Our commited aim is to provide Subaru customers with unrivalled service both before and after sale.
Culverwells have been trading as a privately owned, limited company since 1932. The Company now employs 60 people at three branches.
All three branches have Farm and Garden shops offering an extensive range of sundries including clothing, boots and shoes, DIY tools, power tools, electric fencing, garden tools, paint, specialist farm hardware e.g. gate fittings, fertilisers and compost for the garden.
Garden machinery is sold from all depots and each depot has a specialist garden machinery workshop. We are also Calor gas and Industrial gas distributors.
The Subaru and Isuzu car franchises were taken on in 1987 and we specialise in these four wheel drive vehicles, both new and used, at our Robertsbridge site.
Agricultural Engineering in Lewes has been carried on for well over two centuries. A bill head of the Iron and Brass Founders firm of Jolea dated l858 indicates that the firm at that time were "Agents for every description of Agricultural Machines and Implements from other Manufacturers".
In Southover, Lewes, another well established firm of Agricultural and General Engineers and Manufacturers was Cheale & Son. Correspondence and old accounts indicate that Cheales were established in l760 and that they were doing business over a wide area of Sussex around about l870. Information on the Company in the latter part of last century is hard to come by and it could be that they ceased to trade round about the turn of the century.
There is little information on the Culverwell firm in it's early days. It is known that the premises in Cliffe High Street known as Cliffe Foundry were at one time owned by a G. J. Wightman. That he carried on an Agricultural Engineering business is also known and this is borne out by letterheads and photograph of a 150 gallon water cart taken in l963 which bears the name G. J. Wightman, Lewes, in cast letters. In the early part of this century the firm was known as Wightman and Palmer. Some 50 years ago many pieces of cast iron farm machinery parts bore that name. Culverwells have in their possession records of farm machinery which Wightman and Palmer supplied over a wide area dating from the year 1906. It is understood that the name Wightman is that associated with the well known Lewes firm of Wightman & Parrish.
It is thought that the late Mr. E. O. Culverwell first came to Lewes to take up the position of Manager for Wightman & Palmer. In the course of time he purchased the business and traded under his own name. While most of the information detailed in this article arises from the year l928 through to the present, there had previously been a number of interesting developments. In several instances E. O. Culverwell was quick to take advantage of new trends and to seize opportunities that the market offered. Mention can be made of just a few items which have since received wide publicity but in those days were almost unheard of. After the first World War motor cars were being introduced in quantities and it is believed that Culverwells was one of the first if not the first to introduce a two wheel trailer to be towed behind a motor car. The very first trailers made by Culverwells were fitted with aeroplane wheels from the Great War. From that time onwards for the next twelve to fifteen years a number of different models were made and sales were nationwide with a few exports. As time went by modern and up to date wheels, tyres and axles were introduced by manufacturers especially for tractor building about the mid twenties. A further Culverwell enterprise was a two wheel caravan to be drawn behind motors. A modern caravan was constantly on display in the Cliffe High Street window and this caused a tremendous amount of interest as very few people had seen a mobile home of this nature.
Few people in those days could afford to pay the purchase price of about £100 and it was decided to operate a hire service during the Summer months. A number of well known personalities took advantage of this new type of holiday.
Also at this time Culverwells were very much involved in the building and construction of new bodies on new motor chassis. In those days the Manufacturers supplied chassis only and a purchaser had to make his own arrangements for the building of the type of body and cab which he required. The Culverwells firm built up a good reputation for this class of work and orders were received from customers and local garages.
In the late l920's experiments were being made with the fitting of pneumatic tyres to farm carts and trailers. While the first tyres had a smooth surface the Culverwells firm approached the Michelin Tyre Company and arranged for a supply of tyres with treads suitable for fitting to a specially made tipcart being much larger than the ordinary Sussex tipcart which was in constant use at that time. Many farmers were dubious about the introduction of such a modern piece of farm equipment and some wondered at the effect of a possible burst tyre. The agricultural trade at this time was going through a remarkably difficult period and as an inducement to persuade farmers to give a pneumatic tyred cart a fair trial, arrangements were made to supply a two wheel cart for a three month period and if at the end of that time the customers decided it was not what he wanted the cart could be returned and no charge whatever would be made. It would be true to say that no cart was ever returned against this offer.
Farming in the early l930's was going through a very difficult time and the Agricultural Engineering trade shared in this recession. Business generally was at a very low ebb and conditions over the whole country were so bad that a Government request asked for a 10% reduction in wages and salaries all round. A shorter working week was also introduced. Culverwells shared in the general depression and in the course of time the total staff of an average of twelve to fifteen dwindled to a total of three.
A Limited Company had been formed in 1932 and shortly after this a new Odeon Cinema was erected on the Cliffe Foundry address in the Cliffe High Street. The business was moved to premises in Eastgate Wharf, Lewes. These premises were much smaller than those at Cliffe Foundry but at the time were entirely adequate for the small amount of business being done. At this period the Company was not paying it's way in fact was losing money. Mr. Culverwell decided to dispose of the business and arrangements were made for an employee, William Burgess, one of the three members of staff mentioned earlier, to take over the business. A lot of enthusiasm went into the work of reviving the Company and over the next year or two a number of other employees were added to the payroll. They were for the most part school leavers and with very few exceptions they remained in the employ of the Company until their retirement date. The success of the Culverwell enterprise in the years that followed was no doubt due to the quality of workmanship and customer service arising from an enthusiastic approach to their work.
William Burgess became the Company's first Managing Director until he retired in 1978. He was Chairman until 1985. He died in August, 1985. Fred Hayler became Managing Director in 1978 and Chairman in 1985 until his death in 1990. The current Directors are Martin Savill, Jack Beal and Richard Cole.
As the Company expanded and service work and sales increased, the workshops and storage areas became completely inadequate. Much effort was put into finding additional storage accommodation. Some extra buildings were erected in Malling Street, South Street, Friars Walk and Hopers Lane. For a period beginning with the early years of World War 2, farm machines and equipment were in very short supply. In many cases delivery was extended to two years or more. Under those circumstances the demand for spare parts and repairs to farm machinery presented a tremendous problem. At this time the staff in the woodwork section had increased to some twelve skilled men. Because of the shortage of pneumatic tyres a vast number of wooden wheels needed repairing and it would not be unusual to find from 50 to l00 undergoing repairs at any one time.
With the increase in the number of farm tractors there was a tremendous demand for two and four wheel trailers. At that time new tyres were almost unobtainable and time and time again a Culverwells lorry set off for London with the sole object of searching old car and lorry dumps in an endeavour to find usable and suitable tyres. On at least one occasion a journey into Oxfordshire was made with the same object. Another vital necessity for trailer building was suitable bolts and nuts. Again journeys to London by lorry were made on a number of occasions to visit all the known warehouses to obtain supplies. It was interesting that occasionally a firm would release small quantities to a caller on the basis that they held hundreds of orders for large quantities and leaving a very small number available they had difficulty in deciding where they could send them. These trips sometimes took place on a day when London was being bombed and the journey had to sometimes involve a different route as bombing during the day had closed certain roads.
During the War years farm implements were in short supply and it was not at all unusual to find the delivery date was taken to be two years or so after placing the order.
Tom Lowe founded Sussex Tractors in 1945. Tom Lowe was at that time a director of Culverwells, but the Ferguson franchise had to be separated from other makes and had to be run from different premises. The Sussex Tractor site was owned by Culverwells, this included the site of the present petrol station and the old garden shop. The Ferguson franchise was first operated from the old Canteen building - just outside the present workshop doors in Lewes.
Malling Works was the old "War Ag" premises before Culverwells bought it. Culverwells moved from the Eastgate premises to Malling works in about 1947.
In more recent years Culverwells were appointed Subaru and Isuzu main dealers in 1987. In 1991 an Agricultural Machinery branch was opened in Woodchurch, Nr Tenterden, later moving to a wholly owned site in Tenterden two years later.
