Windley Brothers found Crown Windley and begin selling cast‑iron surface plates, establishing an industry standard for reference surfaces.
About Us
WHO WE ARE The Eley Met Story
At Eley Metrology, our success is built on the expertise of our dedicated team and the clients whom we have built lasting layers of trust over many years.
Both past and present, we have continuously proven ourselves to be solution oriented, solving and providing answers to metrology queries that others often struggle to find.
With over half a century of hands-on experience serving aerospace, automotive, nuclear energy, and defence sectors and more, we deliver a diverse range of metrology products; from Granite and Cast-Iron Surface Tables and Artefacts, to traditional Coordinate Measuring Machines (CMMs), Digital Height Gauges (Vertex VMS), and custom solutions like our one-of-a-kind Long-Bore Measurement Machine (LBM) for precision tubular components. Our UKAS-accredited laboratory (No. 30213) upholds the highest calibration standards, giving you confidence in every measurement.
Timeline Eley Metrology by Crown Windley
1904
1914
1917
1919
Crown (Windley Bros., Crown Works) is advertising increased demand for surface plates, magnetic chucks and demagnetisers, showing early scale-up of production.
Advertised magnetic chucks under the Crown Works name (links the brand to early magnetic workholding technology).
Further adverts for magnetic chucks and related products, confirming ongoing growth in precision tooling.
1922
1940
1976
1991
Advertising rotary and magnetic chucks, surface plates, gauges and electrical accessories, indicating a broad metrology/tooling catalogue by the early 1920s.
Crown Windley investigates and adopts granite as an alternative to cast iron for surface plates as metal becomes scarce during the Second World War.
Eley Metrology (Formerly Eley & Warren) begins manufacturing granite surface plates, which later dovetails with the Crown Windley acquisition.
Eley Metrology became the first United Kingdom UKAS Laboratory to gain accreditation to ISO 10360.
The backing of the UKAS Laboratory at Eley Metrology has enabled us to offer the latest standards of excellence, quality calibration and traceability across the UK and worldwide.
2001
2002
2013
Eley Metrology's unique development of the Long-Bore Measurement (LBM) CNC CMM.
The LBM offers a solution to a challenging branch of metrology: the precision measurement of features down long, deep bores.
Applications include aerospace components such as main engine shafts, hydraulically operated under-carriage landing gear, nuclear reactor items, oil industry components and line-bored bearing housings.
Eley’s acquisition of Crown Windley in 2002, to complement their metrology machine business.
To this date, Crown Windley themselves were a renowned world leader in the metrology field of granite and cast-iron surface plates and tables.
Eley Metrology introduce the latest range of patented Vertex VMS digital height gauge which is still to this day, the most advanced digital gauge yet.
The advance air bearing system that the Vertex VMS utilises does not require any error-mapping and has a maximum error over a range of only 3.5 microns.