Barlborough Heritage Centre

I was recently told about this small local brick collection at Barlborough Heritage Centre by a fellow collector. With me finding a Barlboro & Cottam brick at nearby Renishaw a year previous, I when to the Centre to see what was in their collection. The first brick I spotted was the same one as I had found at Renishaw. I got talking to Tony the Centre's Manager, who explained that the bricks had all come from two buildings which had stood in the village, So examples of each brick were saved at the Centre. There is so much local information packed into the Heritage Centre that it is well worth a visit, covering nobility at Barlborough Hall, famous locals, daily life in Barlborough & there is a good display about the 1st World War, remembering the fallen.

So onto the bricks which I photographed with a little bit of information to each.

This brick was made at Hazel Colliery & Brickworks formally known as Cottam No.2 pit in Barlborough. Hazel Colliery had been reopened together with a brickworks in 1909 by a local consortium. The colliery closed in 1914, but the brickworks continued until 1917 as the Barlborough Brick Co. Ltd. The brickworks is recorded in the 1912 edition of Kelly's Trade Directory as Barlborough & Cottam Brick & Tile Co. Ltd. Barlborough, Chesterfield. I then found from the London Gazette that the company went into liquidation on the 14th March 1912, hence the renaming of the brickworks to Barlborough Brick Co.

Please note the wrong spelling of Cottam, this was very common to find misspellings or letters reversed on bricks at this period of time.

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

Map dated 1923 showing location of Hazel Colliery & Brickworks where bricks marked Barlboro & Cottam Co. Ltd & Barlboro Brick Co. were made. 

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 location of Spinkhill brickworks next to the Railway Station. This works is also recorded on a 1893 map.

This brickworks is recorded in a 1925 trade directory as Webster & Co, (Sheffield) Limited, manufacturers of silica bricks, fire bricks, magnesite, bricks, gangster, compo & building bricks at Archer Road. TA "Webco, Sheffield."

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.

John Lee, farmer, brickmaker & blacksmith at Waterthorpe, Mosborough, Sheffield is recorded in Kelly's in 1887 to 1912 editions.

Although recorded in White's Sheffield 1905 Directory at Wisewood, Loxley, Sheffield, this works was reported in the London Gazette as being voluntarily wound up at a extraordinary General Meeting of the Company on the 16th February 1904. This company had been owned by Henry Crapper who is recorded in Kelly's 1893 edition.

Charles Keyworth is first recorded at Halifax Road, Wadsley Bridge, Sheffield as the proprietor of the New Patent Plastic Brick Company from 1898 to 1913. Mrs Elizabeth Brindley is next recorded as proprietress at the works in 1916, this being the only entry in the trade directory. The works on Halifax Road is then recorded as being operated by the Sheffield Brick Co. in 1925.

Made by the Rothervale Collieries Ltd at their Thurcroft Colliery, Rotherham. The brickworks was in operation from 1918, closing in 1992 after being taken over by Butterley Brick.

John Hall Gosling is recorded as owning collieries in the Chesterfield & Barlborough areas in the mid 19th century. 
He is listed as brickmaker in Kelly's 1864 to 1881 editions & then there is an entry for him in the Barlborough P.O. Directory for 1885. 
Kelly's 1887 & 1891 editions records Fredrick Gosling as brickmaker at Barlborough. Fredrick is John's son. 

This brick was possibly made at Dinnington Main Colliery near Rotherham which closed in 1992.


If you wish to visit the Heritage Centre I have pasted their link below.
http://www.barlboroughrc.btck.co.uk