About Us
In 1844, William Flavel died and his son, Sidney,
inherited the firm. Over the next 50 years the
Kitchener notched up a host of prestigious awards
for manufacturing excellence including a Gold medal
at the Great Exhibition of 1851.
The Kitchener even provided the blueprint for the
innovative cast-iron technology utilised by Falcon’s
sister company, AGA.
Many of the developments of today’s range cooker
technologies first saw the light of day in our
research and development laboratories. These
include the first colour-shaded cookers, dual fuel
ranges and foldaway grills.
Our historic site at Leamington Spa is now the home
of the entire Falcon collection and it has recently
undergone a major investment programme in order
to ensure that the next generation of our kitchen
appliances are as ground-breaking and innovative as
the product that broke the mould back in 1830.
Today, our famous name can also be found on
American-style refrigerators, wine coolers, kitchen
sinks and cookware.
And, just like our range cookers, they all offer the
kind of high quality, great design and complete
reliability that the original Kitchener pioneered all
those years ago.
Falcon, the essential ingredient for a perfect
kitchen.
Our Story Begins
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In 1803 John Flavel moved his
operation to Leamington Spa. Generations of the Flavel family would
become civic leaders in the town, while the factory itself became a
major local employer. Then in 1833 the mighty Eagle Foundry was
built. The new foundry enabled John's son, William, to expand and
develop his epoch-making 1830 invention, the Kitchener range
cooker
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The birth of the
Kitchener
Manufactured in cast iron and heated by solid fuel, the Kitchener
could be used to boil, roast, bake and warm - all from the same
heat source. It was hailed as one of the greatest domestic
institutions of the 19th Century. Indeed a contemporary advert at
the time described it as...
"the most ready means of
performing in the best manner, either separately or at the same
time, all the operations of cooking with only one fire, and that an
open one, which may be of any size to suit the kitchen of the
smallest cottage, or the largest mansion or hotel.... its
arrangement is so simple, in every department of the culinary
process, that servants cannot easily disorder or mismanage
it."
Following the death of William
Flavel in 1844, his son Sidney took over and ran the firm. In 1851
he exhibited the Kitchener at the Great Exhibition, in Crystal
Palace. The exhibition celebrated the supremacy of British
manufacturing and was attended by Her Majesty Queen Victoria, along
with her aunt, the Duchess of Gloucester. The Duchess was so
impressed with the Kitchener she ordered one for Kensington
Palace.
Between 1851 and the turn of the century, the Kitchener won many
more awards throughout the world. As the Victorian era wore on, the
Kitchener went from strength to strength. Its status was recognised
by everyone from Edward VII and the King of Italy to the Emperor of
Germany - who all had Kitchener stoves.
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