ENGINEERING IN BRISTOL SINCE 1840
W.J. Farvis & Sons Ltd.
Originally established by William Farvis in the 1840's when he started work as a journeyman blacksmith, Farvis soon became established as mechanical engineers, both in Bristol and for a time in Taunton, Somerset.
William Farvis, our founder - and friend.
The Company worked extensively for the Great Western Railway and on some of the famous projects designed by I.K. Brunel, the Victorian Engineer. These would have included the Clifton Suspension Bridge, the Bristol - London railway line, Box Tunnel and Temple Meads Station which formed part of the G. W. R.
The Clifton Bridge. To see a high quality
image, click here:
The Clifton Bridge. For a virtual tour
of the bridge, click here:
It is rumoured that William also worked on the Great Britain Steamship as well as equipment and ironwork for the Bristol City Harbour.
For over half a century, the firm occupied premises in Victoria Street, in central Bristol, near the City Docks, GWR railway station at Temple Meads and next to George's Brewery. If you know Bristol, the back of the Works was next to the 'Shakespeare' pub which served as works canteen, customer's hospitality suite and as an overflow office.
The following three pictures were taken in 1993 when the 'Old Works' in Victoria Street were still standing. At the time of our visit there were still iron and steel bars lying on the ground as they had been left when the firm moved out before the Second World War, and despite being in the central area of Bristol, the building had remained almost unaltered. The cobbles outside the main doors were still battered by steel and equipment, the doors were still in place and even the offices were still there, although derelict.
In the first picture you can see the main fitting shop and the factory doors, dating from the 1880's and on the right, the outline of one of the forge flues on the wall. Due to a lack of space, there used to be a second floor - reached by a ladder - with a huge lathe attached to the beams - it was said that when operating, this machine, one of the biggest in the area - would rain swarf and oil onto anyone below as there were walkways, but no floorboards, for the upper level! Everything was powered by a Crossley hot tube ignition gas engine via leather belts and line shafting.
This is the door that stood at the end of a long passageway between the Victoria Street and the offices. Visitors could summon a member of staff by using the telephone - quite an unusual thing for the early years of the last century. We were negotiating to obtain this lovely relic when the contractors moved in - and the whole lot went in the skip.
During the later part of the 19th Century century the Company developed a reputation as mechanical and structural engineers and remained in family ownership, William eventually retiring and handing on to his son William John, .....
W.J. Farvis about 1900
.... who in turn handed the business over to the next William and his younger brother Herbert.
The Bristol Reference Directory and Shoppers guide - 1908
The Firm became well known for quality steelwork, in particular marine fabrications and structural steelwork for buildings as well as being first class farriers who had the contract to shoe all the GWR heavy horses that pulled the delivery wagons around the streets of Bristol.
The business remained very much a family concern as can be seen from this photograph showing the 1919 works outing to Weston Super Mare. As this entailed a round trip of over 50 miles it would have been quite an adventure in an open bus with solid tyres.
As Bristol was a centre of shipbuilding, the Company also made sections of ships upperworks and in particular had the skills necessary to build funnels and furnace ducting, including the techniques necessary to manufacture compound curves for ventilation systems. During the Great War the company was mainly involved with munitions and marine fabrication. After the depression and interwar years the company became involved with structural and development engineering. As many companies were building new works and facilities in Bristol, the Farvis brothers were ideally placed both geographically and with their knowledge and skills, to design and build industrial equipment. This included fabrications for the City Docks , process equipment for the local brewery and even a fully automatic bottle washing machine for a nearby dairy. Other products included grain hoppers, winches and the suction pipes and equipment for the local sand and gravel dredgers that worked in the Bristol Channel.
The firm's calendar from 1944 - with the title 'Well done Boys' it shows a Chelsea pensioner congratulating a sailor and an RAF man - through the window you can just make out a battleship. Looking through the calendar, June 6th was a Tuesday - just another day.....
Following World War II when Bristol had been heavily damaged by bombing, it was said that after rebuilding, there was no new building in the centre of the City that didn't have Farvis steelwork somewhere in the design.
Being involved with rebuilding inevitably lead to the repair and manufacture of coke fired asphalt heaters and mixers - tar machines as they were called in Bristol slang. Following approaches from some of the large civil engineering groups and a major supplier of the then 'new' LPG fuel, Farvis developed and marketed the first propane fired bitumen boilers and asphalt cauldrons, a technological breakthrough at the time.
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One of the first gas fired bitumen boilers. Note the early gas cylinder with no valve protection and the massive lid on the boiler!
One of our early 12 cwt mastic asphalt cauldrons being used for road repairs in central Bristol - on one of the busiest junctions! No road barriers or cones - and people managing to cross the street. Note the old road lamps and a split screen Morris 1000. How times have changed!
... and this was once the last word in mobile asphalt equipment! Two 12 cwt units on a war surplus transporter. Note the wartime Bedford trucks in the background.
A 50 gallon boiler with a Shell Mex /BP gas cylinder - about1960.
Bulk tanks and road tankers are not as new as some would have you believe!!
During the second half of this Century the original idea of the bitumen boiler has been developed and refined although the basic concept of quality at a fair price has always remained, the company policy being value for money and a long lasting, robust and efficient product. We only sell double skin insulated bitumen boilers and always include a matched burner to ensure safety and reliability.
In the 1970's Farvis pioneered the use of thermostat control on portable bitumen boilers and developed the market leading 'Statpak' temperature control unit which could be fitted to an existing bitumen boiler without any modification to the equipment.
We now use the 'Propamiser' burner control system and details can be found on this site by clicking the link above. In 2000 the company acquired the rights to manufacture and repair the Propamiser system and these are now built and serviced at our dedicated facility in Bristol.
Today Farvis equipment is in use World Wide in a variety of forms, both as standard equipment for roofing and sealant heating, Farvis Special Equipment, and purpose built plant for a wide variety of specialist 'one off' uses, including roofing, surfacing and hot applied sealants.
Heavy duty site trailer mounted bitumen boiler.
The Company remains committed to personal service, safety, good quality, long lasting equipment and above all
value for money.
