The Bowling works were selling large quantities of guns, shot and shells to the British government before 1790.
Cast iron was used for guns before the invention of wrought iron, and the cast iron guns were subject to rigorous production controls and quality tests.

On 27 July 1796 the partners signed an agreement with Matthew Boulton and James Watt to pay royalties on the two steam engines in use at the works, and to be allowed to make additional steam engines at the works, paying royalties.

When Sir William Armstrong invented wrought-iron guns, some of the first coils he used were Bowling iron.

Bowling iron, or Best Yorkshire, became well known around the world.

Steam hammers were installed at the Bowling Ironworks where the steam cylinder was bolted to the back of the hammer, 
thus reducing the height of the machine.

These were designed by John Charles Pearce, who took out a patent for his steam hammer design several years before James Nasmyth's patent expired.

On 14 November 1848 a new partnership was created with the name of Bowling Iron Co., confirmed by act of parliament in August 1849.

The company was incorporated and registered in 1870.

An 1891 description said the ironworks lay in,
a sort of deep horseshoe valley, the banks which surround it consisting chiefly of shale and cinders, the accumulations of a century's workings.
The whole area, enclosed by a high stone wall, is somewhat more than a mile and a half round.
Looking from the counting-house at the entrance, on the right is a large waste space, with the steaming lake and cinder hills behind.
At night, when live scoria and ashes glow from the sides of the latter, and the lake is lighted up by vivid and fitful gleams emitted from the blast furnaces, the scene is strange and weird-like ... one might almost fancy himself in immediate proximity to an active volcano.

The plant at that time included blast furnaces and refineries used in the first stages of iron manufacture, puddling and ball furnaces with high brick or iron chimneys, a shed housing the steam hammers, steelworks, a large machine shop, boiler works, a large foundry and other workshops and buildings.
A narrow gauge railway was used to move material within the works, and a line to the Great Northern Railway was used to ship the products.

A network of tramways brought minerals from the pits to the works, with wagons pulled by wire ropes powered by stationary engines.

Four large pumps were being used to keep the mines dry, with some of the water used in the ironworks.

The Bowling Iron Company went into liquidation in 1898.

In 1903 the company was reorganized as The Bowling Iron Company.
It was liquidated in 1921.
The Bowling works were selling large quantities of guns, shot and shells to the British government before 1790. Cast iron was used for guns before the invention of wrought iron, and the cast iron guns were subject to rigorous production controls and quality tests.
On 27 July 1796 the partners signed an agreement with Matthew Boulton and James Watt to pay royalties on the two steam engines in use at the works, and to be allowed to make additional steam engines at the works, paying royalties.
When Sir William Armstrong invented wrought-iron guns, some of the first coils he used were Bowling iron. 
Bowling iron, or Best Yorkshire, became well known around the world.
Steam hammers were installed at the Bowling Ironworks where the steam cylinder was bolted to the back of the hammer, 
thus reducing the height of the machine.
These were designed by John Charles Pearce, who took out a patent for his steam hammer design several years before James Nasmyth's patent expired.
On 14 November 1848 a new partnership was created with the name of Bowling Iron Co., confirmed by act of parliament in August 1849. 
The company was incorporated and registered in 1870.
An 1891 description said the ironworks lay in,
a sort of deep horseshoe valley, the banks which surround it consisting chiefly of shale and cinders, the accumulations of a century's workings. The whole area, enclosed by a high stone wall, is somewhat more than a mile and a half round. Looking from the counting-house at the entrance, on the right is a large waste space, with the steaming lake and cinder hills behind. At night, when live scoria and ashes glow from the sides of the latter, and the lake is lighted up by vivid and fitful gleams emitted from the blast furnaces, the scene is strange and weird-like ... one might almost fancy himself in immediate proximity to an active volcano.
The plant at that time included blast furnaces and refineries used in the first stages of iron manufacture, puddling and ball furnaces with high brick or iron chimneys, a shed housing the steam hammers, steelworks, a large machine shop, boiler works, a large foundry and other workshops and buildings. A narrow gauge railway was used to move material within the works, and a line to the Great Northern Railway was used to ship the products.
A network of tramways brought minerals from the pits to the works, with wagons pulled by wire ropes powered by stationary engines.
Four large pumps were being used to keep the mines dry, with some of the water used in the ironworks.
The Bowling Iron Company went into liquidation in 1898.
In 1903 the company was reorganized as The Bowling Iron Company. It was liquidated in 1921.
Bowling Iron Works