McNaught's in Worcester built state coaches fit for a queen

Because long before limousines, Worcester was home to one of the country’s top builders of horse-drawn state coaches. 

There appears to be some confusion about exactly where McNaught’s works was in The Tything. Some accounts put it on the corner with St Mary’s Street, opposite Castle Street, but that cannot have been true, because that’s the site of the Saracen’s Head pub, which has been there since 1790. A late 1800s document   gives the address as 9, The Tything, which was where this Kays building – now converted into offices – later stood

McNaught’s Carriage Works and showrooms in The Tything occupied a site later taken over by mail order giants Kay & Co. The company ran among the most famous of all 19th-century carriage works with a large export trade and splendid showrooms in London, Liverpool and Birmingham.

Head of the firm for more than 50 years was JA McNaught, the son of a coachbuilder in Kendal, Cumbria, who was responsible for the design of the prize chariot at London’s Great Exhibition of 1861, held in the newly built Crystal Palace in Hyde Park.

The state coach McNaught’s built for the Lord Mayor of London

McNaught’s speciality was state coaches. Among his lucrative client list were a number of Indian princes and at one time the firm kept nine solely for the conveyance of the king’s justices. These were maintained in the most elaborate condition and when in operation were drawn by four horses and attended by javelin men. 

McNaught’s began by building horse drawn traps and light carriages for the local gentry but graduated into the larger vehicle market. From 1862 they exhibited their vehicles in international exhibitions and were awarded Gold Medals in London, Paris, Philadelphia, Sydney, Melbourne and Calcutta. 

McNaught’s extensive London showrooms in Albert Gate

As well as the Lord Mayor of London’s Coach they built carriages for the Metropolitan and County Sheriffs as well as the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Connaught. They had showrooms in Park Lane, London and Birmingham, as well as a superb showroom and galleries in Worcester. Notably, a McNaught’s state coach was used during the coronation of King George V in 1911. 

Interior view of McNaught’s showrooms in The Tything with galleries fitted to increase space

The company employed the finest painters and guilders for lining and decorating ornate heraldic coats of arms on to the coach builders work in oak, ash, walnut, hickory, elm, birch, and mahogany. The smithy, which had ten hearths, made the springs and tyres for the wheelwrights, while the upholsterers used their skills to make the most comfortable seating, as travel on roads was dreadful at the time.

The Tything showroom and works of McNaught and Smith showing how far back they extended

Unfortunately a disastrous fire in 1892 destroyed a large part of the premises, causing serious financial loss. There was more bad news for business when motor vehicles arrived and began to replace carriages.

So McNaught turned to building cars, retaining its upmarket image by supplying many to foreign royalty staying in this country.

Advertisement in 1912 Worcester Trade Directory. Possibly a French Talbot Chassis with McNaught's body

After 1918 the company was wound up, although McNaught’s son continued a business until his death in 1934, as a coachbuilder and motor engineer with works in Farrier Street and a showroom in Foregate Street. Sadly no royalty dropped by, not even a young Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor and her parents looking for a nostalgic name.