Garrington Tool Company History and Information

Garrington or Garringtons – often mistaken for Carrington – was a British manufacturer who, as part of their massive forging business, made a wide variety of tools that were sold worldwide. They’re usually able to be found on eBay UK, eBay US, eBay AU, eBay IE. Here’s what information we have on their business.

Grace’s Guide states that Garrington was founded as a company in 1837, where elsewhere it was reported that John Garrington started forging components in Britain in 1830 at Phoenix Works in Catherine’s Cross. In 1879 the business moved to Albert Works in Willenhall Road.

An advertisement for John Garrington & Sons from 1892:

Here's an advertisement from Garringtons of Britain.

In 1912 the business was sold to F.W.Cotterill, a local nut and bolt manufacturer. F.W.Cotterill and consequently Garrington’s was purchased in 1919 by G.K.N. (originally Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds). Here’s an ad from 1926:

Here's an advertisement from Garringtons of Britain.

…and 1929:

Here's an advertisement from Garringtons of Britain.

The earliest example of a direct hand tool advertisement I can find is apparently dated to 1945 or 1947, depending on where you find it:

Here's an advertisement from Garringtons of Britain.

The ad also mentions that they are the largest drop forging plant in Europe. In 1946 they acquired an additional works at Bromsgrove – whether or not that was included in the above statement may depend on which date is correct!

As a side note, if you own a Jaguar you might also find their tools in your tool kit. Garrington hand tools came in both BSW/Whitworth and AF/Imperial – and even some in metric later on.

Incidentally, the 1946-acquired Bromsgrove works was the last to close in 2002, where the other works closed supposedly during the recession of the 1970s and 1980s.

Back to the 40s, another couple of advertisements from 1947 showcasing their Magpie spanner:

Here's an advertisement from Garringtons of Britain stating that they were the largest drop forging plant in Europe.

Here's an advertisement from Garringtons of Britain stating that they were the largest drop forging plant in Europe.

They had a lot of products named after birds – here’s an list of the Garrington hand tools that I have seen so far:

  • ’11 Adjustable – 11″ adjustable spanner (1951 ad
  • Adze Eye – Claw Hammer (1951 ad)
  • Ball Pein – Ball Pein hammer (1951 ad)
  • Blackbird – Pipe wrench/stilsons, 8″, 10″, 14″, 18″, 24″, 36″, (PWA8, PWA10 etc., ad here)
  • Blue Diamond – Open ended wrench, possibly others
  • Curlew – Claw hammer (1951 ad)
  • Grebe – Adjustable Spanner, patented 1950, unusual – cast jaw collar or inferior pressed steel (1951 ad)
  • Heron – Lightweight tappet spanner, double ended open (1957 ad)
  • Jackdaw (formerly Falcon) – Crescent wrench, 4″, 6″, 8″, 10″, 12″, 15″ – 18″ – code is AA4, AA6, etc. for chrome and AAB** for parkerised. (1951 ad)
  • Jay – Double Ended Flat Ring Spanner (1953 ad)
  • Kestrel – Double ended offset vanadium box spanner (eBay UK)
  • Lapwing – Reversible pipe wrench
  • Magpie – Double open ended spanner, short – Whitworth/AF (1951 ad)
  • Merlin – Double Open Ended Spanners, long – available in Whitworth, AF and metric (1951 ad)
  • Pelican – 12-sided socket sets (1953 ad)
  • Puffin – Adjustable spanner, Clyburn type (1951 ad)
  • Raven – Hand Drills (1951 ad)
  • Robin – 2-pinion hand drill, 1/4″ capacity (1948 ad, 1951 ad)
  • Red Diamond – Open ended, box wrenches, adjustable wrenches (adjustable came in the 1950s), ratchet wrenches
  • Skua – Impact screwdriver (1951 ad)
  • Wren – Double ended box spanner, short – same as Kestrel but short (1957 ad)
  • Wryneck – Half Moon Ring Wrench (1957 ad)

If you have any others that I am missing please drop me a line! Here’s an ad from October 24th, 1952:

Here's an advertisement from Garringtons of Britain.

An ad from 1957 suggests that they were capable of forging titanium:

Here's an advertisement from Garringtons of Britain.

1962 ad for induction head treatment:

Here's an advertisement from Garringtons of Britain.

…and lastly, the most recent ad I can find is from 1969:

Here's an advertisement from Garringtons of Britain showing how many tonnes per annum they produced.

It also mentions that they were forging over 150,000 tonnes per annum.

Where did the company go between 1969 and their eventual closure? At this point I don’t know enough about the economy of Britain/the world at that point to make an educated guess, but I’m happy to hear from anyone who knows more detail about the company.

If you haven’t already, check out the selection of Garrington tools on the various auction sites – eBay UK, eBay US, eBay AU, eBay IE.

I also have some photos of the Kestrel spanners up here.

Advertisements sourced from Grace’s Guide and elsewhere online.

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