NHER 55339 (Monument record) - Site of Soame Perseverance Works

NIAS records:
The iron smithy was set up here around the 1840s. When Samuel Soame took over the works in 1860 he expanded and developed it into an engineering firm. They are noted in their early years for manufacturing steam powered fairground rides and for pioneering the steam powered organ.
Around 1883 the site was expanded again with workshops for a carpenter and a wheelwright, so that the firm could broaden its range of products. In 1896 the firm finished making its famous steam powered car.
The firm focussed on the repair of steam engines up until 1940, 3 years after Soame Sr. had died, when the company was bought out by the Kent Brothers, who carried on in a similar fashion of work. In 1945 under the ownership of Underwood, the works made fairground engines again and in 1947 made agricultural machinery for Eastern Counties Farmers Ltd until 1965. After this, development at the rear of the site relegated it to storage space and the re-alignment of the main road left it in a cul-de-sac layby. The workshops were demolished some time in the 1980s and are now used as a car park. The original foundry still stands but its purpose is unknown.
NIAS surveyed the site in 1980, the documents and plans of which can be seen in their records.
See (S1)
The site is also visible on the 1st ed. O.S. map marked as "Foundry" (S2).
W. Arnold (HES), 9 March 2011.