By the late 19th century, many uses had been found for phosphorus, including munitions, matchsticks, fertilizers, and for the manufacture of saccharine. It had originally been produced in retorts, heated in a coal furnace, and later in a gas-fired furnace. Production was labour-intensive, and relatively expensive, but this all changed with the development of a purpose-built, electrically-powered furnace, which revolutionised production, and turned it into a continuous process.

The first phosphorus factory using the new process was built at Wednesfield in 1890 by the Electric Construction Corporation, which later became the Electric Construction Company (E.C.C.). In 1888 Dr. Readman of Edinburgh took out a patent for producing white phosphorus by the use of an electrically-powered furnace. In 1890 the E.C.C. bought Readman's patent, and Mr. Thomas Parker (E.C.C.'s Works Manager) and Mr. A. E. Robinson, F.C.S. (E.E.C.'s chemist) began experimenting with a revised process, and took out a patent for the application of heat by an electric current through phosphatic materials in a closed furnace. The new process worked extremely well, and resulted in the formation of The Phosphorus Company, and the building of a new purpose-built factory at Wednesfield by the side of the Birmingham canal, near to the railway station.

The process operated on a small scale using several electric furnaces, which were driven by a triple-expansion marine steam engine, delivering 700 horse power. Steam was fed from three Babcock and Wilcock’s boilers, which were fed with heated water to reduce the cost of producing steam. The engine drove an alternator that was 8ft in diameter and produced 400 units of electricity from a single phase supply. Intense heat for the furnaces was produced by powerful carbon arcs, a technique invented by Thomas Parker to create a small and compact design.

The furnaces, built of firebricks inside a framework of cast iron plates, with a capacity of six cubic feet, were 8ft. square and fitted with a hopper at the top that allowed phosphates and coke to be poured-in without any heat vapour escaping. They were air-tight, so that no smoke was generated, and the whole of the ingredients, except for a little slag, produced the phosphorus.

A cross-section of one of the furnaces.

The charge for the furnace was carried in buckets and tipped into the hopper at the top. It consisted of coke and an already calcined mixture of Redonda stone and tar. The horizontal carbon electrodes were 12" square and received 80KW through iron connection forks.

They were tamped everywhere with carbon strip, ground coke and pitch. Care had to be taken to ensure that there was always enough material between the carbons to maintain electrical contact.

The later type of furnace.

Another view of the later, circular furnace.

At that time the measurement of electric current was in its infancy and so it was difficult to verify the consumption of the furnaces. Sir Alexander Kennedy, an eminent engineer, was appointed as assessor.

He brought-in the greatest electrical engineer of the day, Lord Kelvin, who had developed the most accurate instrument at the time for measuring electric current, the Kelvin balance. Lord Kelvin applied his apparatus to the task in hand and proved that the consumption was within the specified limit. The sale conditions were duly met and the sale went ahead.

The closure of the Wednesfield factory was not the end of phosphorus production in the area.

In Oldbury, Albright and Wilson Limited had gone from strength to strength using improved versions of the Wednesfield furnace. In the early years of the First World War the company developed a range of munitions for the army including phosphorus-filled shells, hand and rifle grenades, and 'Chinese tumblers', and 'plum puddings' for trench warfare. On detonation they liberated phosphorus which produced phosphorus pentoxide, a non-poisonous gas that acted as an extremely efficient smoke screen to mask the enemy's fire.

The army initially thought that phosphorus-based munitions were far too dangerous for troops to handle, and so little interest was shown. After much persuasion the devices were accepted, and in a short space of time large numbers were being produced. The other armed services also used phosphorus devices. The Royal Navy and Mercantile Marine frequently used phosphorus smoke screens, and the Royal Flying Corps used wind-direction indicators called candles, which continuously burned phosphorus. They also used 'toffee' bombs which contained a mixture of white phosphorus and amorphous phosphorus against Zeppelins and kite balloons.

Phosphorus for smoke screens was needed in large quantities, which Albright and Wilson Limited could not hope to manufacture. The furnaces were already working beyond their safe limits producing large amounts of phosphorus for shells. To overcome the supply problem the Trench Warfare Supply Department under Sir Alexander Roger, decided, with Government assistance, to build a new factory for the production of phosphorus on a six and a half acre site at Heath Town, which had been purchased towards the end of 1915 from Lord Barnard.

Wilson Lovatt & Company of Wolverhampton were given the contract to build the factory, and work got underway in January 1916. Extra plots of land covering around six acres were also purchased, mainly from the adjacent London and North Western Railway. The factory had twelve 500kW, single electrode furnaces and condensers, with wooden tops that were lifted by mechanical gear, and filters in a separate building, similar to the ones in use at Oldbury. There were also four resistance mud furnaces, a fitting shop, carbon shop, electrician's shop, a time office, and a bungalow for the foreman. Power was purchased from the Wolverhampton Electricity Department, and production got underway in May 1917.

During the first year of operation, a further twelve furnaces and condensers were built, along with filters and four more mud furnaces. A railway siding and mixing house were added because the quantity of furnace mixture required for the plant was too great for Oldbury to supply. Initially it had been brought from Oldbury, shovelled out of the boats and put on conveyors which loaded the bins above the furnaces.

The phosphorus was moulded into 50lb. blocks which were put into open tanks on wheels, and carried to the Oldbury works by canal boat.

A plan of the phosphorus works.
  

1.	The Offices. A single storey building of brick and slate, consisting of four offices with toilets.
2.	Furnace House 1. Brick-built with a roof in two spans on steel principals with a slate roof, and 7 blocks of concrete tanks.
3.	Mixing House. Brick walls, 3ft. thick at the base, and a Belfast roof covered with ruberoid.
4.	Fitters' Shop. Brick walls and Belfast roof, with 2 test rooms and a toilet.
5.	Filter House. Brick walls at the ends, open sides with brick piers, and a ruberoid-covered Belfast roof.
6.	Bleacher House. Brick walls at the ends, open sides with brick piers, a ruberoid-covered Belfast roof, and concrete tanks.
7.	Mud Furnaces. Brick walls at the ends, open sides with brick piers, a ruberoid-covered Belfast roof, concrete tanks, and transformer houses.
8.	Boiler House. Bricked-in boilers with a flue and chimney stack.
9.	Furnace House 2. Brick-built with a roof in two spans on steel principals with a slate roof, and 4 blocks of concrete tanks.
10.	Transformer Houses. Brick-built with a slate roof.
11.	Anthracite and Chip Stores. Brick walls, a double-span Belfast roof, and adjoining loading shed.
12.	Mixing House. Brick walls, 3ft. thick at the base, and a Belfast roof.
13.	Pump House. Brick walls, a ruberoid-covered Belfast roof, and a well for the pumps.
14.	Four Store Tanks. 40ft. by 18ft. concrete tanks. One never completed.
15.	Canal Loading Deck. Covered span roof with open sides.
16.	Canteen and Kitchen. Wood and galvanised iron structure, 3 rooms and a toilet.
17.	Store. Wood and galvanised iron structure with a lean-to, 2 stall stable.
18.	Bath House and Toilets. Brick and slate built with a wash house, dressing room, 4 bath rooms, and 6 toilets.
19.	Foreman's Bungalow. Single story, brick and slate with an entrance hall, two bedrooms, a sitting room, a combined kitchen and scullery, a pantry, a coalplace, an outside toilet and a paved yard.
20.	Concrete Gantry. 12ft. wide.

After the war had ended, and the orders for munitions ceased, the factory was of no further use to Albright and Wilson, and so in 1920 the plant was sold for £6,000 and scrapped. The land and buildings remained derelict until the mid 1920s when the site was sold by order of the Surplus Stores of the Liquidation Department of H.M. Treasury. The site, along with some adjacent land was acquired by Mander Brothers, for the building of a new factory.
 

The new Heath Town factory in 1932.

In the 1920s, Mander Brothers Limited was set up by Charles Mander's son, Charles Tertius Mander Bart., his son Sir Charles Arthur Mander, Bart., Gerald Poynton Mander, Sir Geoffrey Le Mesurier Mander and Howard Vivian Mander.