Patterned Brick Pavers - part 2

In Patterned Brick Pavers part 2, I pictorially record the many different designs of the deeper block type pavers found so far & these pavers can measure anything from 3 to 5 inches deep. I am assuming these thicker block pavers could withstand more weight than the 2 inch versions, hence there use in stables & farmyards etc. The thinner 2 inch pavers are covered in Patterned Brick Pavers - part 1. 

In most cases I show three images of the same paver, face, side view & reverse & any photos not credited to are by me. The majority of these pavers by me were photographed at Cawarden Reclamation in Rugeley, who always have plenty of stock to chose from. 

If you have images of any block pavers not shown in this post, please get in touch via email please, my details are on the Contacts Tab at the top of this page & I will gladly add them to the post. Thanks, Martyn.

So I start with this deep block paver made by Hamblet of West Bromwich & to me this design resembles a tree leaf.

Photos by Frank Lawson.

B B Staffordshire Knot = Barnett & Beddow, Atlas Works, Aldridge.

With this block paver having the same pattern as the previous Hamblet paver, I am taking it that Barnett & Beddows made this paver after they had acquired the Hamblet company name sometime after 1921, although the first recorded evidence of B & B owning the Hamblet name is 1961. 1920 was the year the Hamblet Blue Brick Co. Ltd is recorded as going into liquidation with their Piercy Brickworks being closed by 1915. The works was then dismantled & the site was sold by 1919. To confuse things we find a new company were operating as the Hamblet Blue Brick Co. West Bromwich in 1921 & the location of it's works is not recorded in trade directories, hence my thoughts that Barnett & Beddows were now making the Hamblet Brand of bricks at their Aldridge works & running this new Hamblet company. 

With this block paver example having the same pattern & similar dumb bell shaped frog as the previous B & B paver, I am thinking it could have been made by Barnett & Beddows also, however I have found during my research that many brickworks used dumb bell shaped frogs to imitate the one used by Hamblet & Barnett & Beddows. 

Another "leaf" patterned paver stamped AH found at 4 Oaks Reclamation in May 2021. It is unknown who this maker was. Any ideas, please get in touch.

Hamblet, West Bromwich. This paver is thought to represent the Maltese Cross.

Charles Goodman Tebbutt patented the design of these stable paving bricks in 1884 in the UK & 1887 in America. Although Tebbutt owned a brickworks in Huntingdon, Cambs. these pavers will have been made under licence at a works in the West Midlands because the required Etruria marl clay needed to make these pavers is not found in Cambridgeshire & I cannot see Tebbutt transporting clay across country to his works. The old cattle market at St. Ives, Cambridgeshire is laid with these pavers.

Photographed this one at Cawarden's in July 2021. When laid this design will make a continuous run of rectangular blocks. There's no makers name on it's reverse.

Photos by Chris Tilney.

Chris found this un-named 10 square block paver at North Bitchburn, County Durham.

Another 10 block paver with no makers stamp photographed at Hadley Reclamation in September 2024. 

Stuart had several pallet loads of these. 

Photographed by Alex Wilson this sea worn paver was found on the shoreline at Devil's Point, Plymouth. Bricks with this design in the frog have turned up in many areas of the country & I have photographed three house bricks with this stamp mark, one at Valley Reclamation, Chesterfield, one at the Black Country Living Museum & the example below at Cawarden Reclamation Yard. Again with this paver being made of Etruria Marl it will have been made at a brickworks in the West Midlands, which I have not be able to trace. I have suggested this motif could be a butterfly, then again it could a stylised fleur-de-lis. So if you recognise this stamp mark & know who made these bricks, please get in touch. Thanks.

This block paver has a series of random dots forming a diamond which could be recording which press machine it was made on, but there are 12 dots, so it must have been made by a large volume producer to have 12 production lines & with the dumb bell frog this could only be Hamblet's before they stamped their name or the letter H in the frog. The next red example below by Hamblet has a very similar finish to this blue 8 square paver, hence me thinking it is a Hamblet product.

Another 8 square block paver with a blank 2 square recessed frog.

Photos by Mark Cranston.

Iron was a Trade Mark name used by James Downing of Chesterton, Stoke.

Photos by Ian Suddaby.

This J. Brodie, Sanquhar 8 square deep block paver was found in Galston, East Ayrshire by Ian Suddaby.

Photos by Mark Cranston.

A J. Brodie variation with this 8 square deep paver having the addition of Limited in the name.

Photos by Mark Cranston.

Another Scottish 8 square deep paver this time from Robert Mackie, Barr Coal Co. Beith, North Ayrshire & was found by Anthony Shaw.

Photos by Ian Suddaby.

Ian has recently acquired this well worn 8 square block paver made by Barnett & Beddows of Aldridge from Ian Williams & it is the second paver in this post which bears this stamp mark.

Another 8 square block paver which was also well worn & is stamped 1837 - 1897 Diamond Jubilee. It is though Barnett & Beddows made this commemorative paver celebrating Queen Victoria's reign at their Atlas Works in Walsall.

Photos by Phil Burgoyne.

Red & blue 8 block pavers made by the Kent Brick & Tile Co. who opened their works next to Pluckley Railway Station in 1879 & are first listed in Kelly’s 1882 edition with John Porter as manager. The works first produced their bricks in Scotch & Staffordshire kilns, but by the early 1880’s a 14 chamber Hoffman kiln had been built which was capable of holding 350,000 bricks. By 1891 this works was owned by the Pluckley Brick & Tile Co.

Photos by John Elliott.

A red 8 block paver manufactured by Dennis of Ruabon. Henry Dennis established his coal & brickmaking business in 1878 at Hafod Colliery. His son then grandson continued to run the business til the late 1970's. 

This 8 block paver's design was patented by Musgrave's & is slightly different to other 8 block pavers. Info on this company & where it's brickworks was still eludes researchers & collectors. So if you know please get in touch. Thanks.

Six square block paver with a blank frog.

I photographed this 6 block deep paver made by Doulton's of Rowley Regis at Oldfield's Reclamation in Old Hill, near Rowley Regis in September 2021. 

I came across this Queen Victoria Diamond Jubilee 6 block paver at Cawarden's in May 2022 & with previously finding a 8 block paver I am now taking it Barnett & Beddow produced these commemorative pavers in all their range going from the single block to 8 blocks. 

Photos by Mark Cranston.

6 square deep paver from W.J. Gillespie, Monreith, Wigtownshire, Scotland.

Photos by Mike Chapman.

Found by Mike on a caravan site in Whitby this 6 square block paver was made by the Commondale Brick & Pipe Co. Closing in the late 1940's this works was situated in the Esk Valley near Whitby & had been owned by the Crossley family. 

Four block paver with blank frog.

Another 4 block paver made by Hamblet's in West Bromwich.

Photos by Pete Joyce.

Pete Joyce came across this four block Candy paver near to were it was made in Heathfield, Newton Abbott, Devon. This works was established in 1850 by Frank Candy, eventually closing in 1998. More history of the works at this Link. This next Candy example was added to my collection in April 2024 with it turning up in a Chesterfield reclamation yard, so a long way from home. 

Dave Hayball posted this 4 block paver found in Somerset on Bricks & Brickworks Past & asked for info on it's maker. I have not been able establish it's maker, but fellow brick collector Frank Lawson has photographed two blue bricks with this motif on which he called a rosette. The first two rosette brick below he photographed at 4 Oaks Reclamation near Sutton Coldfield & the second single rosette brick is in Chris Thornburn's collection in Birmingham, so there's a good chance these bricks may have been made in Rowley Regis or Oldbury.

Photos by Frank Lawson.

A three block deep paver made by the Cattybrook Brick Co. in Bristol. Many thanks to Mike Chapman for bringing me this paver from a Somerset reclamation yard in October 2021.

This is a four block paver with no name which is half the size of a normal eight block paver. Photographed at 4 Oaks Reclamation in May 2021.

A two square block paver made by Henry Doulton at his vast Rowley Regis works.

This 2 block Etruscan paver was made by George Woolliscroft at his Chesterton works in Stoke on Trent. George started his company around 1865 making bricks & tiles. He also owned two other works producing tiles only & one of these works was still in production in the early 2000's. Brick production is thought to have ceased around 1910, but this date cannot be verified. This example also has BCM stamped in it which stands for British Commercial Monomarks, a company formed in 1925 to provide manufacturers with a London address & mail forwarding services.

A 2 block paver made by Cakemore Blue Brick Co. CBB.

It is unknown for certain who made this 2 block Diamond Jubilee paver, but Barnett & Beddows are recorded as making commemorative bricks, so this paver could have been made at their Aldridge, Walsall works. 

Another 2 block paver made by William Edward Partridge at his Kingswinford works near Dudley, who was operational between 1865 & 1911. His brother Thomas was also involved in the running of the company.

A two block paver made by Barry's of Scarborough which was established by John Barry in the 1850's. After his death in 1866 his son William took over the running of the brickworks.

Another 2 block paver made by James P. Mansell at his Netherton brickworks near Dudley between 1896 & 1900. 

Photos by Jonathan Dooley.

J.C. Edwards, Ruabon, Denbighshire, operational between 1903 & 1956.

Photos by Paul Davies, Secretary of the Buckley Society.

2 square block paver made by Edward Parry in Buckley, North Wales.

Photos by Richard Paterson.

This Llantrisant 2 square block paver was made by Noel Brothers & Co. Ltd who were making bricks in Pontyclun, Llantrisant from 1897, however the works was put up for sale in 1907 & is still shown on the 1919 OS map. 

Photos by Richard Paterson.

The Ynysddu Brickworks owned by Christopher Pond in the Sirhowy Valley, Caerphilly was opened in 1901, but had been demolished by 1948.

Photos by Mark Cranston.

This glazed 2 square deep fireclay paver was made by the Dalquharran Brick & Tile Works in Wallacetown Ayrshire & was found by Tucker Kennedy.

This 2 block deep paver was made by John Brown Marley (b.1865) who is listed in Kelly's 1902 to 1939 editions at the Victoria Brickworks, Alcombe, Taunton. The 1901 census records John lived at Cartref, Weirfield Road, Minehead until his death in January 1956. The 1911 census & the 1939 Register records John was also a Building Contractor. This web page records the Victoria Brick & Tile Works, Alcombe, Minehead opened in 1897 & closed in 1947. With trade directories only going up to 1939 it is unknown if John Marley still owned this works when it closed, but looks very likely. This paver is in Mike Chapman's Collection, who acquired it from a Somerset reclamation yard in October 2021. 

Photos by Mike Chapman.

Another Somerset find by Mike Chapman in October 2022. This 2 block paver was made by Colthurst & Symonds in Bridgewater between 1859 & 1900.

Although fired to produce a blue paver this well worn 2 block paver made by the Cordon Brothers in Ilkeston clearly shows the red clay that it was made of. The Cordon Brothers operated their Gallows Inn Brickworks between 1875 & 1882.

Appin Brickworks, Townhill, Dunfirmline, Fife. This deep block paver is the first one to turn up with the makers name stamped in it's face & was photographed in Nottingham by Mike Chapman, so a long way from home.

Photos by Ian Suddaby.

Just like buses another two square block paver has turned up with the name in the face & again it was made in Scotland, this time by the Preston Grange Brick & Tile Works in Prestonpans, East Lothian. 

Photo by Andrew Wood, courtesy of the Mark Cranston Collection.

With checking through Mark's website I have found this Hill of Beath Fireclay Works, Hill of Beath, Fife paver, so this now make three pavers with the name in the face. 

Photos by Ian Suddaby.

Two more Scottish pavers with the name in the face & made by J. & M. Craig of Kilmarnock. 

Photos by Ian Suddaby.

Another two block deep paver from the Preston Grange brickworks, but this time with the name in it's reverse. 

Another "thinner" type two block paver made by the Jubilee Brick, Lime & Sand Co. in Moxley, Wednesbury, who were operational between 1900 & 1908.  

This unusual paver is made of slag waste & is known as a Scoria brick & was made by James Woodward at his Tees Scoria Brick Co., Eston, Middlesborough around 1873. Don Boldison who took these photos says that they are a common site around the back alleyways of York & they are slightly larger than a house brick & being 5 inches deep. 

This two block paver was also made of slag waste. 

All three Scoria brick photos are by Don Boldison & have been reproduced with the permission of the Old Bricks website.

Photos by Ian Suddaby.

This salt-glazed fireclay paver was made around 1851 by Dickinson & Co. at the Straid Brickworks near New Cumnock, Ayrshire. Up to Ian sending me these photos I was totally unaware that pavers had been made of fireclay. 

Photos by Ian Suddaby.

Another salt-glazed fireclay paver this time made at the Bourtreehill Fireclay Works near Irvine, Ayrshire with Ian finding this one in Ayr.

A single block paver made by Hamblet's of West Bromwich.

Photos by Paul Davies, Secretary of the Buckley Society.

The Queen Victoria Jubilee Bridge at Queensferry, Flintshire was opened in 1897 & it was quickly found that it's timber roadway soon wore away, so Gibson's Brickworks at Brookhill, Buckley were contracted to supply a suitable hard wearing brick to resurface the bridge's roadway. The result was these unique hard wearing vitrified Gibsonite pavers with hardwood wooden pegs inserted into them to provided grip for horse-drawn transport. The underside has holes either for water to drain through or maybe so that there was an escape for air when they hammered the timber pegs tightly into the recesses. When this wooden bridge needed replacing in 1926 they literally set it on fire & these bricks fell in to the river & many are still there today. A new bridge known as the "Blue Bridge" was then built. Info by Paul Davies. 

Photos by Chris Tilney.

It appears the raised dots on this unusual paver create interlocking circles. Not one to be staring at after you have had a pint or two !!!

Photo by Don Boldison courtesy of the Old Bricks website.

Made by John Crossley at his Middleborough works who was operational around 1913.

Many Thanks for the use of their photos & info :-  

Ian Suddaby

Mike Chapman

Richard Paterson

Chris Tilney

Don Boldison

Alex Wilson

Paul Davies

Jonathan Dooley - J. Dooley Paving Services Ltd. Congleton

Frank Lawson, who is sadly no longer with us.