This post is dedicated to smooth faced pavers found with a makers name stamped in them. I have to say when visiting reclamation yards that I have found just as many smooth faced pavers without a makers name in them as well & these pavers may have been made before 1855. 1855 is the first year that myself & fellow collectors have been able to establish brickmakers stamped their bricks with their name & this coincides with the introduction of machinery to press the clay into brick moulds.
With the face of each paver being basically the same other than it's size & shape, I am mainly showing the named side of the paver. However some recent finds has resulted in me taking three photos, face, side & named side. In a nutshell this post is a pictorial list recording the many brick makers & companies which made smooth faced pavers. The majority of these pavers are no more than 2 inches deep & therefore were chiefly used in footpaths. Any photos not credited to in this post are by me.
The following red pavers are very similar in size to the George Boot above.
Andrew Wain's Mill Lane works was operational from 1881 to 1916 at Heather in Leicestershire.
JKD = James Kent, Stockbrook Lane, Derby. James is listed in Kelly's 1876 & 1881 editions.
Edward Dusautoy's works was next door to James Kent's & Dusautoy is listed in Kelly's 1881 to 1904 editions.
J. Ballard & Co are listed in Kelly's 1876 to 1884 editions at Stapenhill, Burton on Trent.
Coton Park Brickworks, Linton near Burton upon Trent was operational from 1881 to around 1898.
Samuel Warr of Cradley was operational between 1865 & 1876.
Photo by Ray Martin.
The Holly Bush Brick Co. was in Cheslyn Hay, Walsall & is recorded as being operational in Kelly's 1900 & 04 editions with the works shown as disused on the 1915 OS map.
For a long time this monogramed smooth faced paver had myself & several other collectors baffled on what the letters were. It was not until we found these initialled bricks & pavers were mostly turning up in Leicestershire that I twigged it was W. C. Co. Ld. for Whitwick Colliery Co. Ltd. I expect if a company letterhead had turned up with this monogram on we would have cracked it long ago.
Isaac Wilson then John Wilson ran the Gallows Inn brickworks situated on Nottingham Road, Ilkeston between c 1849 to 1876.
The Ilkeston Brick Co. operated it's Shaw Street works from 1907 to July 1922 when the company went into Voluntary Liquidation.
The Lunsford Brick Co. in Bexhill, East Sussex were the makers of this smooth faced paver which I photographed at Oldfield's Reclamation, Oldhill in June 2021.
A smooth faced paver from the Erewash Brick & Pipe Co. Eastwood, Notts. This company later amalgamated with the Eastwood Brick Co. in 1920 to form the Manners Brick Co. who continued to run both works & a Manners example of a smooth faced paver is shown next.
This is Stanley in Derbyshire & this paver was made by either by John Barber or the Small Brothers who both ran the Sough Lane (now Dale Road) works just south of Stanley village. Barber is my preferred choice as he did stamp Stanley on the reverse of his bricks, in the same typeface.
Photo by Phil Burgoyne.
James Smith established the Skiers Spring Brickworks, Hoyland, Barnsley in 1876 on land owned by Earl Fitz Willam. The brickworks later came under the control of the Earl hence bricks then being stamped with the initials EFW.
The Coronet Brick Co. Atherstone Road, Measham was operational between 1903 & 1965 & with this brick being stamped BCM for British Commercial Monomarks (postal address) we can date this brick to the early 1930's.
KP = Ketley Paver & was made in Pensnett near Dudley. This paver is slightly larger than the ones above.
This brickworks on Heanor Road, Loscoe, Derbyshire was in production from 1880 to 1976, but I am dating this paver to around 1900.
Hathern Brick Co. Cliff Brickworks, Tamworth, Staffs. established 1881, closed 1961. This company also operated a works in Leicestershire where they were well known for producing their terra cotta wares.
This Cakemore paver may have been a "Special" & made solely to advertise the introduction of the companies CBB Trade Mark. I have donated this paver to the Black Country Living Museum & hopefully it will be put on display when the new building dedicated to brickmaking is built.
Another example made by Cakemore this time with a smooth face.
George Wood, Albion Brickworks, West Bromwich. I have also donated this paver to the BCLM.
This Star of David 4 inch square stable block was made by Peter & Samuel Wood at their Pumphouse Brickworks in West Bromwich & it is on display at the Black Country Living Museum.
I have three pavers of different sizes with this Star of David frog made by P. & S. Wood & they range from 1.5 inches deep to 2.75 inches deep.
Wood & Ivery, West Bromwich paver with the Staffordshire Knot logo.
I photographed this brick at Derby Museum in 2014 & it's only recently that I have found smooth faced pavers were made with this stamp mark. I did not check at the time to see if this was a paver. It is thought that Barnett & Beddows made this commemorative brick at their Atlas Works in Aldridge.
Photo by Ray Martin.
Ray found this Victoria Works, Aldridge smooth faced paver in his garage & he tells me that it measures 9 x 4.5 x 2 inches. It was made by John Beddow & Sons & this company was operational between 1860 to at least 1940 (last available trade directory).
K.T. Co. = Knutton Tilleries, Stoke was operational between 1902 & 1936.
Fenton Tileries in Stoke was operation between 1875 to at least 1900.
The Empire Brick & Tile Co's. works was situated next to Homer's Bridge, Aldridge, Walsall Wood & this company is first listed in Kelly's 1896 edition. The last advert found for the Empire Brick Co. advertising "Bricks for Sale" is dated March 1961, so it appears the brickworks closed soon after with the company not being listed in the 1961 edition of the Clayworkers Directory. Link to map showing the works. Please note Homer's Bridge was later renamed Northywood Bridge.
Iron was a trade mark name owned by James Downing, Defiance Brickyard, Chesterton, Stoke then by George Henry Downing who were operational from 1900 to the 1970's.
George Skey's Wilncote works near Tamworth was operational between 1860 & 1936.
Daniel Platt (later & Sons) owned two works, Harpfield Tileries in Newcastle, Stoke & from 1896 Brownhills Tileries in Tunstall, Stoke producing facing bricks, paving bricks, quarries, tiles, ridges & finials. The London Gazette reveals Platt had left the partnership of James Malpass & Daniel Platt at Madeley Heath, Stafford in 1871 with Platt then going into partnership with George Hollins at Harpfield Tileries. Hollins then left this partnership in January 1874 leaving Platt as sole owner of Harpfield & Kelly's 1875 edition is the first listing of Daniel Platt, Harpfield Tileries, Newcastle, Stoke. We next find in Kelly's 1888 to 1896 editions the entry is Harpfield Tileries, Stoke Road, Newcastle with Daniel Platt as Managing Director. The other partners in Harpfield Tileries were George Hollins, William Boulton & Thomas Edge. Boulton & Edge left the partnership in December 1892 & Boulton left the partnership in June 1894 leaving Platt as sole owner of Harpfield Tileries. With the need to expand Platt in 1896 opened Brownhills Tileries, Tunstall, Newcastle on a site which had produced bricks & tiles since 1820. We next find the listing in Kelly's 1900 edition is now Daniel Platt & Sons. The 1931 Clayworkers Directory reveals Platt was using the letters OP as a Trade Mark on his bricks & pressed tiles an example of which is shown above. Daniel Platt died in August 1941 & the company continued as Platts Ltd. A photo on Staffordshire Fast Track shows Platt's Brownhill Tileries in 1964. A Staffordshire Sentinel newspaper article states that in early 1988 the Bardon Group of Leicester, quarries & building products, purchased Platts Ltd for 7 million pounds & relaunched Platts Ltd in December 1988. By the re-launch half a million pounds of production improvements had been pumped into Platt's Brownhills Tileries factory which was employing 144 people. I have found a reference stating the Brownhills Tileries works closed in 1996.
Photos by Ray Martin.
Ray tells me that all these three smooth faced pavers measure 9 x 4.5 x 2 inches. It is thought the two Diamond Jubilee pavers were made by Barnett & Beddows & the Jubilee one could be the Jubilee Brick Co., Moxley, Wednesbury. Continuing the Royalty theme I acquired this King George V 1910 smooth faced paver made by Barnett & Beddows in June 2023.
Another smooth faced paver from Barnett & Beddows made at their Atlas Works in Aldridge, Walsall.
Photo by Alison Milton.
Alison spotted this smooth faced paver while visiting St. James the Great Church at Long Marston, Warwickshire.
Started in 1878 by Henry Dennis this large concern in Wales was operational for more than 100 years at their Ruabon & Hafod works.
Photo by Greg Julian.
Greg found this Bentley Tileries, Stoke smooth faced paver in a friends garden. Bentley Tileries was established in 1927 taking over Joseph Timmis's Bradwell Wood works in Wolstanton. So this paver will have been made around 1930 with it being stamped BCM = British Commercial Monomarks.
Photo by Christian Vogt.
Christian found this 2 inch deep smooth faced P & S Wood paver in the tidal waters of the River Elbe close to Hamburg, Germany. Christian tells me that thousands of buildings destroyed in Hamburg during WW2 were dumped in the area next to the river where he found this brick. Many Thanks Christian for your contribution.
James Smart produced this blue paver at his Halesowen works, but he his better known for owning the California Brickworks near Weoley Castle, Birmingham & producing orangey-red coloured bricks.
With finding this W. Farish of Chester example marked as a paver in my brick albums I am not 100% sure if this is a smooth paver or not, so added just incase. I photographed this paver at Beeston Reclamation, Cheshire in 2019. If I do find that it is a patterned paver, I will move it to the appropriate post.
Photographed at Cawarden, I remember this paver to be at least 10 x 5 x 2 inches in size & very heavy.
I photographed this ABC, 2 inch paver at Cawarden Reclamation, whether it's _ _ _ _ _ Brick Co. or just lettered ABC, I do not know. It may be like the XYZ bricks which several have been found around Renishaw in Derbyshire. ABC or XYZ may have been used during WW2 to disguise the location of the works as only a handful of works were kept open during the war.
Photos by Spencer Mathews.
Spencer found this smooth faced paver in Maidens Green near Bracknell in June 2020.
Photo by Mike Chapman.
Mike photographed this paver in Epperstone, Notts. but one has also turned up in Somerset. So it's a mystery where & who made this paver. I have put forward the suggestion that it's a palm tree, but am I right ? In June 2022 some bull-nose cill bricks turned up in Chesterfield with this design on & some pavers turned up in Flintshire at the same time, so these bricks could be Welsh & made in the Buckley area ? It's been suggested that it's the Tree of Life, hence the Welsh druid connection.
Photographed this same palm paver at Cawarden's in July 2021.
Photo by Mike Chapman.
Mike spotted this Southwater paver when visiting The Lanes in Brighton & it maybe fairly modern.
This next set of four pavers were all made in the Buckley area of North Wales & are in Paul Davies' collection. With the face of each of these pavers being very similar I have just show the C. Davison one.
Photos by Paul Davies.
While I was in contact with Paul about his pavers he brought my attention to "Southport Pavers" which I was totally unaware of & they had been made by several brick companies in the Buckley area of North Wales & these include Davidson's & Catherall's. Apparently when the Blundell Family were developing Southport in the late 1900's into an up-market coastal holiday resort, their agents turned to these Buckley brickworks to produce a variation of their hard wearing vitrified stable blocks to create tree lined walkways & boulevards in this up & coming town. Hence these pavers being named "Southport Pavers." Today many of these footpaths still survive in the town centre & some have been relaid in other parts of the town after an out-cry by local residents in the late 1980's when the council was going to replace them with tarmac. Paul Davies sent me the following three photos & they show these pavers in-situ & a Davidson one which is in his collection. Please note some pavers are laid showing the makers name in this first photo.
Photos by Paul Davies, Secretary of the Buckley Society.
Paul tells me this Davidson paver is 9 inches square & more can be read about these Southport Pavers at this link. https://www.pavingexpert.com/southports_01
Also a Davidson catalogue showing these Southport pavers (on page 7) can be seen at this link.
This Davison & Co. "Adamantine" paver Ewloe nr Chester may also be one of these "Southport Pavers" & this photo was taken by Iain Taylor & has been reproduced with the permission of the Penmorfa Brick website.
Many Thanks to :-
Mike Chapman
Paul Davies, Secretary of the Buckley Society
Ray Martin
Christian Vogt