Deanshanger Oxide Works
Abraham Wreschner escaped with his wife and sons, Hans and Kurt, from probable persecution in Nazi Germany and settled in Deanshanger when he and Morris Ashby of London purchased the former E&H Roberts’ iron foundry site in 1935 to produce red lead and oxide pigments under the company name of Ashby Smeltings.
An early recycling plant, the factory broke down scrap metals into red lead and oxide pigments that were used in everyday products such as paint, roof tiles, coloured paving slabs, colouring pencils, animal feed, make-up, bank notes and crystal glass. The works flourished becoming one of the largest producers in the world bringing prosperity and employment to the village, but it also gave it notoriety, for the area surrounding the works became covered in a ‘pink-red’ or sometimes yellow dust from the processing.
The factory had a potted history of owners and different names through its life. ‘The Deanshanger Oxide Works Ltd’ owned by the Abraham Wreschner’s sons, Hans and Kurt, joined forces with Shell owned Billitons in 1979 and renamed the company ‘Deanox’ in 1981. Harrison and Crosfield took over the company in 1982 and branded it as ‘Harcross’ which was again rebranded in 1998 as ‘Elementis’.
The last shipment from the factory was made on the 30th March 1999 and 95 jobs were lost with the closure. Demolition of the site began and in 2000 re-development plans were submitted for changes to vast tracts of land within the heart of the village, a re-development that has lasted over 15 years, with Site One still yet to be developed.
