Jobra Workshop

The Jobra Workshop at Cuttack was conceived by the then British Government after the great famine of A.D. 1866. One George Faulkner, an Engineer of Scottish origin, was put in charge of the workshop.An iron Plaque found in the workshop indicates that the foundation stone of the Jobra Workshop was laid on 01.01.1869 by Mrs. Faulkner Originally the workshop was meant for fabrication of sluice gates, building of boats and other requirements for use in irrigation canals, surface water transport and anicuts on rivers. It was also catering to the need of the then Bihar and Bengal regions under the then Bengal Province.

Machineries such as Lathe, Drillers, and Cutters etc were brought from England and fixed in the workshop. As per the then Commissioner of Odisha Province John Beams the workshop was able to provide anything from small boats to big boats and from nut-bolts to machine parts under the able guidance of the Engineer In-charge George Faulkner.

This Gallery depicts the machines dating back from 18th century to 20th century, both from England and India. Most of these machines are embedded to the floor and are in their original position.

The Gallery also has the old pulley system, first run by steam and later switched over to electric power, which facilitated the operation of machines. The old Crane placed on the rail was used for movement of heavy iron plates, bars etc. for specific work to a specific machine as well as shifting the products from the machines.

Each machine is presented with a short description and its earlier function and use for easy understanding of the visitors. In all, this Gallery houses 33 numbers of machines and tools.

Photo Gallery