its proximity to Alderley Edge and its copper mines. There was also a shallow coal outcrop outside the town, and this was needed for fueling the furnaces. Soon after Roe set up other works near Congleton and at Bosley.

In October 1764 Roe obtained a 21 year mining lease, from the Bayly family, for Parys Mountain in Anglesey as well as a Lead mine in Caernarvonshire. The subsequent discovery, in March 1768, of 'The Great Lode' which turn the mines into the largest in Europe, was the making of Roe & Co. and in

1767 Roe & Co. decided to move their smelting operations closer to the source of their new ore supply as the coal at Macclesfield had run out and transportation costs were high. This is when Toxteth enters their history, as the company opened the first of two successive smelters on the banks of the Mersey in Liverpool on land situated at the bottom of what was to become Wellington Road. They later obtained possession of a colliery at Wrexham to secure a reliable, local source of fuel. Both ore and coal were landed at a a small purpose built dock below the copper smelting works on Wellington Road (from which an Anglesea Street once branched off!).

1768 Roe ceased mining at Alderley Edge - operations at Coniston lasted until 1770 when Roe turned to smelting copper ore from the Duke of Devonshire’s mines in Staffordshire. Zinc ores from North Wales were taken to Macclesfield for the production of brass.

1785 was when they lost the Anglesea lease to the Parys Mine Company, who went on to fortune, devastating the area in the process and leaving waste materials that blight Parys mountain to this day. It was after the loss of their mining lease on Parys Mountain that Roe & Co. turned their attention to acquiring the copper mines north of Wicklow in Ireland. In order to man their new Irish mines Roe & Co., now working through their newly formed subsidiary the Anglo Irish Mining Company, relocated many of the miners who had worked for them in Anglesey. By this time Charles Roe himself had died and the company was being run by Edward Hawkins, of Congleton, Abraham Mills, of Macclesfield and William Roe (Charles’ eldest son).

The company opened a new smelter at Neath Abbey near Swansea and gradually South Wales was become the focus for copper smelting in Britain. The opening of the Neath works more or less coincided with the closure of the company’s operations on the Mersey. The reasons given, at the time, for the company’s move to S. Wales, were that the costs of labour and coal were becoming too expensive in Liverpool. The Irish ore was shipped directly to Neath which had coal mines in close proximity and finally in 1793 Roe and Co. closed the copper works on the banks of the Mersey and ended their association with Liverpool. A year later the lease was advertised and eventually it was sold to Richard Abbey. He founded a pottery which when sold and enlarged, became, in 1796, the Herculaneum Pottery Company.

Link to Parys mountain website

The founder of Roe and Co., also known as the Macclesfield Copper Company, was Charles Roe (1715-1781) a leading industrialist in the 1700's. Charles Roe was born in Castleton, Derbyshire but later moved to Macclesfield in Cheshire which became his adopted town. It was here that he established himself as a silk manufacturer and mill owner, indeed he did much to establish Macclesfield as a centre of the silk trade. There is a memorial tablet to him in Christ Church, Macclesfield, detailing at length his lifetime achievements in the silk and metal trades and it was from metals, and smelting, that much of his weath derived. By 1758 when he was well established in the silk trade he is recorded to be simultaneously mining copper ore in the ancient mines of Alderley Edge, nearby in Cheshire and from a mine site, in the Lake District at Coniston. This same year Roe also built a copper works on Macclesfield Common to smelt the mineral concentrates from his new mining ventures. Roe’s initial choice of Macclesfield for his new copper works was due to its proximity to Alderley Edge and its copper mines. There was also a shallow coal outcrop outside the town, and this was needed for fueling the furnaces. Soon after Roe set up other works near Congleton and at Bosley.
In October 1764 Roe obtained a 21 year mining lease, from the Bayly family, for Parys Mountain in Anglesey as well as a Lead mine in Caernarvonshire. The subsequent discovery, in March 1768, of 'The Great Lode' which turn the mines into the largest in Europe, was the making of Roe & Co. and in 1767 Roe & Co. decided to move their smelting operations closer to the source of their new ore supply as the coal at Macclesfield had run out and transportation costs were high. This is when Toxteth enters their history, as the company opened the first of two successive smelters on the banks of the Mersey in Liverpool on land situated at the bottom of what was to become Wellington Road. They later obtained possession of a colliery at Wrexham to secure a reliable, local source of fuel. Both ore and coal were landed at a a small purpose built dock below the copper smelting works on Wellington Road (from which an Anglesea Street once branched off!). 1768 Roe ceased mining at Alderley Edge - operations at Coniston lasted until 1770 when Roe turned to smelting copper ore from the Duke of Devonshire’s mines in Staffordshire. Zinc ores from North Wales were taken to Macclesfield for the production of brass. 1785 was when they lost the Anglesea lease to the Parys Mine Company, who went on to fortune, devastating the area in the process and leaving waste materials that blight Parys mountain to this day. It was after the loss of their mining lease on Parys Mountain that Roe & Co. turned their attention to acquiring the copper mines north of Wicklow in Ireland. In order to man their new Irish mines Roe & Co., now working through their newly formed subsidiary the Anglo Irish Mining Company, relocated many of the miners who had worked for them in Anglesey. By this time Charles Roe himself had died and the company was being run by Edward Hawkins, of Congleton, Abraham Mills, of Macclesfield and William Roe (Charles’ eldest son).
The company opened a new smelter at Neath Abbey near Swansea and gradually South Wales was become the focus for copper smelting in Britain. The opening of the Neath works more or less coincided with the closure of the company’s operations on the Mersey. The reasons given, at the time, for the company’s move to S. Wales, were that the costs of labour and coal were becoming too expensive in Liverpool. The Irish ore was shipped directly to Neath which had coal mines in close proximity and finally in 1793 Roe and Co. closed the copper works on the banks of the Mersey and ended their association with Liverpool. A year later the lease was advertised and eventually it was sold to Richard Abbey. He founded a pottery which when sold and enlarged, became, in 1796, the Herculaneum Pottery Company.
Link to Parys mountain website