ORIGINAL PAXMAN's (STANDARD WORKS), COLCHESTER, ESSEX. OPENED 1876...............CLOSED 2003

HISTORY & INTRODUCTION.........

PAXMAN OF COLCHESTER, WAS FOUNDED IN 1865 BY JAMES PAXMAN. THE COMPANY WAS ORIGINALLY NAMED "DAVEY, PAXMAN & DAVEY" & WAS LOCATED WHERE CULVER SQUARE NOW STANDS. WHEN THE COMPANY MOVED IN 1876 TO IT's PRESENT DAY LOCATION (STANDARD IRON WORKS, PORT LANE) IT WAS RENAMED "DAVEY, PAXMAN & Co." IT IS INTERESTING TO NOTE THAT DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR, PAXMAN'S HAD A SECOND SITE "BRITANNIA WORKS", NEXT TO COLCHESTER TOWN RAILWAY STATION. DURING THIS TIME, THE COMPANY MANUFACTURED ENGINES FOR THE WAR EFFORT. SADLY, THE "BRITANNIA WORKS" WAS DEMOLISHED IN THE LATE 1980's TO MAKE WAY FOR A CAR PARK. THROUGHOUT THE COMPANY's SUCCESSFUL HISTORY OF MAKING DIESEL ENGINES FOR VARIOUS USES, IT's EMPLOYED AT IT's PEAK, WELL OVER 2,000 PEOPLE, AND PROVIDED MANY JOBS FOR THE TOWN. PAXMAN SURVIVED AS AN INDEPENDANT COMPANY UNTIL IT WAS TAKEN OVER BY MAN B & W IN 2000. IN 2002, THE NAME "PAXMAN" WAS SCRAPPED, WITH PAXMAN DISAPPEARING INTO HISTORY. ALL THAT REMAINS NOW IS MAN B & W, HOUSED IN SOME RATHER PLAIN MORE MODERN LOOKING BUILDINGS TO THE SOUTH OF STANDARD IRONWORKS, WITH THE WORKFORCE DOWN TO ABOUT 100, AT THE TIME OF WRITING (AUGUST, 2006). AS YOU WILL SEE, VERY LITTLE IS LEFT OF THE ORIGINAL BUILDINGS, APART A COUPLE OF BUILDINGS AT THE ORIGINAL STANDARD ROAD ENTRANCE, RAZED TO THE GROUND TO MAKE WAY FOR YET MORE HOUSING. YET AGAIN, ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY LOST TO PRESERVE A PIECE OF OUR BUILT HISTORY. A BIG THANK YOU GOES OUT TO PHIL, THE SAFETY MANAGER, WHO KINDLY GAVE ME A TOUR OF THE OLD WORKS IN 2005, AND FOR SOME BACKGROUND HISTORY OF THE SITE & COMPANY.