Newark Brick Co.
Photo by MF, courtesy of Newark & Sherwood Museum Services.
The main shareholder in the Newark Brick Co. was Mrs. Emily Blagg, who was locally known as "Newark's Lady Builder," but I first start with the events that lead up to Mrs. Blagg opening this works in 1925.
Emily Stevens (1863-1935) moved to Newark in 1883 from Altringham, Cheshire to work for a clothing company called Coopers, where she stayed until 1903. By which time she had become the buyer for the clothing company visiting Paris on many occasions. After leaving this company she acquired a large number of shares in a brickworks in Dinnington, Yorkshire & she is also thought to have owned the small brickworks which was on Clay Lane in Newark at this date. It was now that she became a property developer, purchasing land off London Road & over the next three years building the houses known as The Park. In 1905 & aged 42 Emily married butcher William Blagg & they went to live at No. 2 The Park for eight years. After building more quality houses on Lime Grove which became to be known as Newark's most elegant & much sought after place to live, Emily built her own home at 131, Lime Grove which was started in 1912 & was called The Lodge. It was here that Emily & her husband would spend the rest of their lives.
Emily then built Newark's first motion picture cinema called the Kinema on Baldergate, which opened it's doors on the 20th December 1913. A few years later Emily built another cinema, The Palace on Appletongate which opened in July 1920 & is thought to have been made using bricks from her Clay Lane, Newark brickworks & some from the brickworks at Dinnington. Within a year Emily had sold her two cinemas to a group of Sheffield business men who operated cinemas in that city.
In April 1921 Emily went into partnership with Frank M. Johnson forming Blagg & Johnson, metal pipe & guttering manufacturers on Massey Street in Newark. It was to be on Massey Street that Emily was to later build her brickworks which fronted on to this street. The engineering works was built to the rear of this site & while excavations were taking place for this building, good quality brick making clay was found & not to miss an opportunity Mrs Blagg then built part of the engineering works notably the steel stores on supporting piers so that the clay could continue to be extracted from under the building.
Mrs Blagg registered the The Newark Brick Co. at Companies House, Cardiff on the 25th May 1925. Then on the 3rd of September 1925 after five months of construction the brickworks was officially opened at a grand ceremony with Mrs Blagg's neice, little Miss Winnie Stevens, daughter of one of the Company Directors, Mr W. Stevens (Mrs Blagg's brother) setting the machinery into motion. The works had access to seven & half acres of best quality brickmaking clay & the latest up to-date machinery could produce 1,200 bricks per hour using the semi dry process. A capacity of 100,000 bricks could produced each week & order books were full for a considerable time. Mr. Bramall was the brickworks manager at the time it's opening. This info has come from an article in the Newark Herald dated 5th of September 1925.
As previously mentioned, Mrs Blagg owned a brickworks on Clay Lane, Newark & this works can be seen on the 1883 map above coloured green & situated not to far from Massey Street (coloured purple where the railway line loops round). It is thought that this Clay Lane works was operated by Mrs Blagg from the early 1900's up to 1920, but this cannot be verified.
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced by permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1937.
On the 1937 map above I have coloured Massey Street purple, the engineering works green & the location of the brickworks yellow, as it had closed by this 1937 map & all of the brickworks had been demolished. Situated between the brickworks & the factory & shown on this map where a row of five terraced houses originally known as Palethorpe's Buildings, then later Beacon Terrace/Row. They had been built in 1827/30 & where continually occupied until they were demolished in 1951. One these houses was occupied by William Smyth who fired the kilns for Mrs Blagg.
The directors of the Newark Brick Co. were Mrs Emily Blagg, her brother, Walter William Stevens, builder, Robert Vickers, Clarence Wade & Annie Maria Adlington with Mrs Blagg owning the majority of the shares. Alan Menmuir was in charge of the day to day running of the brickworks with Mrs Blagg overseeing her interests on a daily basis, attending the works from 9.30 to 3.30 every working day.
An account of the brickworks published in 1927 records that the plant was highly mechanised with a light railway constantly bring clay from the pit to the grinding pan which crushed the clay before sending it for screening & then to the mixing machine. The mixed clay ending up at the pug-mill where a machine then forced it into moulds, which where then pressed. After drying using the waste heat from an adjacent cooling kiln which had previously been used, up to 200,000 bricks where then loaded into another one of the kilns.
After a share issue was not taken up by the public a motion was put to the Board at a special meeting on the 27th February 1928 to put the brickworks into Liquidation. This motion was later passed with the works closing on the 4th February 1929. It is unknown if the brickworks closed because of the shortfall in the sale of these shares or if the clay had simply run out on site. I have found no trade directory entries for the Newark Brick Co. during it's three/four years of production. The engineering works continued under Mrs Blagg's guidence until her death at the age of 72 in April 1935. Blagg & Johnson still continue to this day, with their works now situated on Brunel Drive. As a footnote the old claypit void underneath the floor of the engineering works was put to good use as an air raid shelter during WW2 for the company's worker force.
I am indebted to Tim Warner of the Newark Advertiser who's articles on Mrs Blagg appeared in this newspaper many moons ago & the information taken from these articles has been used with the newspaper's permission. A more detailed account about Mrs Blagg by Tim Warner can be read at these links.
http://legacy.newarkadvertiser.co.uk/leisure/tourism/history/TimWarner/warner59.asp
http://legacy.newarkadvertiser.co.uk/leisure/tourism/history/TimWarner/warner61.asp
http://legacy.newarkadvertiser.co.uk/leisure/tourism/history/TimWarner/warner105.asp This link contains two photos, one of the brickworks & one of the engineering works on Massey Street.
An account of the brickworks published in 1927 records that the plant was highly mechanised with a light railway constantly bring clay from the pit to the grinding pan which crushed the clay before sending it for screening & then to the mixing machine. The mixed clay ending up at the pug-mill where a machine then forced it into moulds, which where then pressed. After drying using the waste heat from an adjacent cooling kiln which had previously been used, up to 200,000 bricks where then loaded into another one of the kilns.
After a share issue was not taken up by the public a motion was put to the Board at a special meeting on the 27th February 1928 to put the brickworks into Liquidation. This motion was later passed with the works closing on the 4th February 1929. It is unknown if the brickworks closed because of the shortfall in the sale of these shares or if the clay had simply run out on site. I have found no trade directory entries for the Newark Brick Co. during it's three/four years of production. The engineering works continued under Mrs Blagg's guidence until her death at the age of 72 in April 1935. Blagg & Johnson still continue to this day, with their works now situated on Brunel Drive. As a footnote the old claypit void underneath the floor of the engineering works was put to good use as an air raid shelter during WW2 for the company's worker force.
I am indebted to Tim Warner of the Newark Advertiser who's articles on Mrs Blagg appeared in this newspaper many moons ago & the information taken from these articles has been used with the newspaper's permission. A more detailed account about Mrs Blagg by Tim Warner can be read at these links.
http://legacy.newarkadvertiser.co.uk/leisure/tourism/history/TimWarner/warner59.asp
http://legacy.newarkadvertiser.co.uk/leisure/tourism/history/TimWarner/warner61.asp
http://legacy.newarkadvertiser.co.uk/leisure/tourism/history/TimWarner/warner105.asp This link contains two photos, one of the brickworks & one of the engineering works on Massey Street.
Clay Lane, Newark & Caunton Brickworks
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced by permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1883.
As previously mentioned, Mrs Blagg owned a brickworks on Clay Lane, Newark & this works can be seen on the 1883 map above coloured green & situated not to far from Massey Street (coloured purple where the railway line loops round). It is thought that this Clay Lane works was operated by Mrs Blagg from the early 1900's up to 1920, but this cannot be verified.
With this Clay Lane brickworks being shown on this 1883 map, I have a trade directory entry for Duke & Smith owning this Clay Lane brickworks in Kelly's 1881 edition. More research has revealed Thomas Smith before joining William Duke at Clay Lane is recorded in a newspaper article dated July 1866 as owning a brickworks in Caunton, Newark, Smith is then listed in Kelly's 1876 edition at Caunton. Meanwhile William Duke is listed as solely operating a brickworks at Lowdham in Kelly's 1876 & 1881 editions. I then found White's 1885 edition reads William Duke, 6, Victoria Street, Newark (home), works Lowdham. Also from White's 1885 edition I obtained William Duke's advert in which he lists two brickworks, Lowdham & Clay Lane, so from this advert it appears Duke may have taken full control of the running the Clay Lane works. My next find in the London Gazette reveals William Duke in July 1886 placed his company into Liquidation.
Below is a brick made by Thomas Smith at Caunton between 1866 & 1876 which was photographed by Frank Lawson who has since donated this brick to Newark & Sherwood Museum Services.
Belvoir bricks were made by the Vale of Belvoir & Newark Plaster Co. at their three brickworks, situated at Beacon Hill, Newark; Bowbridge Lane, Balderton, Newark (also recorded as the Lowfield Works) & in the village of Orston near Newark where the company had been founded in 1867 & had their largest brickworks. Gypsum & plaster were also produced at these three works & I have found that the Company also owned other works in Newark where they only produced plaster products. Below are four maps showing the four brickworks owned by the company & includes the old & new works at Lowfield. Orston which is in Nottinghamshire, lies within the Vale of Belvoir, hence the company's name.
I first start three years earlier in the build-up to the formation of the Vale of Belvoir & Newark Plaster Co. & in 1864 William Jacobs who quarried gypsum & produced plaster at his Trent Works in Newark purchased the Royal Plaster Works situated in the village of Orston from Willis & Co. of London who were on the verge of closing their Orston Works. William was then joined by James Carter an auctioneer & stock broker from Nottingham who then purchased land just south of the village of Orston & a larger gypsum, plaster & brick works was established next to the Great Northern Railway. This new works took two years to build & get operational. In the mean time in 1865 Jacobs & Carter in order to finance their new venture decided to raise share capital in their Vale of Belvoir & Newark Plaster, Cement & Mineral Company, but this venture failed to gain the required subscriptions despite it's good local publicity & appearing in London's financial newspapers. So despite this set back the works was opened on the 3rd of April 1866 & the company at first only made bricks during the summer months as their core activities were in producing cement, plaster & gypsum. Clay was only a by-product of this activity with it being found overlaying the gypsum & after testing was found to make good quality bricks which were used to build some of the buildings at this new Orston Works.
So after this failed attempt to raise the required share capital a new company, The Vale of Belvoir & Newark Plaster Co. was formed in March 1867 with Jacobs & Carter being joined by James Hobson & Newark solicitor William Newton. William Jacobs became manager of the works & this new business started off well. Then in February 1868 the decision was made to expand the business by purchasing Stocker & Bell, another plaster manufacturer in Newark who were on the edge of closure. To finance this acquisition 350 new shares where issued to the partners in Hardy & Company, bankers in Grantham, who owned part of the lease of the land on which Stocker & Bell's works was sited. This is where things start to go downhill for VOB as the accounts had not been kept up to date. The company was then restructured in 1870 with the hope that new investors would be found, but this did not happen. In November 1870 William Jacobs wrote to a customer, "I am sorry to say that that we are quite out of bricks at our Orston Works, therefore shall not be able to send you any more until next season." So from this account the company was still only producing bricks in the summer months. VOB then advertised in the August 16th 1871 edition of the Newark Advertiser that they were making bricks at 5s per 1,000. I expect this advertisement was to entice customers back to the company.
As previously wrote the 1870 restructure did not solve VOB's financial problems & the company went into Liquidation on 12th May 1873. This is the notice that appeared in the Newark Advertiser dated October 1st 1873.
"Vale of Belvoir & Newark Plaster Co. into Liquidation."
For Sale -
Lot 1 - 7 acres at Orston inc. brick kilns.
Lot 2 - Bowbridge - kilns & brick plant; Beacon Hill & Mineral Hill, North Gate & Trent Works.
North Gate adapted for the manufacture of plaster of paris, cement, bricks, tiles etc.
Hardy & Co. who had previously been financial backers & share holders in VOB then purchased all the Works through a 3rd party (Mr Holland) at Auction. After which they continued to trade as The Belvoir & Newark Plaster Co. Then in 1897 Hardy & Co. sold VOB to Mr R.P. Almond who had been the General Manager at the Company. After this sale of the Company Hardy & Co. continued to be share holders in Almond's "new" Company until it closed. Kelly's 1900 trade directory records Almond's new company as The Belvoir & Newark Plaster Co. & still operating the three brickworks at Orston, Beacon Hill & Bowbridge (also recorded on maps as the Lowfield Works). Almond is next recorded in the two articles from which I have obtained this VOB information from, as owning the Orston plaster & brick works until it closed in 1920/1928. I have put both dates as these two articles contradicts each other on the closure date of the Orston Works. As to the brickworks at Beacon Hill & Bowbridge Road still being operational after Almond's purchase of VOB is "slightly in question", as the account of these two works is not recorded in the articles from which I have obtained most of the history of VOB from. I have found from trade directory entries that the Beacon Hill Works is last listed under Almond's Belvoir & Newark Plaster Co. in Kelly's 1900 edition & this works may have then been sold, as new owners, The Beacon Hill Brick Co. are listed at this works in Kelly 1904 edition & I write about the Beacon Hill Brick Co. later. The Bowbridge/Lowfield Works is last recorded as being owned by the Belvoir & Newark Plaster Co. in Kelly's 1904 edition, but this is also the last trade directory entry for the Orston Works. My only conclusion is that Almond still operated the Bowbridge Road Works along with the Orston Works until 1920/28 as we next find in Kelly's 1928 edition that Thomas Ward & Co. are listed as running the Bowbridge Road brickworks in Balderton. Thomas Ward continues to be listed as brickmaking at the Balderton Works in Kelly's 1932 & 36 editions, Directory of Newark 1938 edition, then Kelly's 1941 edition. The Government's Ministry of Works 1941 census of brickworks lists Thomas W. Ward Ltd. of Sheffield as operating the Vale of Belvoir Brickworks at Newark-on-Trent & extracting Keuper Marl (clay) for brickmaking. Then the 1949 edition of the British Clayworkers Directory lists Thomas Ward Ltd. at the Vale of Belvoir Works, New Balderton, Newark. The last trade directory entry found for Thomas Ward at New Balderton is in Kelly's 1950 edition. All these entries are the same works. 1950 was also the year that the brickworks closed as it is shown as disused on the 1950 map. Please note that this is the second brickworks to be built at Lowfield/Bowbridge Lane, Balderton & can be seen on the 1915 map above marked as the Lowfield Brickworks.
No information has been found to say if Thomas Ward Ltd. were operating the plaster works at the Lowfield Works as well from 1928, so my only conclusion is that it may have closed before Ward's takeover of the brickworks in 1928. As of yet no bricks stamped Ward have been found. However Angus Townley found this Ward Co. one in North Lincolnshire in July 2022, so there's a strong case it was made by Thomas Ward.
Photo by Angus Townley.
Photo by Frank Lawson.
Robert Lineker, Newark
Photo by Frank Lawson. Frank has now donated this brick to Newark & Sherwood Museum Services.
Reverse of Lineker. Photo by Frank Lawson.
Robert Lineker is listed as brickmaker in White's 1853 edition at Beacon Hill, Newark, then in Kelly's 1855 edition he is listed at Balderton, Newark. From a family website a Robert Lineker is recorded in the 1851 Census as living at Balderton, but there is no listing of his profession, but I think he is our man as a list of his children's baptisms records him as brick & tile manufacturer on this web page. The exact location of his works is unknown. The 1853 entry lists him at Beacon Hill & his works was more than likely on Beacon Hill as the 1855 entry of Balderton may have been his home address same as recorded in the 1851 Census. It is from an article on the web about VOB that Robert Lineker is mention as a small independent gypsum, plaster, brick & tile manufacturer in Newark who was brickmaking between 1850 & 1860. Robert had completed an independent survey for the VOB on it's gypsum & clay reserves at both Orston & Newark. No exact date is given for this report, but a date of 1865 is given when the company issued a prospectus for the raising of share capital which included this report. The article goes on to say that from 1856 Robert Lineker got into financial difficulties that forced him eventually to sell his property & close his business by 1860. Apparently in November 1859 a court judgement was made against Robert Lineker for a debt of £332 owing to William Newton, who was a banker & a share holder in the Vale of Belvoir & Newark Plaster Company. So it looks like Robert sold up to repay this debt.
The web article goes on to say that Robert Lineker in 1860 was calling himself a farmer. Then in 1861 Lineker is described as brickmaker & had entered into a partnership with Samuel Fretwell, a builder & stonemason in Newark as brick & tile manufacturers. There are no trade directory entries for this partnership & it may have been short lived as we next find that Samuel Fretwell is only listed as builder in White's 1864 edition & Lineker is not listed.
Now finding this Samuel Fretwell info sent a tingle down my spine, as they say, as my name is Fretwell ! As far as I know I am not directly connected to this Newark branch of the Fretwell family. Research by my Cousin Jean has revealed that the Fretwell's "followed the coal" & everywhere you find a colliery in the East Midlands, you will find a miner by the name of Fretwell. Apparently it all started in Scunthorpe & the Fretwell's moved east, colliery to colliery, thus ending up in Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire. My Grandad in Huthwaite was a miner & he had 8 brothers & his father was one 8 brothers, so going back to my great great grandfather's brothers, there may be a connection to Newark, the date of the 1860's then fits.
In 2023 Ben Powell found two of these Lineker bricks in Newark, giving me this one. These bricks have two vents & my thoughts are warm air passed through these vents to an upper floor in a grain store to dry the grain. With Frank no longer with us I can only assume his brick was the same.
Vale of Belvoir & Newark Plaster Co.
Thomas Ward Co.
Belvoir bricks were made by the Vale of Belvoir & Newark Plaster Co. at their three brickworks, situated at Beacon Hill, Newark; Bowbridge Lane, Balderton, Newark (also recorded as the Lowfield Works) & in the village of Orston near Newark where the company had been founded in 1867 & had their largest brickworks. Gypsum & plaster were also produced at these three works & I have found that the Company also owned other works in Newark where they only produced plaster products. Below are four maps showing the four brickworks owned by the company & includes the old & new works at Lowfield. Orston which is in Nottinghamshire, lies within the Vale of Belvoir, hence the company's name.
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced by permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1883.
Orston Works in 1883.
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced by permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1899.
Beacon Hill Works in 1899.
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced by permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1899.
Bowbridge Works in 1899. (later known as Lowfield).
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced by permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1915.
2nd Lowfield Brickworks in 1915.
I first start three years earlier in the build-up to the formation of the Vale of Belvoir & Newark Plaster Co. & in 1864 William Jacobs who quarried gypsum & produced plaster at his Trent Works in Newark purchased the Royal Plaster Works situated in the village of Orston from Willis & Co. of London who were on the verge of closing their Orston Works. William was then joined by James Carter an auctioneer & stock broker from Nottingham who then purchased land just south of the village of Orston & a larger gypsum, plaster & brick works was established next to the Great Northern Railway. This new works took two years to build & get operational. In the mean time in 1865 Jacobs & Carter in order to finance their new venture decided to raise share capital in their Vale of Belvoir & Newark Plaster, Cement & Mineral Company, but this venture failed to gain the required subscriptions despite it's good local publicity & appearing in London's financial newspapers. So despite this set back the works was opened on the 3rd of April 1866 & the company at first only made bricks during the summer months as their core activities were in producing cement, plaster & gypsum. Clay was only a by-product of this activity with it being found overlaying the gypsum & after testing was found to make good quality bricks which were used to build some of the buildings at this new Orston Works.
So after this failed attempt to raise the required share capital a new company, The Vale of Belvoir & Newark Plaster Co. was formed in March 1867 with Jacobs & Carter being joined by James Hobson & Newark solicitor William Newton. William Jacobs became manager of the works & this new business started off well. Then in February 1868 the decision was made to expand the business by purchasing Stocker & Bell, another plaster manufacturer in Newark who were on the edge of closure. To finance this acquisition 350 new shares where issued to the partners in Hardy & Company, bankers in Grantham, who owned part of the lease of the land on which Stocker & Bell's works was sited. This is where things start to go downhill for VOB as the accounts had not been kept up to date. The company was then restructured in 1870 with the hope that new investors would be found, but this did not happen. In November 1870 William Jacobs wrote to a customer, "I am sorry to say that that we are quite out of bricks at our Orston Works, therefore shall not be able to send you any more until next season." So from this account the company was still only producing bricks in the summer months. VOB then advertised in the August 16th 1871 edition of the Newark Advertiser that they were making bricks at 5s per 1,000. I expect this advertisement was to entice customers back to the company.
As previously wrote the 1870 restructure did not solve VOB's financial problems & the company went into Liquidation on 12th May 1873. This is the notice that appeared in the Newark Advertiser dated October 1st 1873.
"Vale of Belvoir & Newark Plaster Co. into Liquidation."
For Sale -
Lot 1 - 7 acres at Orston inc. brick kilns.
Lot 2 - Bowbridge - kilns & brick plant; Beacon Hill & Mineral Hill, North Gate & Trent Works.
North Gate adapted for the manufacture of plaster of paris, cement, bricks, tiles etc.
Hardy & Co. who had previously been financial backers & share holders in VOB then purchased all the Works through a 3rd party (Mr Holland) at Auction. After which they continued to trade as The Belvoir & Newark Plaster Co. Then in 1897 Hardy & Co. sold VOB to Mr R.P. Almond who had been the General Manager at the Company. After this sale of the Company Hardy & Co. continued to be share holders in Almond's "new" Company until it closed. Kelly's 1900 trade directory records Almond's new company as The Belvoir & Newark Plaster Co. & still operating the three brickworks at Orston, Beacon Hill & Bowbridge (also recorded on maps as the Lowfield Works). Almond is next recorded in the two articles from which I have obtained this VOB information from, as owning the Orston plaster & brick works until it closed in 1920/1928. I have put both dates as these two articles contradicts each other on the closure date of the Orston Works. As to the brickworks at Beacon Hill & Bowbridge Road still being operational after Almond's purchase of VOB is "slightly in question", as the account of these two works is not recorded in the articles from which I have obtained most of the history of VOB from. I have found from trade directory entries that the Beacon Hill Works is last listed under Almond's Belvoir & Newark Plaster Co. in Kelly's 1900 edition & this works may have then been sold, as new owners, The Beacon Hill Brick Co. are listed at this works in Kelly 1904 edition & I write about the Beacon Hill Brick Co. later. The Bowbridge/Lowfield Works is last recorded as being owned by the Belvoir & Newark Plaster Co. in Kelly's 1904 edition, but this is also the last trade directory entry for the Orston Works. My only conclusion is that Almond still operated the Bowbridge Road Works along with the Orston Works until 1920/28 as we next find in Kelly's 1928 edition that Thomas Ward & Co. are listed as running the Bowbridge Road brickworks in Balderton. Thomas Ward continues to be listed as brickmaking at the Balderton Works in Kelly's 1932 & 36 editions, Directory of Newark 1938 edition, then Kelly's 1941 edition. The Government's Ministry of Works 1941 census of brickworks lists Thomas W. Ward Ltd. of Sheffield as operating the Vale of Belvoir Brickworks at Newark-on-Trent & extracting Keuper Marl (clay) for brickmaking. Then the 1949 edition of the British Clayworkers Directory lists Thomas Ward Ltd. at the Vale of Belvoir Works, New Balderton, Newark. The last trade directory entry found for Thomas Ward at New Balderton is in Kelly's 1950 edition. All these entries are the same works. 1950 was also the year that the brickworks closed as it is shown as disused on the 1950 map. Please note that this is the second brickworks to be built at Lowfield/Bowbridge Lane, Balderton & can be seen on the 1915 map above marked as the Lowfield Brickworks.
No information has been found to say if Thomas Ward Ltd. were operating the plaster works at the Lowfield Works as well from 1928, so my only conclusion is that it may have closed before Ward's takeover of the brickworks in 1928. As of yet no bricks stamped Ward have been found. However Angus Townley found this Ward Co. one in North Lincolnshire in July 2022, so there's a strong case it was made by Thomas Ward.
Until recently this former brickworks site (2nd brickworks) had been used as smallholdings, but now the whole of this area is in the process of being regenerated with Newark's new Southern Relief Road being built to take traffic from the A46 to the A1 & plans are a foot to build houses & industrial units on the land previously used as gypsum quarries owned by VOB & Cafferata.
Update 3.7.19.
Brian Mackinney has sent me this info - "Hi Martyn, My father was foreman at the Belvoir Brickworks, Balderton in the forties and early fifties before it was taken over and shut down by Cafferata."
I then asked Brian if his father worked for Thomas Ward & if the works stamped their bricks Ward or Belvoir & this was his reply - " That’s right, he worked for Thos. W. Ward. I’m a bit hazy on details, but as a child I spent a fair amount of my time there. I can still have the sense of the smell of the freshly pressed bricks. I used to help to load the lorries and go out with the drivers to deliver the bricks in the late forties. That was in the days when I used to do a paper round in the village at the age of 8 and buy Woodbines with my earnings. I think it was called Belvoir Brickworks, but I can’t remember if the name was on the bricks.
The down side of the lack of health and safety regulations was also a time of lack of unemployment support and benefit. When Cafferata shut down the Lowfield Works, my father was left with no job other than as a labourer at Cafferata Brickworks across the road. In this capacity he had a nasty toe injury which never healed properly and had fateful consequences."
Update 3.7.19.
Brian Mackinney has sent me this info - "Hi Martyn, My father was foreman at the Belvoir Brickworks, Balderton in the forties and early fifties before it was taken over and shut down by Cafferata."
I then asked Brian if his father worked for Thomas Ward & if the works stamped their bricks Ward or Belvoir & this was his reply - " That’s right, he worked for Thos. W. Ward. I’m a bit hazy on details, but as a child I spent a fair amount of my time there. I can still have the sense of the smell of the freshly pressed bricks. I used to help to load the lorries and go out with the drivers to deliver the bricks in the late forties. That was in the days when I used to do a paper round in the village at the age of 8 and buy Woodbines with my earnings. I think it was called Belvoir Brickworks, but I can’t remember if the name was on the bricks.
The down side of the lack of health and safety regulations was also a time of lack of unemployment support and benefit. When Cafferata shut down the Lowfield Works, my father was left with no job other than as a labourer at Cafferata Brickworks across the road. In this capacity he had a nasty toe injury which never healed properly and had fateful consequences."
Many thanks Brian for sending me your information which includes the bit about Cafferata taking over the Lowfield Works after Thomas Ward. It explains why I have only found Cafferata bricks on the edge of this former brickworks site.
As I have slightly digressed I now return to the trade directory entries for the Vale of Belvoir & Newark Plaster Co., but first I quickly tell you that after the Orston Works had closed Mr. Almond's sister, Lissie Almond who was the leaseholder of the land, sold the property in 1928 to Lt.Col. N.G. Pearson. Pearson then gave the land to the Girl Guides Association who demolished the buildings in 1930 & created an adventure area. As of 1991, the date of the info article, the Girl Guide Association still owned & used this adventure site.
These are the trade directory listings for Vale of Belvoir & Newark Plaster Co. which are in the Brick & Tile Manufacturers Section.
Kelly's 1885 - Works, Beacon Hill, Newark; Bowbridge; Orston.
K. 1888 - Works, Beacon Hill, Newark.
K. 1891 - Works, Orston Sidings, GNR; Lowfield Sidings, GNR; Beacon Hill, Newark. Mr. Richard P. Almond, Manager.
White's 1894 - Works, Newark.
Belvoir & Newark Plaster Co. (now owned by Richard Almond).
Kelly's 1900 - Works, Orston Sidings, GNR; Lowfield Sidings, GNR; Beacon Hill, Newark.
K. 1904 - Works, Orston Sidings, GNR; Lowfield Sidings, GNR.
As previously recorded, Bowbridge & Lowfield are the same works on Bowbridge Road, Balderton, Newark.
Various Belvoir stamped bricks made by VOB.
These are the two links from which most of this information has come from & includes a more detailed account of VOB's financial woes & two photos, the Orston Works & one of VOB's gypsum quarries.
http://archive.pdmhs.com/PDFs/ScannedBulletinArticles/Bulletin%2011-4%20-%20Gypsum%20Working%20in%20the%20Parish%20of%20Orston,%20Not.pdf
http://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/12041/1/196964_201%20Barnes%20Publisher.pdf
The Beacon Hill Brick Co. (Newark) Ltd. are listed in Kelly's 1904 & 08 editions at Beacon Hill, Newark with registered offices at Beaumond Cross, Newark. The next snippet of info that I have for this brick company is that it is listed along with many other companies in the London Gazette dated 29th August 1913 as being struck off the Joint Stocks Register & as such the company had been dissolved.
1899 map showing the location of The Beacon Hill Brick Company's works which had previously been owned by the Belvoir & Newark Plaster Company. The 1915 map shows this former brickworks now as a Cement Works which was gone by the 1938 map. Today a steel fabrication works & houses now occupy part of this site with the rest being covered in trees.
William Cafferata a stocks & shares broker in Liverpool purchased The Newark Plaster Co. in June 1862. The company comprised of a gypsum quarry, a plaster mill, a brickworks & a boiler works which where all situated on Beacon Hill in Newark & I have used the 1899 map below to show their location. The works was known as the Great Northern Works.
With the reserves at the Beacon Hill quarry starting to deplete, Redmond then established a new gypsum quarry & brickworks at Hawton in 1874 & this new works can be seen on the 1899 map above. This Hawton works is shown on the 1875 map, but the quality of this map is not as good as the one used. The red coloured road is Bowbridge Road & the village of Hawton is just to the north-west of this map, with Newark town centre to the north.
Between 1892 & 1894 three of Redmond Parker's sons joined him at the company & in 1908 control of the company was passed over to his sons with Redmond Parker retiring. Financial problems hit the company as well as quality issues in their plaster production & it was not until 1922 that the company was re-organized & new cash was injected into the new company of Cafferata & Company Limited, which now included five of Redmond Parker's seven sons. The first Directors of this new Limited Company were Louis William Cafferata (Chairman and Managing Director), Hubert Marie Cafferata, Redmond Barton Cafferata and Bernard Joseph Cafferata, with Cyril Francis Cafferata as Secretary. By 1926 the family were enjoying large profits from the fruits of their labours. In 1928 Gerald Cafferata son of Redmond Barton joined the company straight from London University at the age of 22 & showed a keen interest in improving the quality of the companies plasters.
The Beacon Hill brickworks had been closed during WW1 & when it reopened afterwards it was producing 100,000 bricks per week. Whether the Hawton brickworks was still in production after WW1 is unknown as the last trade directory entry for the Hawton brickworks is 1900 & the 1915 map only shows this works as gypsum quarries.
1935 sees the opening of a new plaster & brickworks on 400 acres of land next to Jericho Lodge & this brick & plaster works can be seen on the 1950 map below & coloured green. Kelly's 1936 edition lists this new brickworks at New Balderton on Bowbridge Lane. The Hawton works continues to be shown only as gypsum quarries at this date.
Also in 1935 Redmond Barton Cafferata retires to France & in 1936 the whole of the share capital in Cafferata & Co. Ltd. was acquired by The British Plaster Board Limited with both Hubert & Louis retiring. Although being taken over the company continued to operate under it's original name & Cyril Francis Cafferata was appointed chairman and joint managing director with Bernard Joseph Cafferata. Cyril retired in 1943 and Bernard left in 1946. Gerald Cafferata son of Redmond Barton & grandson of Redmond Parker Cafferata was subsequently appointed chairman and managing director & was the last of the family to work at the company.
The Beacon Hill brickworks continued to produce bricks until the start of WW2 when it closed due to the shortage of manpower & the slump in the building trade. The last trade directory entry for this works is in Kelly's 1941 edition. On the other hand the Jericho Lodge brickworks continued to be operational through out the duration of WW2. The last of the company's brickworks at Jericho Lodge closed in 1962 & in 1973 Gerald Cafferata retired ending over 100 years of continuous service of the Cafferata family working in Newark which was started by William Cafferata in 1862, Gerald's great grandfather. Today the former Beacon Hill works is an industrial site with access via Cafferata Way. Plans have been drawn up to build houses & industrial units on the Hawton plaster works & the Jericho Lodge plaster works is now owned by Saint Gobain Formula.
The majority of the information used in this entry has been taken from Richard Cafferata's website, who I wish to thank. A more detailed account of the Cafferata's business & the history of the family in Newark can be read at this link. http://cafferata.synthasite.com
The Kelham Brick Company appears to have only been in operation for only a few years. The works is not shown on the 1899 map & is only shown as disused on the 1912 map. I have used the 1915 map below to show the location of this works on Broadgate Lane, Kelham. I have not found any trade directory entries for this company & the only reference found appears in the London Gazette dated 6th July 1920 when the Kelham Brick Company was struck off the Joint Stock Companies Register & as such the company had been dissolved. Most of the buildings belonging to this brickworks as shown on the 1915 map still stand today. The day I called by in 2013, a house was in the process of being built on the footprint of one of the original buildings & the rest of the buildings were being restored with plans to use them as outbuildings for storage.
JED = John Evelyn Denison, 1st Viscount Ossington owned Ossington Hall in the village of Ossington from 1820 to 1873. His estate brickworks is shown as disused on a map dated 1875 & I have used the 1883 map below to show it's location, also marked as disused. Both of these two JED bricks where found in the village of Ossington which is just north of Newark. T. Hempstock is listed as brickmaker in Ossington in Kelly's 1855 edition & there is the option that he may have worked for the Viscount & made these bricks or he may have just been an independent brickmaker working or living in the village ?
Ben Powell found this B & R brick in the village of Barnby-in-the-Willows near Newark in September 2021 & duly sent me this image. Brown & Ragsdale are listed in Kelly's 1853 edition at Milgate; works, Beacon Hill, Newark. With this partnership not being recorded in Kelly's 1864 I am assuming it had been dissolved by this date, however in this 1864 trade directory a James Brown is listed as brickmaking in Lowdham, so was this the same Brown ? As for Ragsdale the nearest match found is John Ragsdale, a Coal Dealer & Merchant living in Newark as recorded in the 1841, 51 & 61 census. A partnership of a brickmaker & coal dealer has been found before, so I cannot discount these two men of being partners. There's no record of this partnership being dissolved in the London Gazette.
With flipping the image it has revealed the R & N are correct, but the J is now the wrong way round.
As I have slightly digressed I now return to the trade directory entries for the Vale of Belvoir & Newark Plaster Co., but first I quickly tell you that after the Orston Works had closed Mr. Almond's sister, Lissie Almond who was the leaseholder of the land, sold the property in 1928 to Lt.Col. N.G. Pearson. Pearson then gave the land to the Girl Guides Association who demolished the buildings in 1930 & created an adventure area. As of 1991, the date of the info article, the Girl Guide Association still owned & used this adventure site.
These are the trade directory listings for Vale of Belvoir & Newark Plaster Co. which are in the Brick & Tile Manufacturers Section.
Kelly's 1885 - Works, Beacon Hill, Newark; Bowbridge; Orston.
K. 1888 - Works, Beacon Hill, Newark.
K. 1891 - Works, Orston Sidings, GNR; Lowfield Sidings, GNR; Beacon Hill, Newark. Mr. Richard P. Almond, Manager.
White's 1894 - Works, Newark.
Belvoir & Newark Plaster Co. (now owned by Richard Almond).
Kelly's 1900 - Works, Orston Sidings, GNR; Lowfield Sidings, GNR; Beacon Hill, Newark.
K. 1904 - Works, Orston Sidings, GNR; Lowfield Sidings, GNR.
As previously recorded, Bowbridge & Lowfield are the same works on Bowbridge Road, Balderton, Newark.
Various Belvoir stamped bricks made by VOB.
Photo by MF, courtesy of Newark & Sherwood Museum Services.
Photo by Ben Powell.
http://archive.pdmhs.com/PDFs/ScannedBulletinArticles/Bulletin%2011-4%20-%20Gypsum%20Working%20in%20the%20Parish%20of%20Orston,%20Not.pdf
http://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/12041/1/196964_201%20Barnes%20Publisher.pdf
Beacon Hill Brick Co.
Photo by Mike Chapman.
The Beacon Hill Brick Co. (Newark) Ltd. are listed in Kelly's 1904 & 08 editions at Beacon Hill, Newark with registered offices at Beaumond Cross, Newark. The next snippet of info that I have for this brick company is that it is listed along with many other companies in the London Gazette dated 29th August 1913 as being struck off the Joint Stocks Register & as such the company had been dissolved.
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced by permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1899.
1899 map showing the location of The Beacon Hill Brick Company's works which had previously been owned by the Belvoir & Newark Plaster Company. The 1915 map shows this former brickworks now as a Cement Works which was gone by the 1938 map. Today a steel fabrication works & houses now occupy part of this site with the rest being covered in trees.
Cafferata
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced by permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1899.
The first trade directory entry that I have found for the Beacon Hill brickworks appears in White's 1864 edition as Cafferata & Co. Great Northern Plaster Works, Beacon Hill, Newark. However the entry in Kelly's 1864 edition is William Cafferata, Beacon Hill, Newark & I have found this WC N quarry tile in my collection (2022) photographed at a reclamation yard in Newark (2017), so there's a good chance this quarry tile will be William Cafferata, especially with the reversed N, an indication mould makers were not reversing some of the letters correctly for the mould plate in the 1860's.
At first William concentrated on producing large industrial Cornish & Lancashire boilers rather than bricks & plaster, but after a problem with a boiler exploding under pressure which resulted in several deaths in 1866, William then reduced production on that side of the business & concentrated more on quarrying gypsum & producing plaster & bricks.
In 1867 the brickyard was producing 30,000 bricks per week. The quality of which unless burnt very hard would not withstand severe weather conditions & would soon crumble. On saying that houses built of these bricks still stand in Newark today.
William Cafferata died on the 5th September 1874 with his wife taking control of the Company with the help of her son Redmond Parker Cafferata. In 1881 Redmond purchased his mother's interests in the company for £12,000 pounds, which is equivalent to over one million pounds today.
In 1867 the brickyard was producing 30,000 bricks per week. The quality of which unless burnt very hard would not withstand severe weather conditions & would soon crumble. On saying that houses built of these bricks still stand in Newark today.
William Cafferata died on the 5th September 1874 with his wife taking control of the Company with the help of her son Redmond Parker Cafferata. In 1881 Redmond purchased his mother's interests in the company for £12,000 pounds, which is equivalent to over one million pounds today.
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced by permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1899.
With the reserves at the Beacon Hill quarry starting to deplete, Redmond then established a new gypsum quarry & brickworks at Hawton in 1874 & this new works can be seen on the 1899 map above. This Hawton works is shown on the 1875 map, but the quality of this map is not as good as the one used. The red coloured road is Bowbridge Road & the village of Hawton is just to the north-west of this map, with Newark town centre to the north.
Between 1892 & 1894 three of Redmond Parker's sons joined him at the company & in 1908 control of the company was passed over to his sons with Redmond Parker retiring. Financial problems hit the company as well as quality issues in their plaster production & it was not until 1922 that the company was re-organized & new cash was injected into the new company of Cafferata & Company Limited, which now included five of Redmond Parker's seven sons. The first Directors of this new Limited Company were Louis William Cafferata (Chairman and Managing Director), Hubert Marie Cafferata, Redmond Barton Cafferata and Bernard Joseph Cafferata, with Cyril Francis Cafferata as Secretary. By 1926 the family were enjoying large profits from the fruits of their labours. In 1928 Gerald Cafferata son of Redmond Barton joined the company straight from London University at the age of 22 & showed a keen interest in improving the quality of the companies plasters.
The Beacon Hill brickworks had been closed during WW1 & when it reopened afterwards it was producing 100,000 bricks per week. Whether the Hawton brickworks was still in production after WW1 is unknown as the last trade directory entry for the Hawton brickworks is 1900 & the 1915 map only shows this works as gypsum quarries.
1935 sees the opening of a new plaster & brickworks on 400 acres of land next to Jericho Lodge & this brick & plaster works can be seen on the 1950 map below & coloured green. Kelly's 1936 edition lists this new brickworks at New Balderton on Bowbridge Lane. The Hawton works continues to be shown only as gypsum quarries at this date.
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced by permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1950.
Also in 1935 Redmond Barton Cafferata retires to France & in 1936 the whole of the share capital in Cafferata & Co. Ltd. was acquired by The British Plaster Board Limited with both Hubert & Louis retiring. Although being taken over the company continued to operate under it's original name & Cyril Francis Cafferata was appointed chairman and joint managing director with Bernard Joseph Cafferata. Cyril retired in 1943 and Bernard left in 1946. Gerald Cafferata son of Redmond Barton & grandson of Redmond Parker Cafferata was subsequently appointed chairman and managing director & was the last of the family to work at the company.
The Beacon Hill brickworks continued to produce bricks until the start of WW2 when it closed due to the shortage of manpower & the slump in the building trade. The last trade directory entry for this works is in Kelly's 1941 edition. On the other hand the Jericho Lodge brickworks continued to be operational through out the duration of WW2. The last of the company's brickworks at Jericho Lodge closed in 1962 & in 1973 Gerald Cafferata retired ending over 100 years of continuous service of the Cafferata family working in Newark which was started by William Cafferata in 1862, Gerald's great grandfather. Today the former Beacon Hill works is an industrial site with access via Cafferata Way. Plans have been drawn up to build houses & industrial units on the Hawton plaster works & the Jericho Lodge plaster works is now owned by Saint Gobain Formula.
The majority of the information used in this entry has been taken from Richard Cafferata's website, who I wish to thank. A more detailed account of the Cafferata's business & the history of the family in Newark can be read at this link. http://cafferata.synthasite.com
Kelham Brick Co.
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced by permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1915.
JED
JED reverse Clayton's Patent.
Made using one of Henry Clayton's brickmaking machines. A link to information about these machines can be seen at the end of the post.
JED = John Evelyn Denison, 1st Viscount Ossington owned Ossington Hall in the village of Ossington from 1820 to 1873. His estate brickworks is shown as disused on a map dated 1875 & I have used the 1883 map below to show it's location, also marked as disused. Both of these two JED bricks where found in the village of Ossington which is just north of Newark. T. Hempstock is listed as brickmaker in Ossington in Kelly's 1855 edition & there is the option that he may have worked for the Viscount & made these bricks or he may have just been an independent brickmaker working or living in the village ?
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced by permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1883.
JED reverse Patent.
Brown & Ragsdale
Photo by Ben Powell.
Ben Powell found this B & R brick in the village of Barnby-in-the-Willows near Newark in September 2021 & duly sent me this image. Brown & Ragsdale are listed in Kelly's 1853 edition at Milgate; works, Beacon Hill, Newark. With this partnership not being recorded in Kelly's 1864 I am assuming it had been dissolved by this date, however in this 1864 trade directory a James Brown is listed as brickmaking in Lowdham, so was this the same Brown ? As for Ragsdale the nearest match found is John Ragsdale, a Coal Dealer & Merchant living in Newark as recorded in the 1841, 51 & 61 census. A partnership of a brickmaker & coal dealer has been found before, so I cannot discount these two men of being partners. There's no record of this partnership being dissolved in the London Gazette.
John Ragsdale
This J - R - N brick is in Newark & Sherwood Museum Services Collection & I am taking it that the N stands for Newark. Then with the Brown & Ragsdale brick turning up in September 2021, is this J R - N brick, John Ragsdale ? The shape of the frog certainly matches.
With flipping the image it has revealed the R & N are correct, but the J is now the wrong way round.
This S R Co. brick is in Newark & Sherwood Museum Services Collection, but I have been unable identify it's maker. The initials do not match any Nottinghamshire trade directory entries, but if do identify the makers, I will update the post.
S.R. Co.
Update 13.5.17.
I have now found that this S.R. Co. fire brick was more than likely made by Swann Radcliffe & Co. in Derbyshire & the company are listed in the Fire Brick Manufacturers section in these Kelly's editions, 1912, 25, 32, & 41 at Brassington, Wirksworth, Derbys. Cope’s 1937 edition also lists Swann Radcliffe & Co. (Brassington) Ltd. at Brassington, Wirksworth, Derbys. Info from the Brassington website records that the brickworks was actually at Hopton near Brassington & was employing 16 men in 1962. It goes on to say that the brickworks closed in 1971.
I round off this post with a list of brickmakers/companies who are recorded in trade directories as operating in or around Newark. As of yet no named bricks have been found by any of these makers.
I have now found that this S.R. Co. fire brick was more than likely made by Swann Radcliffe & Co. in Derbyshire & the company are listed in the Fire Brick Manufacturers section in these Kelly's editions, 1912, 25, 32, & 41 at Brassington, Wirksworth, Derbys. Cope’s 1937 edition also lists Swann Radcliffe & Co. (Brassington) Ltd. at Brassington, Wirksworth, Derbys. Info from the Brassington website records that the brickworks was actually at Hopton near Brassington & was employing 16 men in 1962. It goes on to say that the brickworks closed in 1971.
I round off this post with a list of brickmakers/companies who are recorded in trade directories as operating in or around Newark. As of yet no named bricks have been found by any of these makers.
N. Parkins, Caunton, Kelly's 1855 edition.
Robinson & Wilson, Stodman Street, Newark, White's 1864, then Stodman Street & Spring House Wharf, White's 1853, then William Robinson, Hawton, Newark & 2,Stodman Street, Kelly's 1876 edition.
Thomas Turner, Balderton, Newark, Kelly's 1876 & 1881 editions.
Fisher & Co. Besthorpe, Newark Kelly's 1876 edition.
Shelton Brick Co. Shelton, Newark, Kelly's 1881 edition.
J. Sheppard, Millgate, White's 1853, Kelly's 1855, then White's 1864 edition at Beacon Hill & Millgate.
Robinson & Wilson, Stodman Street, Newark, White's 1864, then Stodman Street & Spring House Wharf, White's 1853, then William Robinson, Hawton, Newark & 2,Stodman Street, Kelly's 1876 edition.
Thomas Turner, Balderton, Newark, Kelly's 1876 & 1881 editions.
Fisher & Co. Besthorpe, Newark Kelly's 1876 edition.
Shelton Brick Co. Shelton, Newark, Kelly's 1881 edition.
J. Sheppard, Millgate, White's 1853, Kelly's 1855, then White's 1864 edition at Beacon Hill & Millgate.
Fellow brick enthusiast, Mike Chapman spotted this T. Sheppard brick in the grounds of Newark Castle next to the river. We think that it is a T, on the other hand it could be a fancy J & is dated 27th June 1837. I am wondering if T. Sheppard was J. Sheppard's father & made the bricks for this wall or could he have been a dignitary at the Council & just laid this brick in the wall ?
Link to fellow collector Mark Cranston's brick site which contains the article about Henry Clayton's patented brick making machines & includes many drawings of these machines.
http://www.scottishbrickhistory.co.uk/clayton-co-brick-making-machine/
I wish to Thank the following people in bringing this Post to the Web.
Newark & Sherwood Museum Services.
The Newark Advertiser & Tim Warner.
Ordnance Survey/National Library of Scotland.
Frank Lawson.
Mike Chapman.
Photo by Mike Chapman.
Link to fellow collector Mark Cranston's brick site which contains the article about Henry Clayton's patented brick making machines & includes many drawings of these machines.
http://www.scottishbrickhistory.co.uk/clayton-co-brick-making-machine/
I wish to Thank the following people in bringing this Post to the Web.
Newark & Sherwood Museum Services.
The Newark Advertiser & Tim Warner.
Ordnance Survey/National Library of Scotland.
Frank Lawson.
Mike Chapman.
Ben Powell.
Newark Library.
Richard Cafferata.
P. Barnes & R.J. Firman.
The London Gazette.
Kelly's & White's Trade Directories.
Newark Library.
Richard Cafferata.
P. Barnes & R.J. Firman.
The London Gazette.
Kelly's & White's Trade Directories.
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