The Origins of the Soho Manufactory

Description:The Soho area before the Manufactory was established formed part of Handsworth Heath and the name is thought to derive from a hunting cry – ‘So-Ho.’ A small area of the heath had been enclosed with a warrener’s hut apparently before Edward Ruston and John Eaves, toymakers(makers of small decorative metal objects), took out a lease of this land in 1757. They pulled down the dwelling, built a house and water mill. Water was diverted from the Hockley Brook on its north side to fill a large pool about 350m in length and 50m broad at its maximum width. This mill pool survived to the very end of the Manufactory in the early 1860s.

Ruston and Eaves sold their lease of Soho in 1761 to Matthew Boulton, another Birmingham toymaker, who had premises in Snow Hill and a lease of Sarehole Mill in Yardley. Boulton certainly came to Soho in search of water power, but the mill he had acquired was not powerful enough for the purpose of polishing finished goods. He demolished and rebuilt it, but it is not known whether this was on the same site. It appears that Boulton needed not only a source of power, but also room to expand. Sarehole may not have provided this opportunity and was given up in 1762. It is impossible to judge, however, whether at this time Boulton had already in mind a grandiose plan to establish a manufactory on a scale that had not been seen before in the Birmingham area.

In the summer of 1761 some workers dwellings, a warehouse and workshops were started and in the following summer they were completed along with the water mill that stood in their midst. A button and chape (part of a buckle) manufactory was being established. In 1764 more workshops were erected but the most significant addition was constructed in 1765-7. This was the ‘principal building,’ designed by James Wyatt deliberately to resemble the mansion of a nobleman. This building therefore dominates the majority of the historical views of the Manufactory. Apart from intending to impress, the ‘principal building’ contained a new plated ware manufactory, warehouses, the main office or counting house and accommodation for senior staff. The Manufactory continued to expand until the early nineteenth century but mostly in relation to the new steam engine and letter-copying businesses.