Thursday 3 December 2015

North East Derbyshire Brickworks


John Hall Gosling


John Hall Gosling was born in 1813 & is recorded as owning collieries in the Chesterfield & Barlborough areas in the mid 19th century. In the 1861 Census John is recorded as farmer & inn keeper at the Rhodes Arms Inn, Barlborough. John is then listed in Kelly’s T. D. from 1864 to 1881 editions as brickmaker in Barlborough. These entries are followed by an entry in the 1885 edition of the Barlborough P.O. Directory as brickmaker. From researching other small brick enterprises, I have found that farming, inn keeping & brickmaking all went hand in hand with brick making being done in the summer months.



With me finding this IFG brick in Derbyshire I am taking it to be made by Fredrick Gosling & from my research of the family tree, Fredrick had an older brother George I. Gosling who is recorded in the 1861 Census as grocer aged 25, with Fredrick being recorded as farmer's son aged 22. 
In Kelly's 1887 & 1891 editions Fredrick Gosling is listed as brickmaker at Barlborough. So I am reading these initials as (George) I. & Fredrick Gosling with George I. possibly having a financial interest in the business. The 1901 Census now records Fredrick as farmer.

 © Crown Copyright. Reproduced by permission of Ordnance Survey 1893.

I do not know the exact location of the Gosling's brickworks, but this brickworks marked on this 1893 map at Barlborough Common which was just south of Barlborough may be a contender. I have been told that this brickworks was owned & worked by a farmer called Sternham, but was not told at what date, so Sternham could have continued at this works after Fredrick Gosling had returned to farming sometime just after 1891/2 ? Another possible location for Gosling's brickworks was near Beighton Fields, just a short distance to the left off this map & marked old clay pits on a 1897 map. If I get to find the exact location, I will update the post.


Charles Robinson


Charles Robinson of Barlborough is recorded in the Brick & Tile Makers Section in Kelly's 1908 edition. Further research has revealed that Charles Robinson was the Managing Director of the Barlborough & Cottam Brick & Tile Co. from 1899, so it appears Robinson had some bricks made with his initials stamped in them when he is listed as the owner of the Cottam Works in 1908. Please see next entry for the location & more info on the Cottam Brickworks.


Barlborough & Cottam Brick Co.
Barlborough Brick Co.

Cottam Colliery, Barlborough was sunk in 1853 & was owned by Appleby & Co. then later by the Eckington Coal & Iron Co. The 1875 OS map below shows the associated brickworks was next to Cottam No.2 pit (yellow) which was also known as Cottam "New Colliery". The 1899 OS map shows the colliery as disused & the brickworks are no longer shown. So far no bricks have turned up made these two companies.

© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1875.

Photo taken at the Barlborough Heritage Centre.

Photo by Frank Lawson.

An article in the Derbyshire Times dated 30th of September 1899 records that fifteen acres of land at Cottam, Barlborough had been leased to the Barlborough & Cottam Brick & Tile Co. for a term of 30 years from the 25th of March 1899. A May 1911 Derbyshire Times newspaper article reports that in 1899 Charles Robinson took up the position of Managing Director of the Barlborough & Cottam Brick & Tile Co. & was instrumental in the re-opening of Cottam Pit. Known as the Cottam Brickworks I have coloured this works yellow on the 1914 OS map below. Kelly's 1908 lists Charles Robinson as the owner of this Barlborough brickworks. The Barlborough & Cottam Brick & Tile Co. Ltd., Barlborough, Chesterfield are listed in Kelly's 1912 & 14 editions. Please note Cottam is mis-spelt as Cottom on the first brick. A May 1916 newspaper article records Charles Robinson, Manager of the Cottam Brickworks was appealing against three of his workers being called up to go to war, two were exempted conditionally, but the third was given his orders to report for duty. The colliery closed had in 1914, but the brickworks remained in production until 1917 when we find the works was operating under the name of the Barlborough Brick Co. when it closed. I am assuming with many workers being called up to go to war that is why the works closed in 1917. With the Barlborough Brick Co. not being officially wound up it was struck off the Joint Stock Companies Register in June 1929. A Barlborough Brick Co. brick is shown after the map. 

  © Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey revised 1914.

Photo by Frank Lawson.


Miles Barber

Photo by Frank Lawson.

Miles Barber is listed in Kelly’s 1864 to 1881 editions as brickmaker in Barlborough, Derbyshire. Miles was also a builder & he built the 42 houses that once stood on Barbers Row, Low Common, Barlborough. Location of his brickworks is unknown.
Link to more information about Miles Barber & Barbers Row. http://www.barlboroughrc.btck.co.uk/barbersrow

Photo by Frank Lawson.


Bolsover Colliery Co.


The Bolsover Colliery Company was founded in 1889 by Emerson Bainbridge who took out a lease from the Duke of Portland at Bolsover to extract coal from the Duke's land. John Plowright Houfton was the Company's first General Manager. A brickworks was also established & houses were built for the company's workers & was locally known as "The Model Village", but marked on maps as New Bolsover. 
The brickworks was in production to around 1935 when the pit baths were built on the site and today this site is the home of Aztec Oils. During my visit to the "Model Village" I met Malcolm an ex-miner, who told me that the clay for the bricks was dug from what is now the village football fields and the bricks were stamped, BCC for Bolsover Colliery Company. 
The Colliery was Nationalised in 1947 & closed in 1993.

  © Crown Copyright. Reproduced by permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1900.

On this 1900 map I have marked the location of the brickworks & the site were they dug the clay from in yellow. The clay was transported to the brickworks via a tramway & miners had their coal delivered to the "Model Village" by the same tramway.


Went I visited the old colliery site in search of B.C.C. bricks I had to get permission from the company which now runs the industrial site. I found that many of the former pit buildings were still standing & had been converted to new use as industrial units. The only bricks that I found that day did not have any makers marks stamped in them, but I believe that they had been made at this brickworks as these bricks were of the same size & colour as ones in the former colliery buildings. I then met up with the Site Manager who pointed me into the direction of one of the buildings which had these intertwining B.C.C. lettered bricks set above it's windows. He also told me the location of the former brickworks which was now Aztec Oils & that the site had been the pit baths in between.  
I found the B.C.C. brick above a few weeks later in Derbyshire.


Updated 25.8.16. - Recently photographed by Frank Lawson in a West Yorkshire collection. More than likely this brick came from the works offices in Bolsover same as the ones I photographed in situ.

Photo by Frank Lawson.
Note the fancy C's same as the header brick above.


Byron Brick Co.

Photo from the Phil Sparham Collection.

The origins of this brickworks started in 1881 when Josiah Court & William Mannikin leased land from Earl Bathurst of Cirencester Park, Gloucestershire to mine coal & fireclay on the Earl's estate just north-west of Palterton village.

In 1883 the Bathurst Fire Stone & Fire Brick Co. was established by Court & Mannikin alongside their Bathurst Main Colliery. After this company had changed hands several times the colliery closed in 1891, but the Bathurst Fire Stone & Fire Brick Co. continued to produce bricks & was put up for auction twice in 1893 & 1896 as a going concern. By 1921 this works was known as the New Byron Brick Co. & it is thought to be have been named after A.W. Byron, a Sutton Scarsdale Estate agent. After the colliery had closed, clay was then extracted from clay pits as shown on the 1900 map below. All of the Byron stamped bricks which have been found so far have been red house bricks, so it looks like Byron did not continue to produce the fireclay bricks same as the previous company. 
Byron closed in the late 1930's but was temporarily reopened during WW2 as there was a demand for bricks during the war. 

  © Crown Copyright. Reproduced by permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1900.

1900 map showing the location of the brickworks just off Carr Lane, Palterton. The village of Palterton is to the right just off this map.

Photo from the Frank Lawson Collection.

I have these Kelly's trade directory entries for this brickworks.
1891 Bathurst Firestone & Firebrick Co. Bolsover, Chesterfield.
1922, 25 & 28 editions, New Byron Brick Co. Joseph Wilson Chapman, manager, Palterton, Chesterfied.
1932, 36 & 41 editions, same company name & address but now Herbert Leslie Vass, manager.  

After the works had finally closed the clay pits were filled in with refuse & the land was then restored by the planting of trees which have now matured into a woodland. The Stockley Trail footpath passes this woodland & it follows the former course of the branch railway line to Glapwell Colliery.  

More information & a detailed account of the owners of this brickworks can be read at these links, from which I have compiled most of the information from for this post. 


This example of a Byron brick is the one most commonly found & possibly dates from the 1920's to the mid 1940's.


Killamarsh Brick Co.


Killamarsh Brick Co. Ltd. at Killamarsh near Sheffield is recorded in 1899 to 1912 editions of Kelly's Trade Directory with Fredrick E. Welsh as manager.

 © Crown Copyright. Reproduced by permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1900.

Although not marked as a brickworks on this 1900 map, I have been told when I visited Killamarsh that the area which I have coloured yellow was the site of this brickworks off Station Road. There are brick yards marked on this map opposite Holbrook Colliery & this is also Station Road but this location may be in Holbrook. Historically Killamarsh was in Derbyshire, but today it forms part of Sheffield. 

J. Lee, Mosbro

  © Crown Copyright. Reproduced by permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey revised 1902.

Mosborough was another village which was historically in Derbyshire, but today it forms part of Sheffield. John Lee is listed as farmer, brickmaker & blacksmith at Waterthorpe, Mosborough, Sheffield in Kelly's 1887 to 1912 editions. John's works was on Station Road & I have coloured it yellow on the 1902 map above.

 Photo taken at the Barlborough Heritage Centre.

 Photo by Simon Patterson found in North East Derbyshire.


G. Haslehurst, Mosbro

Photo by Frank Lawson.

This G.H. brick was possibly made by George Haslehurst who is listed as brickmaker in Mosborough in White's 1879 edition. George may have owned the brickworks in Mosborough that John Lee is recorded at in 1887. See map in Lee entry.


Reddish, Beighton

  © Crown Copyright. Reproduced by permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1896.

Beighton was another village which was in Derbyshire before 1967 & with the boundary changes it became part of Sheffield. 
Edward Reddish is recorded as the owner of Drakehouse Colliery on Drakehouse Lane, Beighton, but due to thin coal reserves & water in the mine the colliery closed in 1894. Although the colliery is not shown on the 1896 map, it may have been on the same site which the brickworks was to later occupy.
So with Edward owning Drakehouse Colliery I expect that when he was listed as brick manufacturer, his brickworks was the one marked Drakehouse Brick Works on the 1896 map above, as there are no other brickworks marked on maps in Beighton at this date. Edward is listed in Kelly's Derby's 1899 & 1900 editions as Gregory - Reddish & Co. Beighton, Sheffield. Then in White's 1901 edition the listing is just Edward Reddish, Beighton. So I am taking it that this Mr. Gregory may have been part owner & possibly the brickmaker at the works. If it was John Gregory who is recorded in 1881 as a brickmaker in Sheffield, there is then a gap in trade directory dates for John until he is next listed in his own name at a new works in 1905 in Sheffield. So he may have been the Gregory in this Gregory - Reddish partnership in 1899 & 1900 ? Bricks found up to yet have only said Reddish. If I get confirmation that this Gregory is definitely John Gregory, I will update the post.




Spinkhill Brickworks

Photo by Frank Lawson.

Spinkhill is a small village, a few miles north west from Barlborough & the only information I can find is an article from the London Gazette dated 8th February 1949, registering The Spinkhill Brickyard Limited with the Companies Registration Office (Board of Trade) Bush House, Strand, London, WC2 on that date.

  © Crown Copyright. Reproduced by permission of Ordnance Survey 1923.

1923 map showing the location of the Spinkhill brickworks next to Spinkhill Railway Station. This works is also recorded on two other maps dated 1893 & 1900.

Photo taken at the Barlborough Heritage Centre.


G. Milnes

Photo by Simon Paterson.

George Milnes is listed as brickmaker at Mosborough in White's 1876 edition. Milnes was followed at this brickworks on Station Road by George Haslehurst in 1879 & John Lee 1887 to 1912. Please see map in Lee entry.













Tuesday 27 October 2015

East Derbyshire Brickworks


Alma Colliery


Photo by MF from the Frank Lawson Collection.

Alma Colliery at North Wingfield was sunk & owned by Thomas Houldsworth around 1854. The pit was named after the Crimean War battle of the same name which took place in 1854. The dates when this associated brickworks were in production are unknown, but the frog design suggests 1880 to 1920. A mining reference states that in February 1922 the Alma Colliery management were reluctant to close the pit with the loss of 172 jobs due to the heavy expenditure of running costs.



Blackwell Colliery


The Blackwell Colliery Co. owned two pits located near the village of Blackwell, A Winning was at Primrose Hill & B Winning was at Hilcote along with the brickworks as shown on the map below. The local story on how these two pits got their names originates from the owner asking each week which pit had produced the most coal, A Winning or B Winning. So depending on which pit was in front, this spurred the other one to do better the following week thus making more profit for the owner. 
  
 © Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of Ordnance Survey 1880.

1880 O.S. map showing the location of the brickworks & kiln at B Winning Pit with Hilcote village just to the north. The brickworks consisted of four Newcastle Kilns & nearby was a smithy to look after the needs of the pit ponies & a row of cottages for their workers which are all shown on this map next to the pit.
The village of Hilcote expanded after the sinking of the colliery in 1875 with the Company building houses for their workers. The brickworks probably closed with the pit in 1964 & today the site has been restored as an open green space.



Bonds Main Colliery

Photo by Frank Lawson.

Bonds Main Colliery in Temple Normanton was sunk in 1875/76 by the Staveley Iron & Coal Co. & was named after George Bond who was a Company Director & right hand man to owner Charles Markham. Many of the pits sunk by the Staveley I. & C. Co. included Main in there name, indicating that the company were the owners of the mine. The brickworks is not marked on a 1900 map only the colliery, but it is shown on a map which was surveyed in 1914, so the brickworks was established between 1900 & 1914.

  © Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1914.

The Bonds Main colliery along with many other collieries in the country was nationalised in 1947 & fellow brick collector Frank Lawson has recently photographed this example in a private collection. (added Sept. 2016). The colliery closed in 1949, so I expect the brickworks followed suit.

Photo by Frank Lawson.




Clay Cross Co.

Photographed at Chesterfield Museum.

In 1839 the Clay Cross Coal & Iron Co. was formed by George Stephenson along with his associates known as the "Liverpool Party". George had come across vast coal deposits while he was digging the mile long tunnel for his railway under Clay Cross between 1837 & 1838, which led him to form this new company. The works included a colliery, coke ovens, limeworks, an iron foundry & a brickworks. Later on with a better grade of coal being available from the Durham coalfields the company concentrated on iron making & producing bricks at the works. 

 © Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1900.
1900 map showing the site of this vast works just to the north-east of Clay Cross with the brickworks marked in yellow.


Examples of some of the many variations of frog designs made at the brickworks over it's long lifetime.


George Stephenson died in 1848 with his son Robert taking over the company until he left in 1852. It was at this point that the company was formally known as the Clay Cross Co. with the Jackson family owing 100% of the stocks & shares. It was in 1913 that the company became a Limited company. The Jackson's continued to own the company until 1974 with Biwater then taking control of the works in 1985. Biwater then sold the company on to Saint-Gobain in 2000 who within a few short months had closed the works with the loss of 750 jobs.

Photographed at Chesterfield Museum.

Photographed at Chesterfield Museum.

Today this 26 hectare site which had been a hive of activity with all these works is now in the hands of the Provectus Group who have demolished all of the old buildings, are in the process of open-casting the site for it's surface coal & making the land safe by a method called Bioremediation to remove any toxins in the soil so houses can be built in the future.

Photo by Frank Lawson.



Hardwick Colliery



The Wingerworth & Hardwick Colliery Company was formed in 1830 with Hardwick or Holmewood Colliery being developed from 1868. The company became the Hardwick Colliery Co. in 1900. The 1900 OS map below shows that a brickworks had been established next to Hardwick Colliery, but I have to note that the present day village of Holmewood which is now located between the colliery & Williamsthorpe did not exist in 1900, hence the brick above is marked Chesterfield as an indication of the brickworks location. Holmewood village was built from 1905 providing houses for it's miners & later bricks are just marked Hardwick. The colliery was Nationalised in 1947, but no bricks have been found with NCB Hardwick on them, so the brickworks must have closed before then. The colliery closed in 1970 & is now an industrial site.


 © Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1900.

Photo by Frank Lawson.
Variation found by Frank which has only one L in Colliery & the S is reversed in Chesterfield. 


Another "Coly" photographed in June 2020. I am thinking this version is earlier than the "Colly" ones with this one having the reversed S. 


This example is the most commonly found & was probably made after 1905.

Photo by Simon Patterson.

Slightly different frog & larger letters on this one.



Tibshelf Colliery



There were four pits & two brickworks on two sites which made up Tibshelf Colliery. Pits 1 & 2 (locally known as the bottom pits) were sunk in 1867/70 & pits 3 & 4 (top pits, on Sawpit Lane) were sunk in 1893/4, all by Charles Seeley & Company. Two associated brickworks & coke ovens were operational in 1900 as shown on the 1900 map below. However a brickworks is recorded as being in production prior to 1900 in a Bolsover D.C. planning document regarding Tibshelf & Newton Railway Station & with now finding a map dated 1876, I can now add that two kilns are shown next to Pits 1 & 2 at this date & I this map is shown next.

 © Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1876.

© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1900.

Pits 1 & 2 closed in 1932, but the shafts were kept open to pump water from the Top pits.

In 1936 Tibshelf Colliery & it's two brickworks were sold to the Babbington Colliery Co. & Babbington Colliery Co. was then renamed B.A. Collieries Ltd. (Bestwood Amalgamated). This new company was then taken over by the Sheepbridge Coal & Iron Co. in 1938. After all these changes Tibshelf's pits 3 & 4 closed in 1939 & I expect the two brickworks closed at the same time. 
The site of pits 1 & 2 has now been restored as an open green space with the planting of trees & grass areas together with footpaths down to the ponds & pits 3 & 4 are now the Sawpit Lane industrial estate. 

As a footnote I have found how Sawpit Lane got it's name. At the end of this lane there was a saw mill which imported trees from Scandinavia to make pit props, with the finished product being transported by rail to collieries all over the country. A devastating fire destroyed the wood yard in 1956 (located next to the bottom pits 1 & 2) & the sawmill did not re-open. 

There are photos of Tibshelf Colliery & it's brickworks in this link to Tibshelf Parish Council's webpage. 
http://www.tibshelfparishcouncil.gov.uk/tibshelf-past-and-present

Photo by Darren Haywood.

With Darren photographing this brick in North East Derbyshire there is the possibility that it was made at Tibshelf while the brickworks was owned by the Sheepbridge Coal & Iron Co. in 1938 & 1939.



J. Frogett

Photo by David Kitching.

 Jno Froggatt of North Wingfield, Derbyshire is listed as brickmaker in the 1857 White's Directory of Derbyshire.



George Knighton


This GEBK C+STN brick which I found at Valley Reclamation, Chesterfield in 2018 has had me guessing on who made it for several years. So with sending the image to the Old Bricks website in May 2021 to go on the Mystery Page, David managed to decipher these letters & reveal it's maker in George Enoch Banister Knighton & his yard was in Tupton just north of Clay Cross, so this brick had only travelled four miles to the reclamation yard from were it was made. The C + STN stands for Clay Cross Station. It's so easy to see when you know the answer. 

Many Thanks David for this info.
"George Enoch Banister Knighton, Tupton, Derbyshire is listed in Kelly's Derbyshire directories from 1895 to 1912. The works was east of Clay Cross Station and the railway connection was known as Knighton's Siding." I have added the 1900 OS map below to show you the works location & the siding going to it. 

© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1900.