uses Parsons steam turbines The company was founded by
Charles Algernon Parsons in 1889 to produce
steam turbines, his own invention. At the beginning of the 20th century, the company was producing up to 50 turbines a year at its factory in
Heaton in
Newcastle upon Tyne. Following her brother's death during the war, Rachel Parsons did not resume her role as a director of the Heaton Works. Parsons also patented and made novel searchlight mirrors between 1894 and 1923. Sir
Claude Gibb joined the company in the 1920s and became the company's chairman and managing director by the 1940s. During the
Second World War the company assisted with the war effort to equip troops. Between 1945 and 1960 the company grew in size three-fold and large parts of the company's works at Heaton, Walkergate and Longbenton Works were rebuilt and expanded. Nuclear power stations using Parsons steam turbines in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s included
Bradwell,
Calder Hall,
Dungeness,
Heysham 2 and
Oldbury in
England and
Chapelcross and
Hunterston in
Scotland. Parsons took over the turbine and generator factories in Erith and Witton of the
General Electric Company in the 1960s. The company merged with
A. Reyrolle & Company to form
Reyrolle Parsons in 1968. Following the appointment of
James Woodeson as chairman in 1974, Reyrolle Parsons merged with
Clarke Chapman to form
Northern Engineering Industries in 1977. Northern Engineering Industries was acquired by Rolls-Royce in 1989. The
Heaton Works site was renamed as the
CA Parsons Works in honour of its founder. In the 2000s the operations at the Heaton works were severely cut to focus mainly on the servicing side of the business, concentrating manufacturing operations at the company's factories in
Mülheim and
Budapest. == Preserved turbines ==