Walter Taylor

Who was Walter Taylor?

Walter Taylor of Southampton, supplied wooden rigging blocks to the Royal Navy, greatly improving their quality via technological innovations which were a significant step forward in the Industrial Revolution.

From the age of 19, Taylor served as an apprentice to a block maker in Southampton. His father had previously served at sea and had observed the problems caused by these blocks, which were traditionally handmade.

On acquiring the blockmaking business, Taylor and his father developed machinery to mass-produce the rigging blocks, repeatedly and to an exact specification. Subsequent developments led to the date stamping of blocks, and a commitment to replace any that failed.

Taylor subsequently established a sawmill on a stream that runs through what is now Mayfield Park in Southampton. In 1781, he moved to Woodmill, Swaythling, Southampton where there was a better supply of water and room to power some of the equipment by steam engines.

Taylor was sole supplier of blocks to the Royal Navy from 1759, supplying 100,000 blocks a year, until his death and succession by Marc Isambard Brunels more advanced machinery in 1803.