Thomas Aveling built his first steam roller in 1865, the company making more steam rollers than all other makers combined output during their production period.
Click Here for a view of the early Aveling & Porter steam roller built for Liverpool in 1867 and also of a typical 15 ton roller built in 1899. This latter was the basic three wheel design which evolved over the last years of the nineteenth century and became the format to which the majority of steam rollers were subsequently made by all manufacturers.
Introduced petrol and paraffin rollers into their product range in 1904, followed by diesel rollers in 1927.
Formed in 1934 as a merger of the above two companies. The rampant horse surmounting "Invicta" taken from the coat of arms of Kent is still used by them, the meaning "Unconquered", appropriate to the company's production of rollers, also describing the phrase still used today - "like a steam roller".
Click Here for a typical example of a single cylinder Aveling-Barford motor roller.
Steam rollers were introduced in 1887, oil engined rollers in 1920. The company were the second largest producers of steam rollers.
Click Here for a picture of one of the first Fowler produced steam rollers.
Made a large number of both steam and motor rollers until closure in 1975, merging to form Aveling Marshall but the roller production was transferred to Grantham.
Produced conventional steam rollers until 1923 when the versatile 'Advance' type steam roller was designed especially for modern road materials. Diesel rollers were produced from the mid 1930s up to closure in 1982. Further rollers were made under the same trade name by B.S.P. International, Ipswich.
Click Here for a picture of the Wallis "Advance" design of steam roller introduced in 1923 and also a typical footpath or cricket pitch motor roller.
Began making steam rollers in 1872, motor rollers around 1905. They closed in 1976, the roller business was continued by Atkinson's of Clitheroe for a short time and then that too shut down.
Only steam powered rollers were produced up to their closure in 1929. Their single crank compound design was unique in the U.K. but was copied by Ruthermeyer in Germany.
Steam rollers were also made by Allchin, Robey, Tasker, McLaren, Clayton & Shuttleworth, Ruston Proctor, Ruston & Hornsby and Garrett. The firm of Stothert & Pitt only made motor rollers and there were several other manufacturers of small motor rollers.