Palmers Blast Furnaces by Night by R. Wallis. South Shields Museum, England

Palmers iron and steel works had five blast furnaces, each about 80 feet high, generally worked three at a time. The product was either delivered in a molten state to the steel works for the manufacture of steel, or cast into “pigs” for delivery to the firm’s engine works and foundries, as well as being supplied to many customers across the nation and abroad.

The iron and steel works was an incredibly dangerous environment in which to work, where there were many catastrophic injuries and fatalities. On 23 February 1887, 19 year old steel works’ employee Patrick Finnerty died when he overbalanced himself and fell head first into a tub of molten slag. In August 1914 a blastfurnace explosion killed four. These are just two examples of many tragic accidents at the works.

Object description
Type: Easel painting
Location: South Shields Museum & Art Gallery, Tyne & Wear
Material: Oil on canvas
Artist: R. Wallis
Date: 1889

Image details
Date: 15 June 2022
Camera body: iPhone Xs
Lens: Wide Camera 26mm ƒ/1.8
Focal Length: 26mm
Aperture: ƒ/1.8
Shutter Speed: 1/33s
ISO: 400
Licence: Image of a North East Museums asset. This image cannot be licensed.