For the aircraft manufacturer, see
Parnall
.
Parnall & Sons Ltd
was a shop and ship fitting and aircraft component manufacturer in
Bristol
, England. The original company was set up in 1820 by William Parnall in Narrow Wine Street, initially making weights and measures, before expanding into shop keeping equipment and shop fittings.
By the 1880s Parnall & Sons was the largest shop fitting company in England with showrooms in Narrow Wine Street and Fairfax Street, a scale works at
Fishponds
and branches in London and
Swansea
. The scales and weighing machines produced at the Fishponds foundry on Parnall Road included the hardy Patent Agate Hand Scales and the Patent National Balances invented by Mr Parnall, which sold 20,000 in 10 years.
[1]
In 1889 the company expanded into shopfronts, including glasswork and iron architecture and had over 400 employees. By the 1890s "there is hardly a city or town in Great Britain where their productions are not known and appreciated".
[2]
Weighing machine production was phased out after
W & T Avery Ltd.
was associated and the company concentrated on its well-known shop-front business. The foundry was later sold to
George Adlam & Sons
the
iron founders
and brewers engineers.
During the First World War the company started manufacture of aeroplanes and seaplanes, producing over 600 by 1918.
George Geach Parnall
left the company soon afterwards, who eventually went on to form
Parnall Aircraft Ltd
and successfully continued aircraft design and manufacture elsewhere in Bristol.
Between the wars
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In 1923, Parnall & Sons Ltd moved to
Lodge Causeway
, Fishponds, in Bristol into a former factory of the
Cosmos Engineering
aeroengines company.
[3]
The company resumed manufacture of shopfronts, including the bronze shopfronts and display cases in
Piccadilly Circus tube station
and steel canopies at the
Savoy Hotel
and the
Shakespeare Memorial Theatre
in
Stratford-on-Avon
.
High-profile work included the internal fittings for passenger liners, including the outfit of the Tourist class dining room on the
RMS Britannic
built at
Harland & Wolff
for the
White Star Line
in the late 1920s. In addition they also branched out into refrigerated and cold storage units, executive office furniture, and gained expertise in the fabrication of plastics leading to the formation of a plastics division.
The Second World War
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Once again the
Air Ministry
turned to the company for aircraft manufacturing, and the factory in Fishponds produced airframe components and fuselage sections in metal and wood for a range of
RAF
and
FAA
aircraft.
Manufacture throughout the war years included wings for
De Havilland Tiger Moth
and
Airspeed Oxford
trainers, wing flaps for
Fairey Barracuda
torpedo-bombers and
Handley Page Halifax
heavy bombers, fuselages for
Shorts Stirling
heavy bombers and
Airspeed Horsa
gliders, and tail planes for
Bristol Beaufighter
heavy fighter.
Post war
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Similar aircraft component work also continued after the war with contracts for the manufacture of fuselages in the late 1940s and 50s for the
de Havilland Venom
, a jet single-seat fighter-bomber. Work continued with interior finishings for
Bristol Britannia
airliners up until 1960, which then exploited the new materials available, such as plastic. In the late 1940s, the company turned its hand to supplying the new supermarket industry, producing metal shelving and display units.
Fittings contracts continued in the luxury market including contracts for
10 Downing Street
,
Buckingham Palace
, the
Houses of Parliament
. Most famous of all was the production and installation of the internal fittings for public rooms on board the
Cunard
Ocean Liner
QE 2
in 1960s.
In 1979, Parnall & Sons was bought by
GEC
, who subsequently sold the company to
CH Holdings
. The factory suffered a couple of unfortunate fires and went into receivership in May 1991 after over 170 years of trading in Bristol.
The factory was demolished in 1992 and the site is now occupied by
ALD Automotive
car retailers.
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