The Crowthorn Engineering Company Ltd. was established in 1908 in the Greater Manchester area, in Reddish, Stockport. From the beginning they made engine lathes. For a period of time they also made shapers but that was a minor sideline. Other sidelines included refrigeration equipment and gymnasium apparatus.

Crowthorn lathes were made in a wide range of sizes, ranging from 11" up to 270" (maximum work-piece diameter). Bed lengths were similarly diverse, and even their smaller lathes could be ordered with beds exceeding 20 feet between centers. As for shapers, they made a 19½" stroke model.

Information on the company seems to fade away after the 1970s.

Information Sources

• 1900s catalogs from Crowthorn Engineering Co., Ltd., at the National Museum of American History. Catalogs contain "Head lathes, shaping machines".
• The company is reported to have incorporated on 1920-01-01 as The Crowthorn Engineering Company Limited. Their current status is Dissolved.
• 1921-08-24 lawsuit, Cooksley v. Crowthorn Engineering Company. The subject of the lawsuit was patent infringement; a patent (GB-191,321,093) granted to Alfred Cooksley, and assigned in part to Oskar Schlegel, for an improved chain mortising machine, which then lapsed in September 1917 for non-payment of fees. The non-payment was due in some manner to the war then ongoing. In 1920 the back renewal fees were paid and the Comptroller-General issued an order that the fees be accepted even though the statutory renewal period had lapsed. Meanwhile, Crowthorn Engineering Co. had manufactured parts covered by the lapsed patent. When the patent was restored they still had parts on hand which they subsequently assembled into 32 complete machines and sold. The court found that while the renewal was irregular it was not illegal and the defendants were not permitted to infringe the patent; any machines built and sold before the renewal are non-infringing, but all machines sold after that time are infringing and the patent holders are to be financially compensated.
• 1926 Kelly's Directory of the Electrical Industry and Wireless and Allied Trades Throughout England, Scotland and Wales lists Crowthorn Engineer Co. Ltd., Ryecroft st., as Engineers' Machine Tool Makers in Ashton-Under-Lyne, Lancashire.
• 1959 Mechanical World and Engineering World. "In succession to their 10½ in. M.D. centre lathe which The Crowthorn Engineering Company Limited, Atlas Works, Reddish, Stockport, have been manufacturing for a number of years, they have now introduced the 10½ in. H.D. lathe. The salient features of the new model are the increase in spindle bore to 3| in., a redesigned bed accommodating a larger gap of 36 in. swing x \5\ in. width and increased power in the headstock. The bed is of heavily ribbed construction,"
• 1967 issue of The Engineers' Digest [American Edition] Review of Engineering Progress Abroad has an ad for lathes from this firm. "Makers of high class Machine Tools for overr half a century".
• Ca. 1970 brochure for the New Crowthorn Mark II that states, "Crowthorn have been designing and manufacturing precision lathes since 1908..."
• Grace's Guide pages on Crowthorn Engineering and Crowthorn Engineering Co.
• Lathes.co.uk page on Crowthorn lathes.