The Fire at Heath Tallow Works 1911

The highly offensive smells which emanated from Wiles & Lewis’s Tallow Works on George Street meant that in 1886 the owners were prosecuted. As a result, the works moved to Harpenden Road at Bernards Heath where both the manufacture of candles (wax and tallow) and smelly trade continued. A terrible fire in 1911 destroyed the entire factory and although it was rebuilt, the company finally closed in the 1960s.