Nasmyth, Gaskell and Company, originally called The Bridgewater Foundry, specialised in the production of heavy machine tools and locomotives.

[1] Nasmyth had previously been employed in Henry Maudslay's workshop in Lambeth and his interest was mainly, but not limited to, specialist machine tools.

The Bridgewater Foundry is an example of modern materials handling that was part of the evolution of the assembly line.

In 1841 the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway had found some American Norris 4-2-0 locomotives very successful, especially on the notorious Lickey Incline, and the company built six similar ones for the line.

[5] In 1883, Nasmyth Wilson and Co. produced the very first design of Prairie or 2-6-2 locomotives in the world, for the New Zealand Railways Department.

During World War I the factory was mainly engaged in munitions work, but it built twenty 2-8-0 locomotives for the French Chemin de fer de l'État (140-251 to 140-270) and 32 for India, along with a hundred small petrol driven locomotives.

[13] In 1987, the Royal Ordnance Factories were bought by British Aerospace and in 1989 the Patricroft engineering works was closed down.