Back to coprolite
publications
STOWMARKET,
SUFFOLK
Thomas
Prentice started in business in the 1840s as a corn merchant and maltster supplying farmers in the area. By the 1850s he had
recognised the potential of the new artificial chemical manures on the market
and in 1856 invested in a sulphuric acid and superphosphate works at Stowupland, near Stowmarket.
Situated on the railway from
In
1866 his brothers, Eustace and Edward, took over the fertiliser side of the
business and were joined shortly afterwards by Manning Prentice,
"...an
outstanding chemical scholar who was to prove the mainspring of the future
success of the company. He became well known as the inventor of a process for
concentrating sulphuric acid in a platinum pan and he also developed a
continuous nitric acid still."
('The
Early Fertiliser Industry,'Fisons Journal,December 1963)
By
January 1870 the Prentice Brothers described themselves as
"merchants." They had recognised that the future prospects in the
chemical fertiliser industry necessitated expansion of their works. They purchased a 99
year lease on a plot of land known as Claypit Bottoms
between the railway and the river. The extensive Great Eastern Chemical Works
were erected, supplied by rail with coprolites from Suffolk and Cambridgeshire
as well as rock phosphates from overseas. (Suff.R.O.
HC 434.8728.227-9; Kelly's Post Office Directory 1873)
Following
Edward Prentice's death in 1871 Manning Prentice assumed the bulk of the
responsibility running the business. He maintained demand for the coprolites
throughout the 1870s but, when cheaper foreign phosphates became available in
larger quantities in the late 1870s, purchases of local coprolites were
reduced. This was only temporary. The last four years of the 1870s were
dominated by heavy rain and poor harvests. Agricultural production fell and,
with the introduction of Free Trade, huge quantities of cheap foodstuffs from
North and South America flooded the British market. What has been termed the
“Agricultural Depression“ set in. Farmers experienced
severe distress. Rent reductions were common but some went bankrupt and
curtailed farming operations. Demand for "super" fell. There was no
point adding to the soil when what it produced wasn't selling. Faced with
intense competition from the eighty or so manure manufacturers across the
country and a reduction in demand occasioned by this Agricultural Depression
the manure business faced considerable financial difficulties. They responded
by reducing their purchase of overseas phosphate and lowering their prices for
"super."
In
the early-1880s the economic situation improved. Demand for local coprolites
was revived - mostly by the inland manure manufacturers. It was costly to transport the new rock
phosphate from the United States to Stowmarket. As
barge and lighter charges were cheaper than rail freight charges, demand for
the Cambridgeshire coprolites resumed. Shortly after Eustace Prentice's death
in 1884 Manning's first strategy for recovery was to take over one of his
competitors, William Colchester's Cambridgeshire business. He had chemical
manure works in Harwich, Ipswich and Burwell but had just taken on the post of
managing director of the London-based Lawes Chemical Manure Co. His holdings
included Mr Ball's Burwell manure works. Manning took on Mr Colchester's son to
join Mr Ball where, according to the local directory, they provided, "employment to about 40 persons."
(White's Trade Directory 1885)
The
same directory made mention of another important company in Stowmarket.
Its role in the business must have included supplying Manning Prentice with
quite a few of his needs. "Adam
& Co. Coprolite Raisers, Stowupland, Stowmarket. Engineers, millwrights,
machinists and manufacturers of bone and coprolite mills."
(White's Trade Directory 1885)
None of this company's records have come to light.
In
1891, using additional capital raised from local
agricultural merchants and farmers, Prentice converted the business to a
limited company. It is possible he had taken over the Cambridge Manure Company
as his new directors had previously been on their board. This expansion
included the 1893 take-over of the Norfolk coastal shipping business of Bailey,
Sutton and Company of Great Yarmouth. Effectively he controlled the local
phosphate supplies, its manufacture, distribution and sale. By this time
however, supplies of coprolite had mostly been exhausted and increased labour
costs had made the business less profitable. The 1893 Quarries Act included
strict controls over all pits deeper than 25 feet so the coprolite industry
petered out. The tremendous effort and energy used to build this new company
took its toll and Manning died in 1895, succeeded by W. Henry Prentice. ('The
Early Fertiliser Industry,' Fisons Journal, December 1963)
After
the First World War the business was taken over by Packards
& Co., an Ipswich manure company. By this time, Stowmarket's
inland location incurred higher transport costs for the imported phosphates
thereby reducing their profitability. When it happened is uncertain but Packards were eventually taken over by Fisons. Fisons
expanded their manure and agricultural supplies business into Stowmarket and Thetford in Norfolk to use the navigable
waterways that appeared in many of the landscapes of Constable for the
flourishing trade in foodstuffs from Ipswich to London.
The
Museum of East Anglian Life at Stowmarket has a small
coprolite grinding stone, which is reputed to have been used in the Prentice's
Works.