Bricks

The use of terracotta ornamentation for walls and pillars was common in the late nineteenth and first quarter of the twentieth century. Much has been replaced or swept away these days, so it was good to find this survivor in Mill Lane, Hyde. There had been more along the block but this was the sole survivor. A look at the wall further along showed that the bricks were from the Black Hill Brick Co Ltd Entwistle Bolton Lancashire but that may not be the source of the decorative pieces.

The Hathern Station Brick and Terra Cotta Company was established in 1874. The business flourished and 'Hathernware' and glazed 'faience' was exported worldwide during the first three decades of the twentieth century and many cinemas were faced and decorated with the products of this works. Although the company survived into the 1970's when restoration projects began to provide much needed business, takeover by Ibstock finally led to closure of the works in summer 2004. At one time the company also produced blue bricks from the Cliff Brickworks at Kingsbury near Tamworth in Warwickshire. Cliff brickworks opened in 1870 and closed in 1969. This example of a brick paver survives outside the offices of the Hathern brickworks.

From Wikipedia. Bradford Colliery Brickworks operated on the site of the Bradford Colliery in Bradford, Manchester, between the early 1870s and 1903. To exploit the seams of fireclay found between the coal seams, colliery manager Edward Williams built a large kiln to a design patented in 1870 by Friedrich Hoffmann, which permitted the continuous production of bricks. One of the largest brick-making facilities in the area, the kiln was more than 30 metres (98 ft) long and 17 metres (56 ft) wide, and probably contained 12-14 separate firing chambers. The kiln fell into disuse after the colliery's fireclay workings were abandoned in 1903, and it was eventually demolished in the late 1940s.

Glazed brick from the Burnley area. It has been suggested that this may have been produced at Towneley Colliery.

Red Hill Bank brickworks was established in the 1890s alongside another brickworks, the Rocester Works adjacent to Rocester Station. By the 1922 the two establishments appear to have amalgamated into one works which was still in business in the mid 1950s. The site is now occupied by the JCB factory.

This one is a mystery. It was found during an archaeological excavation at Ashburys in Manchester. The other bricks found in the same context appear to have been made in the period 1875-1885 but research into works of that time has so far failed to suggest a possible maker.

This is probably from Pope & Pearson's Altofts brickworks between Wakefield and Castleford. It was seen in the bottom of Bullholme Lock at Castleford and has been stained grey/blue by prolonged immersion in the Aire & Calder Navigation. It should be red!

Found at an old colliery site near Barnsley, this brick had not moved far from the colliery brickworks at Wath-on-Dearne.

In 1921 Walley & Alsop purchased the brick and tile works formerly run by John Nash Peake in Cemetery Road, Silverdale which were known as Rosemary Hill Tileries. T E Walley took sole control in 1926 and by 1937 the works was run by T E Walley Ltd. G.H. Downing & Co. Ltd. bought the business in 1975 but this only lasted until 1981 when the works was sold to Steetley and then closed, with production transferred to Knutton.

Seen in a yard at Newent, Gloucestershire, I have not been able to identify the manufacturer, The obverse of the brick was stamped CLAYTON & Co PATENT which refers to the manufacturer of the brickmaking machine.

G. T. Whitfield opened his brickworks on Robins Wood Hill, Tuffley, Gloucester, in the early 1890s. It was closed by the 1950s.

'Pressard' was a trade name used by the Aldridge Brick Tile & Coal Co. Ltd, Walsall.

A coping brick seen on a canal bridge over the Hereford and Gloucester Canal at Sutton Marsh. Brownlow William Blades appears on the 1881 census as a "Blue Brick Manufacturer", living in Swan Road, West Bromwich. His son had the same name, as did his father who was also a brickmaker from Northampton. The West Bromwich works was operating in the 1870s and was still in business in 1900.

A product of the Ebbw Vale Steel, Iron and Coal Co. Limited.

The Holmer Brick Works was part of the Hereford Brick and Tile Company.

You would have thought that the die maker would have spelt the name of one of the principals correctly, but in this case Gardiner has become Gardener. In 1870 William Hammond went into partnership with his brother-in-law Robert Gardiner to work fireclay in Pott Shrigley and they established their brickworks on the north side of the Bakestonedale road opposite that of George Lambert. 1875 saw Mr Lawrence Gardiner succeeded his brother in the business. He died in 1886 and Mr Hammond took over the works entirely, so this firebrick must date from 1870-1886.

Research has so far revealed almost nothing about Roe and Son. There are entries in the trade directories for 1875 and 1879 for Rowe and Son, Hanford.

The Hanford brickworks of Sarah Glover operated from at least 1851 until 1871 and it appears from this brick that her daughter Emily Shelly Glover took over at some point after that date. Emily married William Adams Peake and by 1881 he was running the works in his name as the Hanford Tileries.