Sunday 29 December 2019

Staffordshire Knot Bricks


With the Staffordshire Knot being synonymous with Stoke on Trent I have found that the symbol has been used by many different brick companies in the West Midlands on their bricks & tiles & those found so far are featured in this post together with information found on each company. As & when more examples turn up I will add them to the post. I have recently found that a brick stamped with a Staffs Knot was made in Australia & this brick is shown at the end of this post.


Ketley Brick Co.



First of all I wish to thank Richard Davenhill, Chairman of Hinton, Perry & Davenhill, owners of Ketley Brick & Dreadnought Tiles for the information received about his company. This info has filled in many blanks & it's at this point that I tell you that today's Ketley Brick Company at Pensnett was established in 1964 by Hinton, Perry & Davenhill owners of Dreadnought Tiles after taking over the original Ketley Brick Co. which had been established around 1880 in Kingswinford. In this 1964 take over H, P & D (formed in 1902) purchased the Ketley name, the business & it's tax losses, but not it's brickworks site which was sold by it's owner W.E. Skelding (Ted) for the purpose of building houses. Several key employees transferred to H, P & D's Dreadnought brick & tile works on Dreadnought Road, Pensnett & Ted Skelding took up the position of running the new company's sales department, a job he did until the mid 1980's. It was after this 1964 take over that H, P & D traded as Ketley Brick & Dreadnought Tiles. Found on Ancestry that William Edward (Ted) Skelding was the son of William Timmins Skelding, Managing Director of the original Ketley Brick Co. in 1908. William Timmins Skelding's father was Charles Skelding & I write about him & W.T. later. 

So the original Ketley Brick Company is first recorded at Kingswinford in Kelly's 1880 edition with William Wood as Manager. An advert for the company dated 17th of August in the Building News records Reuben Cull as Managing & Resident Partner. Kelly's 1892 edition records the Ketley Blue Brick Co. Limited at Kingswinford with W.T. Skelding as Manager. In the 1908 edition W.T. Skelding is now listed as Managing Director & the company has been renamed the Ketley Brick Co. Ltd. It's in Kelly's 1932 edition that the Company is first recorded with having a brickworks at Nagersfield, Brierley Hill, as well as at Kingswinford. Both these two works continue to be listed in the last two available editions of Kelly's in 1936 & 1940. 

I continue with the history of Ketley's after showing the locations of their two works in Kingswinford (old & new) & their Nagersfield works at Brierley Hill.

 © Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1901.

I do not have written evidence on the location of Ketley's first Kingswinford brickworks, but I am assuming that the works which I have coloured yellow on the 1901 OS map above & marked as the Ketley Brick Works was the brickworks owned by the Ketley Brick Company. This brickworks situated next to the canal is also shown on the 1882 OS map, so this works ties in with Ketley's first trade directory entry in 1880. The access road to the works was called Green Lane (coloured green), but was later renamed Ketley Road. The 1882 OS map also shows a house called Ketley House which was situated on Green Lane at it's junction with Dudley Road. So was the brickworks named after this house & was it's owners also called Ketley & they owned the land the brickworks was built on ? It's one to see if there are any land documents recording that a Mr. Ketley of Ketley House owned this land. This Mr. Ketley may have even been the brickworks first owner ? It's one to delve into another day.

The 1914 OS map shows that the Green Lane brickworks was still there, but marked as disused. It may have just been closed for WW1, but with talking to Richard Davenhill, he has told me that the location of Ketley's brickworks in 1964 was on Bromley Lane & I have coloured this works orange on the 1901 OS map above & Bromley Lane dark green. I am assuming that the clay reserves for red & blue bricks at the Green Lane works had nearly been exhausted & with not being able to purchase or lease more land W.T. Skelding then purchased the Bromley Lane brickworks sometime in the 1890's & had transfered all production to the Bromley Lane works by 1914. Searching trade directories has revealed that Richard North is listed as the owner the Bromley Lane brickworks in Kelly's 1868 to 1888 editions, then it's B. Wood in Kelly's 1892 edition at the Bromley brickworks, so this ties in with W.T. Skelding talking over the Bromley Lane works in the 1890's. Richard North also operated the Lays Brickworks at nearby Brockmoor, Brierley Hill between 1868 & 1888. 

I slightly digress to tell you that in John Cooksey's book about firebrick manufacturers, he records the Green Lane brickworks as being owned by J.T. Price, now John Thomas Price did not form his own company until 1913, so it appears Price re-opened this Green Lane Works sometime after 1914. Price also owned the nearby Kingswinford Works on Dudley Road (coloured red on the 1901 map above) & the Cricket Field Works & Leys Works both in Brierley Hill. The re-opened Green Lane works may have only been in production for a few years making firebricks from the lower quality clay still found on the Green Lane site as we find by 1930 the brickworks had gone & the site was now Ketley Quarry. It was in 1930 that local brickmaking company, Hinton, Perry & Davenhill who operated the Dreadnought Brick & Tile Works at Pensnett purchased the much extended Ketley Quarry (ref. 1938 OS map) for it's new clay reserves which had been found on land previously not worked. Richard tells me that extracting clay from this quarry has just ceased. Today's map shows that the quarry now extends the length of Ketley Road (Green Lane) from the old brickworks site & canal to Dudley Road. Also the remaining outbuildings of the once Ketley House (previously demolished) on the corner of Ketley Road & Dudley Road have now been demolished.

The 1948 OS map below shows Ketley's Nagersfield Brickworks at Buckpool, Brierley Hill which the company were running by 1932. This works was closed by Ketley in the late 1940's.

© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1948.

The timeline for the Nagersfield brickworks is as follows :-
1860 Kelly's - Howard Mathews & Co.
1872 Kelly's - William Richardson
1876 to 1880 Kelly's - Charles Skelding senior d.1883, Kelly's 1884 - Charles Skelding (junior), Kelly's 1888 Skelding Brothers (Charles junior & William Timmins Skelding)
1896 Kelly's - J.T. Wood & Brothers
1932 Kelly's - Ketley Brick Co. - Brickworks closed in the late 1940's.
There are still gaps in this timeline, so if any new info comes to light it will be add in due course.

I now fill you in on the Skelding family. Charles Skelding (1823-1883) operated the Nagersfield Brickworks & Colliery between 1876 & 1883. In the 1871 census Charles is recorded as a clay miner & so were his two eldest sons Benjamin (b.1845) & Charles junior (b.1849). After Charles senior's death Charles junior ran the business until his younger brother William Timmins Skelding (1862-1934) joined him & they are listed as the Skelding Brothers in Kelly's 1888 edition. It may have been around 1892 that J.T. Wood took over the Nagersfield Brickworks as we find William Timmins Skelding is now the Manager at the Ketley Brick Co. Kingswinford in 1892. William T. then became MD of Ketley's in 1908. William T.'s son William Edward (Ted) Skelding (1910-1994) joined him at Ketley's. After running Ketley's Ted then transfered over to the "New" Ketley Brick Co. in 1964, retiring in the mid 1980's. So the Skelding family were brickmaking for over one hundred years.

Now back to the Ketley Brick Co. & they continued to produced red & Staffordshire blue bricks at their Bromley Lane works until their business, but not their works as previously wrote was purchased in 1964 by local firm Hinton, Perry & Davenhill Ltd., owners of the Dreadnought Brick & Tile Works on Dreadnought Road, Pensnett (works coloured purple & road brown on the 1900 OS map above). Up to Skelding closing his Bromley Lane works he was still operating coal fired down-draft kilns & although H, P & D still had some of these kilns they had built two 18 chamber gas fired kilns. Richard tells me that after the takeover all of Ketley's production was moved to his Dreadnought Works which could easily handle the extra capacity. Also as previously wrote, Hinton, Perry & Davenhill in 1964 added the company name of The Ketley Brick Company to it's portfolio, a company which is still in production today at the Dreadnought Works, Pensnett producing bricks & pavers under the Ketley name & roof tiles under the Dreadnought trade name which was registered in 1907.

The brick below & the one at the top of this entry will more than likely have been made by the original Ketley Brick Co. between 1880 & 1964.


As a footnote Richard Davenhill tells me that before the 1964 take over of Ketley, Hinton, Perry & Davenhill at their Dreadnought Works only produced small batches of bricks & they were not stamped with any name & with the company being primarily roof tile manufacturers their tiles are stamped Dreadnought a trade name which was registered in 1907. Richard continues, if the Dreadnought name is on a straight line they were made before 1950 & if the Dreadnought name is in a circle shape they are post 1950. 

More history on Ketley Brick can be read at this link. https://www.ketley-brick.co.uk/ketley_story.html



Barnett & Beddows



Barnett & Beddows as partners operated the Atlas Brickworks (coloured yellow on the OS 1900 map below), which was situated off Stubbers Green Road (lilac) in Aldridge. The duo also operated other brickworks in the Aldridge area in their own own name. John Beddow owned three works; Barnfield, not shown on this 1900 map, but had been just to the left of Barnfield Bridge were it says tramway in the green area, his second works was Victoria & his third works was Northywood (both coloured purple). Edward Barnett owned the Springfield Works (coloured green) & it appears this works had extended it's clay pit into were the Barnfield works had been by 1900. 

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

According to the late Martin Hammond (British Brick Society) the partnership of Barnett & Beddows had been formed in 1890 with the duo first being listed at the Atlas Works in Kelly's 1900 edition. Kelly's 1900 edition reveals that Edward Barnett passed away in 1900 with the listing for his Springfield Works as Edward Barnett (exors of). So it appears that the company name of Barnett & Beddows continues after Edward Barnett's death. It is unknown if another Barnett was involved in the running of the company, John Beddows on the other had two sons who carried on his side of his business after his death. I mention at this point that Edward Barnett is first listed as brickmaking in Kelly's 1872 edition at Aldridge & Walsall Wood & John Beddows is first listed as brickmaking with his father or brother, William at Aldridge & Great Bridge, Tipton in Kelly's 1860 edition. 

Barnett & Beddows continue to be listed at the Atlas Works in Kelly's up to it's last edition in 1940. I then found that Barnett & Beddows closed their Atlas Works in 1988 & the site together with the former Springfield Brickworks site & the Coppy Hall Colliery site was later taken over by Salvesen who built their Sandown Brickworks there by 1992. We then find Wienerberger took over this works in the early 2000's & this Wienerberger works is still going strong today. 


Photos by David Jones courtesy of the "Old Bricks" website.

This Atlas Staffordshire Knot coping appears to have been made to cap a brick pillar. 

As a footnote, the Atlas name still lives on today in the form of it being the name of Ibstock's brickworks which was built in 1989. This works is situated on the south side of Stubbers Green Road, just off the bottom of the map above. Mike Chapman has informed me Ibstock had purchased the land for their new works from the Beddow Family & it appears they also acquired the Atlas name at the same time.



Sneyd, Burslem


Photo by Ray Martin.

Photo by Phil Burgoyne.

The Sneyd Colliery & Brickworks Co. Nile Street, Stoke had it's origins in 1844 when it was owned by C & J May. In 1876 the company was purchased by William Heath, Arthur Dean & William Anthony Marsden Tellwright. The company became a limited company in 1881 & the manger of the works at this date was Mr. S. Webster Dean. The Sneyd Colliery brickworks manufactured fire-clay bricks, their renowned high quality white & coloured glazed bricks together with red & Staffordshire blue bricks. The Sneyd brick above may have been made in the 1940's with Sneyd Collieries Ltd. being recorded in Durham Mining Museum's listings as producing common bricks in 1940. Only fire-clay bricks & glazed bricks are recorded as being made by the company at other dates in this list. The brickworks closed in 1962.

On the 1899 OS map below I have coloured the brickworks yellow & Nile Street red. 

 © Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1899.

Kelly's 1880 edition.

 Photo by David Kitching.
Photo by David Kitching.

With these two Staffordshire Knot bricks being found in Stoke they are strongly thought to have been made at the Sneyd Colliery Brickworks. 


Knutton Tileries Co.



The majority of this information has been taken from an article by David Kitching, custodian of the Penmorfa Brick site. During the later part of the 19th century John Howard Ketley was the principal partner involved in several undertakings in connection with extracting clay, manufacturing tiles & bricks as well as manufacturing coal briquettes from calcining mine dust. It has been established that from 1907 J.H. Ketley operated Knutton Tileries Co. Ltd. from a site alongside the North Staffordshire Railway line which ran from Newcastle to Silverdale (works coloured green on the 1922 OS map below). The company is first listed in Kelly's 1908 edition as Knutton Tileries Co. Ltd., Knutton, Newcastle under Lyme with William A. Benson as manager. In 1917 Knutton Tileries dropped the Co. & were then known as Knutton Tileries Ltd. until the company was wound up on the 2nd of June 1936 after the business had been acquired by G.H. Downing in 1932. So we know that the brick above was made between 1907 & 1917 with it being stamped with "Co.".

I have to note that there is no connection with John Howard Ketley & the Ketley Brick Co. at Kingswinford.


© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1922.

The entrance road to the works which I have coloured green is today Brock Way & the road shown bordering the northern edge of the works no longer exists.

Knutton Tileries in 1932.


Wood & Ivery



The Albion Brickworks at Greets Green, West Bromwich is first recorded as being owned by George Wood (b.1808) in Jones's 1865 edition. Situated on Albion Road, I have coloured this works yellow & Albion Road red on the 1902 OS map below. The works had it's own wharf on the Birmingham Canal. This map also shows that the Albion brickworks was situated adjacent to Joseph Hamblet's renowned blue brick works. I have found that George Wood had nine boys of which seven became brickmakers & they were working for him at various dates, only his youngest son, Enoch became an architect. His eldest son John died when he was young & William died when he was 23. George's second eldest son, George junior (b.1835) was to play a major part in running his father's Brades Brickworks, first with his brothers, then running it in his own name & later with his son George (b.1864). The 1871 census records George Wood (1808) as a Retired Brick Manufacturer living at Albion House, Bull Lane, West Bromwich & I have coloured Bull Lane brown & Albion House green on the 1902 OS map below.  

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

George Wood (1808) is then joined by J.W. Ivery at the Albion Brickworks & this partnership of Wood & Ivery is first listed in Kellys 1872 edition, but with George being recorded as being retired in 1871 the Wood in Wood & Ivery may now be George's son Daniel (b.1850) who is listed as Brick Manufacturer living with his father at Albion House. However in the 1881 census Daniel was brickmaking in Lincoln & by 1881 the Wood in Wood & Ivery from my research will have been another son, Samuel Wood (b.1853) with him being recorded as a Brick Manufacturer in the 1881 census. Hoping that I have found the correct J.W. Ivery on Family Search website, John William Ivery was the son of John Robert & Caroline Henrietta Ivery & he was christened on the 23rd of January 1853 in Old Swinford, Worcs.

The meaning of "Late Wood" in the Wood & Ivery advert below from Kelly's 1872 trade directory is recording that the brickworks had been run by George Wood (1808) on his own before he had entered into this partnership with John Ivery.



My next find on the web is an index page to a Prospectus for Wood & Ivery dated 19th of August 1876 in which it records that the company owned two works, the Albion Works, West Bromwich & one on the Radnall Field Estate in Oldbury. I have coloured W & I's Radnall Brickworks yellow on the 1902 OS map below. The brickworks shown on this map just above the Radnall Brickworks was called Radnor Field Brickworks & was run by William Morris & then by his executors of his Will, as recorded in Kelly's 1860 to 1940 editions. Here is the link to the 1914 OS map showing the names of both works, which can be slightly confusing with both brickworks having similar names.

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

Kelly's 1880 directory entry lists Wood & Ivery's Radnall Field Works as a branch works to it's Albion Works & I show this entry below as it also lists the many types of bricks & other clay products that W & I produced.


Kelly's 1880 Trade Directory.

With this Kelly's 1880 entry recording J.W. Ivery as General Manager, fellow brick collector Ray Martin spotted this W & I Staffordshire Knot coping brick in Sutton Coldfield. I have also seen this stamp mark on an extremely large coping brick in a reclamation yard, but the imprint was not as good as this one. Many thanks, Ray.

Photo by Ray Martin.
Photo by Ray Martin.

In the 1881 census John William Ivery is listed as a Manager of Brick Company & living with his wife Ellen & their four children at 42, Westfield Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham. I then did a search for John & his family in the 1891 census & with me not finding one I was then surprised to find documents recording that John William Ivery had emigrated to America in 1882 & his family followed him four years later. John is recorded as being a fireman at a clay mine in the States. So this begs the question of why John made this radical change to his life with him being in such a good job at the Albion Brickworks. It appears John's move to America did not affect the Company name of Wood & Ivery Limited as it was not changed after his departure. I have not being able to establish if another Mr. Ivery was involved with the Albion Brickworks afterwards, but I can say John's two sons joined him in America in 1886, so we can discount them. 

In the 1890's Wood & Ivery produced between 200,000 and 300,000 blue bricks a week at it's Albion Brickworks (British History Online) & in 1894 or 1895 the BBS Journal records that Wood & Ivery had received an order for 10 million bricks from the Great Central Railway. So the 1890's appears to have been a boom time for Wood & Ivery as the Company won many gold medals for their bricks at many trade shows around the world during this decade. 

The entry in Kelly’s 1904 edition is the last listing for Wood & Ivery at the Albion Works, West Bromwich, but the Radnall Brickworks, Church Bridge, Oldbury is still listed in Kelly's 1908 edition, so I am taking it that Wood & Ivery closed the Albion Works first shortly after 1904 & the Radnall Brickworks had closed by 1912 as there is no entry in Kelly's 1912 edition for this works. 

I end this entry with two more examples of Wood & Ivery's Staffordshire Knot bricks.


Photo by Ray Martin.



Hathern Brick Co.

The Hathern Station Brick and Terra Cotta Company near Loughborough, Leics. was established in 1874 by George Hodson & James F. Hodson. The first trade directory listing for the company appears in Kelly's 1876 edition. The brickworks was actually situated next to Hathern Railway Station on the edge of Sutton Bonnington village. The business flourished & 'Hathernware' & glazed faience wares were exported worldwide during the first three decades of the twentieth century with many cinemas being faced and decorated with the products from this works. Although the company survived into the 1970's when restoration projects began to provide much needed business, a takeover by Ibstock finally led to closure of the works in summer 2004. The Hathern name is now owned by Michelmersh Brick Holdings PLC & the company's terra cotta & faience wares are made at their Charnwood works in Shepshed.


December 1907 advert.


Hathern also produced blue bricks at their Cliff Brickworks in Cliff, Kingsbury near Tamworth, Staffs. which they took over from Richard Bennett of Derby after his death in late 1885. Kelly's Warks. 1888 edition is the first listing for the Hathern Brick Co. at Cliff. Hathern closed it's Cliff Works in 1969. Today this former Cliff Brickworks site is the clay pit to Wienerberger's massive blue brick works which was built on the former Whateley Colliery & Brickworks site. I have coloured the Cliff Brickworks green & it's access road red on the 1901 OS map below.

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

The Cliff Brickworks in 1928. 



D. Parson & Sons



Not been able to find much about brickmakers David Parsons & Sons other than the company is listed in Kelly's 1896 to 1924 editions as owning Stour Colliery & Brickworks situated in Cradley Heath & that David Parsons had purchased Stour Colliery from Corngreaves Iron Works, which was run by the Hingley family. From bricks found Parsons produced red house bricks & Staffordshire blue bricks. 

 © Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1938.

I have coloured Parson's brickworks yellow & his colliery green on this 1938 OS map, but who owned them at this 1938 date is not known as the last trade directory entry for Parsons is 1924. The road which I have coloured red & went to the brickworks is today's access road to the Lodge Forge Industrial Estate, however the site of the brickworks is now part of the Portersfield Trading Estate & has industrial units built upon it.


As a footnote I have found entries in Kelly's 1876 to 1892 editions for brickmakers Parsons & Cooper at Cradley Heath, whether there is any connection to David Parsons or where their brickworks was in Cradley Heath, I do not know.


Kingsbury Brick & Tile Co.

Mike Chapman (Aug. 21) has sent me this Kingsbury Staffordshire Knot tile which was made by the Kingsbury Brick & Tile Co. This company was owned by Kingsbury Collieries Ltd. in 1947. Kingsbury Collieries owned several collieries in the area, Kingsbury, Dexter & Whateley & it was at Whateley Colliery were the brickworks was situated. In what year the Kingsbury Brick & Tile was formed is unknown at present, but the 1938 OS map still shows this brickworks as Whateley Colliery & Brickworks, situated near to Doshill. A 1902 map showing Whateley Colliery & Brickworks can been seen in the Hathern entry above. Mike tells me Baggeridge Brick took over this brickworks in the 1950's, naming it the Kingsbury Works. Baggeridge Brick has an interesting past in the fact that it was entirely owned by the Earl of Dudley & his family. The Earl originally ran his two brickworks in Dudley Port (Conegre Works) & Hartlebury under his own name. The Earl had named his new company after Baggeridge Colliery which he also owned. Baggeridge Brick along with it's many brickworks was sold to Wienerberger in 2006 & today this Kingsbury brickworks is still producing Staffordshire blue bricks. I visited this brickworks with the British Brick Society in 2019. 

Photo by Mike Chapman.


Hawkins

It's strange that when one tile turns up another soon follows, just like buses. Ian Suddaby found this Hawkins Colliery Staffordshire knot one in Falkirk, Scotland, so a fair way from home.

Photo by Ian Suddaby.

Ian writes :- "A plain roof tile made by the Hawkins family at Longhouse Brick & Tile Works near Cannock, Staffordshire. It's 6½" x 10½". There is a faint 2W692 at the top under the mounts. Early 20C? Found at Falkirk, Scotland in association with similar, but more common Rosemary tiles which were also made near Cannock." 


With having repairs done to my own house roof, found they are Hawkins Staffordshire Knot tiles, what a surprise.

Joseph Hawkins took over the lease on Cannock Old Coppice Colliery in 1869 which was then locally known as Hawkins Colliery. A brickworks was established at nearby Longhouse on the opposite side of the canal which I have coloured green on the 1900 OS map below. The Hawkins family continued to own this brick & tile works even after the colliery was Nationalised in 1947. Cannock Old Coppice Colliery was situated just off the bottom of this map roughly were it says Cheslyn Hay.

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

Ian Suddaby has found another Staffordshire Knot related item in Falkirk & his photo below shows a Staffordshire Knot on one of the pyrometric cones which have melted during their use in a brick or ceramic kiln.  

Photo by Ian Suddaby.

As I was totally unaware of these cones a search on the web has revealed these cones were invented by German chemist Hermann Seger (c.1870) who made them to each melt at a different temperature. These cones were put into a kiln & when they melted they signified the correct temperature had been achieved in the firing of porcelain. These cones were also put into brick kilns to signify a specific temperature had been reached in the firing of the bricks. So why have these cones got the Staffordshire Knot stamped on them I hear you ask & Mark Cranston found the answer in a newspaper article in the Staffordshire Sentinel dated 11th February 1915, in which it says due to the industry not being able to obtain these Seger Cones from Germany due to the WW1, Dr Mellor of the Central School of Science & Technology in Stoke came forward & said he could produce these cones & had already received a very large number of orders & it was decided that they would stamp them with the Staffordshire Knot logo. There you have it. Sorted.   


Daniel Platt & Sons

Photo by Karen Rice.

Karen Rice found this OP Staffordshire Knot tile in a freshly ploughed field near Goole, South Yorkshire. The 1931 Clayworkers Directory lists the letters OP as a Trade Mark used by Daniel Platt & Sons of Tunstall, Stoke on his pressed tiles. The 1937 OS map below shows Platts Brownhills Tileries situated just off Brownhills Road, Tunstall which was operational between 1896 & 1996. Platts also operated the Harpfield Tileries in Newcastle, Staffs. between 1871 & the early 1920's.  

 © Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1937.



Belinda Turner has sent me this image of a Staffordshire Knot brick which came from a demolished house in Brisbane, Australia, with Belinda asking if it had come from the UK. Having seen one of these bricks on the Penmorfa brick website I replied saying it was an Australian made brick. So here is the info relating to this brick which has been reproduced with the permission of the Penmorfa website. 

Frank Hunt writes ;- Made by Samuel Webb who had brickworks at Lutwyche & Stafford in the northern suburbs of Brisbane in the 1880s. The Brisbane coat of arms contains the Stafford Knot with the City being named after Sir Thomas Brisbane who was Governor of New South Wales until 1825, of which Brisbane was part of until 1869, when Queensland became a State. When he joined the British Army in 1789 he was in the Staffordshire Regiment. so Knots everywhere !!! 

Pottery stamped with the Staffordshire Knot logo can be seen at this link.

I wish to thank the following people for their help, info, maps, adverts & photos.
Richard Davenhill
Mike Chapman
David Kitching
Ian Suddaby
Ray Martin
Karen Rice
Belinda Turner
National Library of Scotland/Ordnance Survey
Graces Guide
Britain from Above




Tuesday 5 November 2019

Burton-on-Trent Brickworks

From old maps I have established brickmaking took place in three areas of Burton on Trent & these were in Stapenhill, Winshill & Shobnall Road. There was also a works in nearby Anslow which I have included in this post. 

I write about each of these three areas in turn & in most cases I have been unable to establish which brickmaker owned which brickyard due to the fact that trade directories do not give a brick yard/works address for these brickmakers, so I can only show their bricks together with the trade directory entries found. Then in each of the three areas, I list the other brickmakers found in trade directories to which stamped bricks have yet to be found.   


Stapenhill

The first three OS maps shown below dated 1882, shows there were four brick yards on Rosliston Road (dark green) Stapenhill. The red yard is shown on the top two maps with it being situated on the edge of both these maps, then the green yard is shown on both maps two & three. There were three yards situated on or near Stanton Road (orange). Only the two brickworks on Stanton Road are still shown on the 1900 OS map with the rest having closed by 1900. 

© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1882.

© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1882.
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1882.

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


Photos by Nigel Furniss.

I start with John Rowland who is listed in Wright's 1874 & Kelly's 1876 editions at Stapenhill. Which of the seven Stapenhill yards he owned is unknown. My Dad would have liked to have seen this brick because his first name was Rowland with a w. Alas this brick turned up 30 years to late for him to have seen it. If it had turn up all those years ago I am sure he would have put it on his mantlepiece !


Photos by Frank Lawson.


Photos by Vicki Eaglefield.

With a photo of a R. Scattergood, Cannock blue coping brick turning up, this brick has lead me to delve deeper into the Scattergood Family & this blue brick was made by Robert junior, but I first start with his father, Robert senior, Robert junior & three other brothers making red bricks in Stapenhill, Burton.

Robert Scattergood snr was born in 1803 & the 1851 census records him aged 48, a brickmaker & married to Mary together with their 6 sons & 1 daughter in Burton. In the 1851 census second son James aged 19 b.1832 is listed as a brickmaker & fourth son Edward aged 15 b.1836 is listed as a brickmakers apprentice. We next find in the 1861 census that Robert snr is still listed as a brickmaker & sons, John b.1829 & Robert junior b.1839 are also listed as brickmakers & living with Robert snr & Mary in St. Modwen, Burton. The 1871 census only lists Robert snr aged 68, a Brick Master & son John as a brickmaker at Stapenhill with Robert snr employing 15 men. By 1871 Robert junior was brickmaking in Cannock. 

Robert Scattergood (snr) is listed as brickmaker in Stapenhill in White's 1857 edition & Kelly's 1864 edition. Which of the seven Stapenhill yards he owned is unknown. Robert senior died in 1873 & Wright's 1874 & Kelly's 1876 editions records son John Scattergood was operating the Stapenhill works. 1876 is the last Stapenhill entry for the Scattergood family. 

Photo by Julie Green reproduced with the permission of the Penmorfa brick website.

I next write about Robert junior brickmaking in Cannock & it appears Robert moved to Cannock shortly after the 1861 census which records him brickmaking in Stapenhill with his father & brother John. Robert jnr married Hannah Holmes in either April, May or June 1862 in Litchfield & the couple produce a daughter, Anne Cecilia who sadly died when she was only one, but I then found Hannah also had died sometime in 1863 or 1864 & Robert, a widower is then recorded as marrying Elizabeth Cox on the 17th of October 1865 by Licence. This marriage document records Robert's profession as a brickmaker. Kelly's 1868, 72 & 76 editions record Robert as making blue bricks at Rumer Hill, Cannock. 

Kelly's 1876 edition.

The 1882 OS map below shows there were three brickworks at Rumer Hill & there may have been another brickworks opposite the yellow coloured yard with there being large buildings & a water filled clay pit ? Kelly's 1876 edition lists three brickmakers at Rumer Hill, Robert Scattergood, William Jones & William Gilbert. Both Scattergood & Gilbert are known to have manufactured blue bricks & copings for railway & canal contracts. I cannot say for certain which works was owned by Robert Scattergood, but with him being listed as a brick & tile maker in the 1871 census that may rule out the red coloured yard. So the 1871 census records Robert as a brick & tile maker living with Elizabeth, 2 sons & 1 daughter in Leacroft, Cannock. The 1881 census only records him as a Tile Maker. I next found by the 1891 census Robert had moved his family to Titchfield in Hampshire & was no longer a brickmaker. 

© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1882.

I then found this little titbit of info on a family tree site that Boris Johnson PM is the 4x grandson of Robert Scattergood. It's surprising what you can find on the web.

Photo by Peter Hubbard.

With this Scattergood, Lichfield image being sent to me by Peter Hubbard, I originally thought this was another works owned by Robert junior, but trade directory entries & other information found has resulted in finding this Lichfield Scattergood was Richard Scattergood who may or may not have been related to the two Robert's. However I have added Richard to this post just in case he is.

Richard Scattergood a builder & brickmaker in Lichfield is listed as a brickmaker in Kelly’s 1880 & 1884 editions with the address of Bel Vue House, Lichfield. Richard went bankrupt in May 1885 with a newspaper article stating he lived on London Road, Lichfield & had been in business for 18 years. It appears Richard first established himself as a builder before adding brickmaking to his business with him not being listed as a brickmaker in Kelly’s 1876 edition.


Henry Larkin is listed in Kelly's 1855, White's 1857 & Kelly's 1864 & 1876 editions at Stapenhill. Again, which of the seven Stapenhill yards he owned is unknown.


Henry Durant is listed in Kelly's 1864 edition & Harrods 1870 edition as brick & pipe maker in Stapenhill. Which of the seven Stapenhill yards he owned is unknown.


William Elverson is listed in Wright's 1874 edition at the Laurels then Kelly's 1876 through to Kelly's 1888 edition at Stapenhill. Which of the seven Stapenhill yards he owned is unknown. Laurels may have been his residence.



Samuel Simnett is listed in White's 1857 edition with the address of Station Street, Stapenhill & this entry is followed by Harrison's 1860 & Kelly's 1864 & 76 editions at Stapenhill. So again which of the seven Stapenhill yards he owned is unknown as Station Street was in the centre of Burton & may have been Samuel's home address. Samuel married Mary Durant on the 10th of April 1848 in Rosliston, Derbys. There's a possibility that Mary Durant & Henry Durant, brickmaker in the above entry were brother & sister, but this is still to be proven. Samuel died on the 8th of October 1878 & his estate went to probate. Listed in Samuel & Mary's marriage entry is Samuel's father, Thomas Simnett & I have found a T. Simnett brickmaking at Church Broughton, Derbys. in Kelly's 1855 edition, so I am assuming this was Samuel's father. Stapenhill & Rosliston are just over three miles apart & Church Broughton is about ten miles to the north of Stapenhill. 


Hezekiah Potter is listed as brickmaker on Rosliston Road, Stapenhill in Kelly's 1884, 1888 & 1892 editions. So from the yard address of Rosliston Road we have a choice of Hezekiah Potter owning either the red, blue, green or pink yard, as shown on the 1882 OS map above. 
     

Ballard & Co. are listed as brickmakers in Kelly's 1876, 1880 & 1884 editions at Stapenhill. Ballard & Co.'s yard was on Stanton Road, Stapenhill & I have coloured this yard brown on the 1882 OS above. I found the location of Ballard's yard in a web article about human skeletons & artefacts being found by clay-getters in the next brickfield to Ballard's owned by Mr. Chamberlain & I write about that yard after the next shown brick. Ballard & Co.'s yard may have closed soon after their last 1884 trade directory entry, but it appears that the works had been re-opened by 1900 when Sam Lowe is listed as brickmaker on Stanton Road, Stapenhill in Kelly's 1900 edition. This is the only entry for Sam Lowe & a brick stamped Sam Lowe has still to be found. Sam Lowe may be connected to Lowe & Sons, brickmakers on Shobnall Road & Winshill in Burton, but I have not been able to establish a connection.

Photo by Frank Lawson.

I have not been able to find any info or TD's on D. Shreeve & Son, Burton, but I have found info for Richard Shreeve brickmaking in Stapenhill & he may be the son in D. Shreeve & Son, but it's only a guess. Richard Shreeve is listed in the 1851 & 1861 census as a brickmaker living in Stapenhill. Then at the time of his daughter's baptism on the 20th of July 1862, he is still recorded as a brickmaker. These 1860 dates tie in to when bricks were first stamped with the makers name.


I now list the Stapenhill brickmakers who's bricks have still to be found & are listed in trade directories at Stapenhill. 

The yellow coloured yard/works as shown on the 1882 & 1900 OS maps above was owned by Joseph Chamberlain. As previously wrote the location of Joseph Chamberlain's yard was found in a web article about human skeletons & artefacts being found by Chamberlain's workmen while they were digging clay, this was on the 1st of February 1881. The workmen first found two large earthenware pots which had burn bones inside. It was later established that these pots were Saxon burial urns. Archaeologists were then called in to excavate the rest of the brickfield site & more remains & artefacts were found. The brickfield next door owned by Mr. Ballard was also excavated, but no remains or artefacts were found there. A brick stamped Chamberlain, Stapenhill has still yet to be found, but there are several trade directory entries for this brickmaker in Kelly's. The first appears in Kelly's 1876 edition & it reads Chamberlain & Haynes, Stapenhill. It appears that this partnership was short lived as subsequent entries from 1880 to 1896 now read Joseph Chamberlain, Stanton Road, Stapenhill. There is no Chamberlain entry in Kelly's 1900 edition. We then find the entry in Kelly's 1904 & 1908 editions now read J. Chamberlain & Co. Stanton Road, Stapenhill. 1908 is the last entry for Chamberlain. The two Stanton Road brickworks owned by Chamberlain & Ballard / Lowe are shown as disused on the 1920 OS map.

Thomas Haynes - Kelly's 1855 & White's 1857 edition. Now if this is the Haynes in Chamberlain & Haynes as recorded in Kelly's 1876 edition, then Thomas Haynes more than likely owned the yellow coloured yard on Stanton Road & may have retired from brickmaking between 1876 & 1880. 

William Lakin - Harrison's 1860 edition. Could be brother to Henry Lakin who's brick is shown above & was brickmaking around the same time.

J.T. Povser - Kelly's 1876 & 1880 editions. Which of the Stapenhill yards he owned is unknown.


Shobnall Road

There were two brickworks on Shobnall Road as shown on the 1882 & 1900 OS maps below. One was owned by Lowe & Sons & the other by George Hodges, but I have been unable to establish which yard was owned by which man. Both these gentlemen also owned brickworks at Winshill & I write about their other yards later. There are no more brickmakers recorded in trade directories as working on Shobnall Road, so it appears both these yards were started & closed by Lowe & Hodges. 

Updated - 12.4.20.
Derek in Australia has contacted me with this information which puts Lowe & Son at the green works & George Hodges at the yellow works. Many Thanks Derek.

"I lived on Reservoir Road for the first 25 years of my life & so the old clay pits were a magic play area for me. By then, of course, they were only being used as tips by builders Lowe & Hodges. I’m fairly certain that the one closest to Reservoir Road was used by Lowe’s & the other by Hodges. This might help you in working out which one was owned by which company. There was the remnant of the brickworks there in the form of a short length of tunnel which was an especially great play area."

 © Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1882.
 © Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1900.

Photo by Frank Lawson.


Lowe & Sons are listed in Kelly's 1880 edition on Shobnall Road, Burton & this entry continues until Kelly's 1900 edition. How long after 1900 Lowe & Sons continued to produce bricks at this yard is unknown, but the works is not shown on the 1920 OS map, only the outline of the clay pit is shown.


George Hodges was a Stonemason who established a building company in 1877. The first reference to George Hodges owning a brickworks is in Kelly's 1884 edition when he is listed in the Brick & Tile Makers section as brickmaking on Shobnall Road. The next entry in Kelly's 1892 edition lists him at 115, Byrkley Street, Burton & I have established from the 1881 census that this was his home address. Kelly's 1896 edition lists him at 96, Derby Street & this was his builders yard/offices. The census entries for George Hodges only list him as a Builder or Building Contractor & not as a brickmaker, so it appears he was making bricks for his own use. His building company is still going strong today, but alas there are no more Hodges running the company as Geoffrey Hodges, a bachelor without any heirs retired in 1977. Back to the brickworks & the Shobnall Road yard continues to be listed in Kelly's 1904, 1908 & 1912 editions. George Hodges died in 1916, so the brickworks may have closed sometime between 1912 & 1916. The yard is not shown on the 1920 OS map only the outline of the clay pit. After George's death the building company was run by his son, Frederick Hodges.


Winshill

The 1882 OS map shows there were four brickworks in Winshill, two on Bearwood Road & two on Ashby Road, but by 1900 there were only three.

© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1882.

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



A small company booklet produced by building firm Lowe & Sons in Burton Library records Thomas Lowe established his building company in 1825 then opening his Winshill brickworks on the south side of Ashby Road in 1832. Thomas Lowe died in 1878 & the brickworks was then run by building firm Lowe & Sons who are listed in Kelly's 1876 to 1896 editions at Winshill. Thomas's first son William had died in 1887, so it was his second son Thomas B. Lowe who was now running the company. William's son Thomas E. Lowe later joined his uncle Thomas in the running of the company. Kelly's 1900 & 1904 editions now actually records the brickworks address as Ashby Road, Winshill. I have been unable to established if Lowe's owned the green or red works on Ashby Road as shown on the 1882 & 1900 OS maps above. As previously wrote Lowe & Sons owned another brickworks on Shobnall Road, Burton. There are no more Lowe & Sons trade directory entries after 1904 & the 1920 OS map only shows two old clay pits on Ashby Road, so it appears this works closed sometime before WW1 & Lowe's were no longer making their own bricks. 


George Hodges second brickworks was on Bearwood Road, Winshill & this is the yellow coloured yard on the 1882 & 1900 OS maps above. This Bearwood Road/Winshill works is only listed in Kelly's 1900 & 1904 editions, so it unknown how long George Hodges actually owned this works with finding other brickmakers also operated in Windshill before George Hodges' TD dates & these brickmakers are listed after the next brickmaker. This yellow coloured Bearwood Road works is not shown on the 1920 OS map.

Photo by Frank Lawson.

The only info found on this brickmaker is that Richard Jordan is recorded as owning the Steam Brickworks, Winshill, the date of which is unknown, also no trade directory entries have been found for this brickmaker. However Kelly's 1904 &1908 editions lists the Jordan Brothers at London Road Wharf, Derby, so this may be Richard Jordan ? Which of the four brickworks shown on the maps above was the Steam Brickworks is unknown.

I now list the Winshill brickmakers who's bricks have still to be found & are listed in trade directories or info about them has been found on the web. Which of the four brickworks in Winshill they owned is mostly unknown.

T. Cooper Kelly's 1864 edition.

A web article records William Bond as brickmaking on Bearwood Road (yellow or purple yard) in the 1850's then Mrs. C. Bond is listed as brickmaking in Winshill in Kelly's 1876 edition.

Benjamin Gregory, Kelly's 1876 edition.

Herbert B. Smith, Kelly's 1884 to 1892 editions.

Morris & Edwards, Kelly's 1896 edition.  


Anslow

Anslow is a village 3 miles north-west of Burton on Trent.

 © Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1881.

 © Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1920.

Photo by Nigel Furniss.

William Harrison is listed as brickmaking at the Anslow Brickworks (coloured yellow on the two maps above) in Kelly's 1896 to 1908 edtions. In the 1911 census Herbert Harrison (William's son) is listed as a Brickworks Manager, so running the works for his father. I then found Kelly's 1912 edition now reads Herbert Harrison, Anslow, so Herbert had now taken full control of the works. The next directory entry in Kelly's 1916 edition lists Harrison & Co. at the Anslow works same as this brick & this is the only entry for Harrison & Co. A Derbyshire Advertiser newspaper article dated the 12th of September 1919 reveals Sir Oswald Mosley of Rolleston Hall, Burton was selling his home, estate & the Anslow Brickworks at auction, so from this information I have concluded the Harrison family only leased the works from Sir Oswald Mosley & this lease appears to have ended when Sir Oswald Mosley put the brickworks up for sale. I then established from another Derbyshire Advertiser notice dated the 12th of March 1921, the brickworks did not sell in this 1919 auction with this notice advertising the sale of the brickworks plant & machinery at an auction on the 23rd of March 1921 at 11 o'clock. Therefore that accounts for the brickworks still being shown on the 1920 OS map with the decision being made to sell the works plant & machinery rather than to wait for a buyer to purchase the brickworks as a whole. 


I wish to thank the following :-
National Library of Scotland/Ordnance Survey - maps.
https://maps.nls.uk/index.html
Nigel Furniss - photos.
Frank Lawson - photos.