Charles Burrell & Sons Ltd.
Joseph Burrell founded the business in the late 1770s, setting up originally as a general smith and repairer of agricultural tools in Thetford. He produced ploughs, harrows and rakes. Early in the 19th century, with his brothers, James and William, he began designing his own patent agricultural machinery.
The range of Burrell products besides traction engines was extensive. They included ploughs, straw elevators and saw-benches as well as portable corn mill, beetroot distiller and brush making equipment. Patents were also taken out for improvements to sash window catches, bacon slicers and ice-cream machines among others, though not all such Burrell inventions were actually manufactured.
The extensive holdings cover the period 1881-1930 and are boiler certificates and drawings. They are split across two deposits: TR BUR and TR 2BUR.
The vast majority of the Burrell drawings are found in the numerical and alphabetical series catalogues (these can be viewed as PDFs below).
Please note that we do not have the production records. The Road Locomotive Society hold the build books for Burrell. They are able to provide copies of entries, which will give the drawing numbers for your engine. To contact the Road Locomotive Society, see the link to their website below. Once you have the drawing numbers you can place an order, or come and view the drawings here at the Museum’s reading room.
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We are regularly updating the collections that we publish on our website but if you are after something specific that you can't find online, then drop by for a visit or feel free to contact us and we will be happy to help you.