The aims of this website are to record some of the history of Davey Paxman & Co of Colchester, England, and make it accessible to the widest possible audience. During an eventful history spanning more than 140 years the Company has been a world leader in engineering innovation and manufactured a wide range of products. I and others who have worked for Paxman believe it important that the story of the Company, with so many achievements to its name, should not be forgotten but preserved for future generations.
Through various 'downsizings' and 'rationalisations' between the late 1980s to 2003 the size of the Company and the scale of its operations progressively diminished. At the end of November 2003 manufacturing was transferred from Standard Works to Stockport, but in mid-2005 MAN B&W decided to cease making the VP185 engine range there. Since 2003 Paxman's core business at Colchester has been the support of its engines through the Spares, Service and Overhauls functions which remain very active. Due to strong customer interest in the VP185, the Colchester Works resumed building and testing new VP185s in July 2005 and, as at December 2008, the factory continues to be busy.
If you are visiting this site for the first time and are unfamiliar with the Paxman story, you may like to start by reading the Introduction to the Company lower down this page.
The history of Paxman can be considered as a story of two parts. The first part, from its founding in 1865 up to the 1920s, is dominated by steam engines and boilers. The second part, from 1925 to the present day, centres around the Company's diesel engine activities. I have attempted to provide extensive coverage of both parts of the story on this website. Paxman has also been involved in other fields, such as filtration, which have not been forgotten in the story told here.
For an overview of Paxman's steam activities the best place to start is the page Paxman and Steam Engineering. To learn about Paxman's work in the design, development and manufacture of diesel engines, I suggest you start by reading, in turn, the pages - Paxman Heavy-Fuel-Oil Engines, Paxman Heavy Duty Diesel Engines, and Paxman Diesel Engines since 1934
If you already know something of Paxman's history and are seeking information on a particular activity or topic you will probably find it most helpful to go to the Site Map and Contents page. Here you will find a listing of each page on this site with a summary of its content as well as a facility for searching the wealth of material now available here.
I hope you enjoy these pages and will return to see additional and updated articles as the site continues to develop. Many existing pages are regularly revised and expanded as new information becomes available and sheds more light on Paxman's remarkable history.
Richard Carr
Notes for Site Visitors
Latest News
(in reverse chronological order - most recent first.)
Have you recently checked out the new pages and major updates?
Paxman air-cooled Vega engine runs again: On October 12th the Internal Fire Museum of Power, in West Wales held an End of Season Crankup when its 12 cylinder Vega (YGA) was run for the first time. Built in 1960, this engine was originally installed at Ffestiniog Power Station in North Wales to drive the emergency stand-by generator. On removal from Ffestiniog it was taken into preservation by the Museum in February 2005. It is possibly the only remaining engine of its type in good order and had only run for an estimated 200 hours whilst at the power station. Paul Evans, the museum's director, had not dared to run the Vega before but on this occasion Alex Walford was on hand with his incomparable experience of diesels and engine governing. Paul later emailed me to say that the Vega started almost immediately and ran well about half-a-dozen times over the Crankup day. It was reasonably loaded at 1500rpm. You can view a YouTube video of the engine running by going to the museum's website at www.internalfire.com .
1929 Paxman Oil Engine restored to working order: Paxman's vertical Heavy-Fuel-Oil Engines, the Company's first compression-ignition (i.e. diesel) type, were introduced to the market in 1927. In July 1928 the Metropolitan Water Board ordered three single cylinder VK engines of this type. One, No 23008 delivered in March 1929, was acquired by the Museum of Power at Langford, near Maldon, a few years ago. Alex Walford, formerly of Paxman/Regulateurs Europa, has now completed an extensive restoration of this engine which first ran again on 5th August this year (2008). It is on public display at the Museum. Elsewhere on this site are a detailed history and description of Paxman Heavy-Fuel-Oil engines.
August 2008 Update: The 'Twin Box' Paxman 12VP185 spare engine ordered by Tenix for the Royal New Zealand Navy, and built at Colchester, was despatched on August 4th or 5th. Other interesting engine order prospects are in the pipeline but for obvious reasons cannot be disclosed at this stage. Reorganisation of the South Shop continues, to create additional space to accommodate the workload. As at mid-August relocation of the Fabrication facilities in the South Shop is imminent.
Engines in Build at Colchester : It is good to learn that as at early January 2008 Paxman's Colchester factory is busy. In build are three 18VP185 engines for the Vietnam Marine Police, the first of which has just gone to the test bed. The order for these engines was signed last summer (2007). This was a follow on from the six VP185s already delivered to this customer, three of which were built at Colchester. The engines, three per vessel, are for main propulsion of three fast patrol craft.
An order has also been received for a spare 'Twin Box' 12VP185 from Tenix which is building four Inshore Patrol Vessels at its Whangarei yard for the Royal New Zealand Navy. Each RNZN vessel has two 'Twin Box' 12VP185 engines for main propulsion, some of which were built at Colchester.
Because of the shortage of space arising from the Colchester factory's large workload, plans were announced during the summer of 2007 to move Paxman's spares stores to the Mirrlees factory at Stockport.
Essex Record Office - Closure of Colchester Branch : Despite much local opposition, Essex County Council closed the Colchester and NE Essex Branch of the Essex Record Office (ERO) in Colchester, on 30th March 2007. This 'money saving' measure means that the many Paxman archive documents deposited with the Essex Record Office are no longer available for study at Colchester. Although it was reported in the Essex County Standard of 6th April 2007, that work had already started on moving documents from Colchester to Chelmsford, I understand that, as at January 2008, the Paxman documents are still in store at Colchester. Requests to view Paxman archive documents should be made to the ERO at Chelmsford which will arrange for the requested material to be transferred temporarily to Chelmsford for viewing.
Site Demolition Progress : I was in the Hythe Hill area on August 30th (2006) so decided to make a short detour up St Leonards Road and then along Port Lane. Most of the walls bordering the factory site along each of these roads have been pulled down leaving the northern half of the Hythe Hill site clearly visible from either road. Virtually all the buildings on this part of the site have now been demolished, with only bricks and rubble awaiting removal. The machine shops, the Old Office Block, production and spares stores, the training school, development shop, spares despatch, etc which were so familiar to many of us are no more. One is reminded of some words from Psalm 130 "… it is gone : and the place thereof shall know it no more".
Site Demolition : As at the end of March 2006 most of the old machine shops on the north side of the Hythe Hill site had been demolished. The wall forming the northern boundary along St Leonard's Road has now gone so at present one can get a good view of the site from the road. Many of the old landmarks have disappeared and it is quite difficult to get your bearings even if you previously worked on the site for several years.
Regulateurs Europa is sold : On Friday 16th December 2005, the business of Regulateurs Europa was acquired from MAN B&W Diesel Ltd by the privately owned Heinzmann GmbH Co KG of Schönau, Germany. Regulateurs Europa Limited at Colchester, and its sister company Regulateurs Europa BV at Roden in the Netherlands, continue to trade under the Regulateurs Europa name, but now as Members of the Heinzmann Group. Heinzmann's UK Head Office is at Teesside Airport, Darlington, Co Durham.
Demolition of the Old Office Block : Known to Paxman people as the Old Office Block, James Paxman, the Company's founder, had his office here after the business moved to the Hythe Hill site in 1876. That this historic building was at risk became clear when newspaper reports about plans to redevelop the north side of the site appeared in February 2005. Some of us had hoped that the old offices would be preserved, perhaps becoming a small industrial museum for Colchester. Unfortunately it was not to be. Demolition of the original old offices commenced in early to mid-November and by mid-December 2005 they had been levelled. Another piece of our history had disappeared.
VP185 New Build Assembly returns to Colchester: When manufacture of the flagship Paxman VP185 engine was transferred from Colchester to Stockport in 2003 a number of us questioned whether a factory which lacked Paxman's experience in high speed diesels could successfully build the VP185. Our doubts would appear to have been well-founded. From the end of July 2005 new build VP185s were once again being assembled by Paxman at Colchester and we understand there is a substantial customer interest in new VP185s. One handicap is the limited machining facilities left at Colchester after the majority were transferred to Stockport in 2003. The Stockport factory had apparently struggled to machine major components to the required standards, in the necessary quantities, and at economic cost. The machine tools transferred to Stockport in 2003 have been sold to Korea and machining of VP185 parts ceased at Stockport in Spring 2006.
Main Office Block Demolished: Driving past Paxman on 14th April 2005 one could see that demolition of the front section of the Main Office Block, in Port Lane opposite the recreation ground, had commenced. By July the front three storey section, which was built in 1954-55, had disappeared. A local landmark, and the offices in which I and many others worked at Paxman, are no more.
Paxman Site Redevelopment: The Essex County Standard of 11th February 2005 carried a report about outline draft proposals for redeveloping part of the Standard Works site. Under these proposals old workshops and factory buildings, on now unused parts of the site, would be demolished to make way for new housing, business premises, and a 330-pupil school.
The business of Paxman in Colchester, Essex, has a long and proud history of engineering excellence and innovation. It has earned a world-wide reputation for its large high speed diesel engines and been a major influence on the social and economic life of Colchester since the late nineteenth century. During the 1960s the Company employed as many as 2,500 people. Although the number of employees progressively diminished in succeeding decades, Paxman remained a major engineering employer in the area until 2003.
The Company was founded in 1865 by James Noah Paxman, in partnership with two brothers Henry and Charles Davey, trading as 'Davey, Paxman & Davey, Engineers'. In its 138 year history the name and ownership of the business have undergone various changes which are described on the page tracing the course of Paxman's ownership and corporate identity.
The original Standard Ironworks was a brick and timber building situated more or less where Waterstones Bookshop now stands in the Culver Precinct area of the town. The business expanded rapidly in the years after it was formed and soon needed more space. James Paxman acquired the site of an old brickworks on Hythe Hill to which the Company moved in 1876 and where it is still based. The site had previously been a brickyard. The astute and enterprising Mr Paxman re-opened the brickyard to produce all the bricks for building his new Works. After the factory was completed the brickyard plant was dismantled and the space used for later extensions. The new site was also called Standard Ironworks and at this stage covered an area of 11 acres. The Works expanded and for very many years, up to 2003, occupied approximately 23 acres.
From 1941/42 the Company also occupied Britannia Works adjacent to Colchester Town railway station. 'The Brit' as it came to be known was originally leased by the Ministry of Supply to provide Paxman with space for building their TP engines during the Second World War. Later it housed the Development Department for many years and some machining facilities prior to closure in 1982. It was demolished in 1987 to create a car park. At the bottom of St Botolph's Street a Paxman engine crankshaft now stands on a plinth to mark the site of the former Works.
Davey, Paxman & Davey commenced business as general engineers offering their services to farmers, millers, builders, and other machinery users in the locality. In addition to iron and brass foundry work they manufactured and repaired steam engines, boilers, agricultural machinery, and mill gearing. James Paxman had previous experience of building steam engines and the new firm soon became highly successful in this field. The Company's first steam engine appeared by 1870 and received a very favourable press. 'The Engineer' said of the boiler "We have no hesitation in pronouncing it the best vertical boiler yet produced". The plant was the most economical of those tested at the Royal Agricultural Show that year. The immediate success of the Company's first stationary vertical engines and boilers encouraged it to increase its range of horizontal stationary and portable engines. For more details see the page on the history of Paxman and steam engineering.
James Paxman was not slow to exploit opportunities in overseas markets. By the early 1870s he was exporting machinery to the Kimberley Diamond Mines in South Africa. For thirty years (between 1880 and 1910) he travelled and exhibited extensively overseas to promote his Company's products. Throughout its subsequent history the Company has continued to be very active in export markets.
The next important development was oil and gas engines, the first being built in 1904. This was a horizontal oil engine fueled on 'light spirits' and having magneto ignition. Large numbers of these early spark ignition or hot tube oil and gas engines were manufactured, many for export. More about these engines, their features and applications, appears on the page Early Oil and Gas Engines. Compression ignition oil engines were to follow but their development was delayed by the demands of war production between 1914 and 1918. Paxman built prototypes of its vertical 'spring injection' oil engine in 1925 before publicly launching it in 1927. The history of these engines, which found a ready market in electrical power generation applications, is to be found on the page Heavy-Fuel-Oil Engines. The second generation of the Company's oil engines, the Heavy Duty Diesel appeared on the market in early 1931.
From the 1930s the Company's main activity became the design and manufacture of diesel engines. After 1934 these were medium or high speed diesels, built to meet the needs of customers requiring a high power to weight ratio. In short, a relatively light, compact engine with a high power output. That being said many of the engines produced in recent years weigh in the region of seven to ten tons with power outputs of up to 5,500 bhp. For details see Paxman engines since 1934.
All these engines were designed, developed, and manufactured at Colchester. The machining of major components (e.g. crankcases, con rods, cylinder heads and cylinder liners) and many smaller parts, building, testing and overhauling engines were all undertaken at Standard Works until early 2003. It should be added that up until 1979 the Company had its own large foundry on the Standard Works site and a pattern shop. On 13th September 1979 the foundry produced its last casting, a 12YJ engine crankcase.
An important factor in the Company's success has been its strength in the field of applications, working closely with customers to tailor engines to their highly specific requirements. Paxman engines are used in applications as diverse as marine main propulsion in fast naval patrol craft and fast ferries, specialist power generating sets where size and weight are critical, and rail traction as in the British High Speed Train (the HST, now called the Intercity 125) and its Australian equivalent. There is a page on this website illustrating a variety of applications of the most recent engine ranges.
Markets are world wide with engines in service in North and South America, the Gulf States, Africa, Pakistan, the Far East, Australia, and many other locations not forgetting the UK and Europe.
Paxman became part of MAN B&W Diesel Ltd in June 2000. On 18th May 2001 MAN announced a re-organisation of its diesel engine businesses in the UK. At that stage management of the Paxman engine business was transferred to MAN B&W Diesel Ltd's Strategic Business Unit - High Speed, based at Stockport in Cheshire. The implications for Paxman became more visible in Spring 2002 when most of the Sales, Contracts, and Finance functions were transferred from Colchester to Stockport. During 2002 instructions were issued to remove the Paxman name from most brochures and other literature and to replace it with the MAN B&W Diesel Ltd identity. It was sad to see the name of a business, known and respected throughout the world, being systematically erased. By the end of December 2002 the Development function had been disbanded and the Engineering (design) function reduced to a small handful of people to support existing engines. Never again will a new Paxman engine be designed at Colchester.
On Thursday 6th February 2003 MAN B&W Diesel Ltd announced in a press release its proposals to transfer manufacture of the flagship Paxman VP185 engine to Stockport. The transfer progressed relatively rapidly. The last production (i.e. not overhaul) VP185 engine to be built at Colchester was despatched from the Works on Monday 15th September 2003 to a railway customer. Manufacture of components finally ceased at Colchester at the end of November 2003 when the few remaining machine shop staff were dismissed. Those machine tools and other items of plant not required at Stockport or for the overhaul facility were auctioned off the following week, on 2nd December. This looked like marking the end of 138 years of manufacturing by Paxman at Colchester. All that was left on the Standard Works site was the Diesel Service (Spares, Service and Overhaul) activites, employing around 100 people, and Regulateurs Europa. The latter was sold to the Heinzmann Group in December 2005.
The Stockport factory was unable to manufacture the VP185 successfully and made a substantial loss on each one they built. This led to a decision to cease manufacture and to dispose of the machining facilities which had been transferred from Colchester. However, so strong was customer interest in the engine that the issue was reviewed. In July 2005 the Paxman factory at Colchester resumed the build and test of new VP185s.
Your input - Please contact me if you have additional material for submission or would like to offer any comments or suggestions. New pages are regularly added to the site, and existing pages are updated as new information becomes available.
Web hosting provided by Paul Evans and the Internal Fire Museum of Power, whose support is gratefully acknowledged.
Page updated: 05 JAN 2009