NHER 55338 (Monument record) - Site of Alfred Dodman and Company's Highgate Iron Works, Gaywood Road

Alfred Dodman was a prominent figure in King's Lynn's industrial scene. Starting up in 1854 he owned, co-owned and ran several foundries of increasing size until he was leased the site of Highgate Field and built a new foundry there in 1875. The firm mostly made 'land' boilers or the Cornish and Lancashire types but eventually branched out into locomotive, traction, portable and marine boilers and hardware. In the early 1900s they began making mining pumps, mill machinery, oil engines and cranes.
In 1902 Dodman's were contracted to make boilers for the army and navy. In 1905 they were also contracted by the Crown Agents for the Colonies.
Alfred Dodman died in 1908, however the firm continued, manufacturing for the army and admiralty throughout the First World War, and for the navy and RAF in the Second World War. After 1945 the company kept expanding, landing contracts in India and the Persian Gulf. To keep up with technology they moved away from steam and oil power and focused on building pressure machinery for and storage tanks for the petro-chemical and North Sea industries.
In 1972 the directors planned a move to a new site on the Hardwick Industrial Estate, however financial difficulties in 1975 marred this move and forced the company to shut down. The Highgate site was cleared in 1977 for present housing.
See (S1).
The site can be seen on (S2) as well as the 1946 RAF aerial photographic survey.
W. Arnold (HES), 8 March 2011.

The site was visited and recorded in 1975 by staff from King's Lynn Museum and members of NIAS. The foundry had been out of use since around 1945, and the railway sidings, which had been used both for the bringing in of raw materials and the despatch of some of the larger machinery, were also closed down. The works were stripped of machinery in 1976 and left derelict (S3). The company archive was deposited with King's Lynn Museum, which held an exhibition of this material in 1977/8 (S4).
A. Cattermole (King's Lynn UAD), 15 October 2018.