HISTORY: Seems that there are a few Shakespeare Foundries in the North West so I'll do my best to match up the correct information. This one is in Higher Walton near Preston and went bust in 2015. I've seen reports saying 2018, but I think that's when government finished insolvency proceedings. Took three years. Coupe Foundry (originally known as William Coupe Ltd) had operated in Lancashire for over 100 years. More recently they made metal castings for car body parts, frames for machines, water pumps and parts for wind energy companies. They also produced metal moulds for other factories. A capital investment firm bailed them out in 2004 but then they became insolvent again in 2014 and finally called in administrators the following year. However, during that year gap they kept trading and there seems to have been some weird 'shell game' finance shifting with the company's ownership. To quote an article:
"Coupe Casting Ltd, a company 50 per cent owned by Shakespeare Foundry and Eaves Machining. Through two companies, Coupe Casting Ltd and Coupe Equipment Ltd, the purchaser acquired the business and assets for a total of £275,000, a new report from the administrators has revealed. The deal saved all 83 jobs. At the date of administration, Coupe Foundry Ltd owed £1.08m to unsecured creditors."
Which is why the place has two names. I also found this commercial property website stating there was planning permission in place for 80 new houses. But it also says the site is currently occupied so this may be outdated and no longer on the cards:
https://www.harrowestates.co.uk/projects/coupe-foundry-preston/
EXPLORE: Not a massive site or with lots left in it. But after a hard day and a whole previous day with zero access - this nice easy visit was an urbex-god send. We did rush a little while losing light so there were lots of nooks and crannies we missed. Area varied from huge open spaces to small workstations and office buildings. We came across four toilet/shower blocks which seemed quite alot for this size of factory. Happiest moment was one of us having forgotten our torch (definitely not me) managing to find one in a cupboard half way through the explore. It has been left back in the cupboard just in case any of you make the same error. Aerial shot from one of the articles:
I know it might not be urbex-y but this 'sweet chestnut' tree was interesting to me. I'd never seen one before. There were fuzzy balls all over the ground.
Loads of other flora/fauna there for any of you nature loving posh-camera fans. I only carry my phone. But we did seem to get a little 'arty' on the photos for this one. We'd just been collecting a lot for my daughter's art course (urban nature) before this explore so the angle lingered. We went in through the bottom end as easiest access so started with warehouses with tracks in the floor.
Then through to the offices:
This next one was labelled as a sound proof cabinet. Sorry for the angle, it was a very small room. But there was nothing in the factory's description or anything lying around that explained why they needed a soundproof cabinet?
Chair was the only thing not wrecked. I suppose even vandals appreciate a good sit down. This next photo made absolutely no sense to us though. As you can see from previous photos, there are loads of wide open access points to the storage sheds and factory levels. So why did someone buy a bunch of new bricks and brick up the fire escape??? Could not work out a reason at all.
"Coupe Casting Ltd, a company 50 per cent owned by Shakespeare Foundry and Eaves Machining. Through two companies, Coupe Casting Ltd and Coupe Equipment Ltd, the purchaser acquired the business and assets for a total of £275,000, a new report from the administrators has revealed. The deal saved all 83 jobs. At the date of administration, Coupe Foundry Ltd owed £1.08m to unsecured creditors."
Which is why the place has two names. I also found this commercial property website stating there was planning permission in place for 80 new houses. But it also says the site is currently occupied so this may be outdated and no longer on the cards:
https://www.harrowestates.co.uk/projects/coupe-foundry-preston/
EXPLORE: Not a massive site or with lots left in it. But after a hard day and a whole previous day with zero access - this nice easy visit was an urbex-god send. We did rush a little while losing light so there were lots of nooks and crannies we missed. Area varied from huge open spaces to small workstations and office buildings. We came across four toilet/shower blocks which seemed quite alot for this size of factory. Happiest moment was one of us having forgotten our torch (definitely not me) managing to find one in a cupboard half way through the explore. It has been left back in the cupboard just in case any of you make the same error. Aerial shot from one of the articles:
I know it might not be urbex-y but this 'sweet chestnut' tree was interesting to me. I'd never seen one before. There were fuzzy balls all over the ground.
Loads of other flora/fauna there for any of you nature loving posh-camera fans. I only carry my phone. But we did seem to get a little 'arty' on the photos for this one. We'd just been collecting a lot for my daughter's art course (urban nature) before this explore so the angle lingered. We went in through the bottom end as easiest access so started with warehouses with tracks in the floor.
Then through to the offices:
This next one was labelled as a sound proof cabinet. Sorry for the angle, it was a very small room. But there was nothing in the factory's description or anything lying around that explained why they needed a soundproof cabinet?
Chair was the only thing not wrecked. I suppose even vandals appreciate a good sit down. This next photo made absolutely no sense to us though. As you can see from previous photos, there are loads of wide open access points to the storage sheds and factory levels. So why did someone buy a bunch of new bricks and brick up the fire escape??? Could not work out a reason at all.
