Tuesday, 25 March 2025

Leicestershire Brickworks - part 5


In this post I cover the brickworks which were situated in South Leicestershire.


Market Harborough Brick & Tile Co.

The first reference found to the Market Harborough Brick & Tile Co. at Little Bowden appears in the London Gazette dated 2nd January 1885 & this notice records the partnership which has for some time passed been carried on by John Benjamin Walker, Samuel Symington, William West, John Smith & Thomas Scarborough at the said works had been mutually dissolved on the 31st of December 1884. There are no trade directory entries for the company at this date & I have not been able to ascertain if one or more of these gentlemen carried on running the works afterwards. I have used the 1900 OS map below to show the location of the works which I have coloured yellow.    

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

I am undecided about the next bit of information from the Market Harborough Advertiser dated 9th June 1896 below as I have not been able to establish if Harry Hussey was owner of the brickworks or was just operating his chimney building business from a building situated at the brickworks. I favour the latter option. I next found the Market Harborough Brick & Tile Co. at Little Bowden is listed in Kelly's 1899 & 1908 editions.   

Market Harborough Advertiser and Midland Mail - Tuesday 09 June 1896 
Content provided by THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

The entry in Kelly's 1912 edition now reads Brick & Tile Co. Limited, Little Bowden, Market Harborough. It appears with the company being renamed as a Limited company, the works may have had new owners. I have also come to the conclusion that the brick below was made by this 1912 company.  

Photo by Nigel Furniss. 

Midland Mail - Friday 09 March 1917 
Content provided by THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

This March 1917 advert records the sale of surplus stock at the Little Bowden Brickyard by the Brick & Tile Co. Ltd. & I have come to the conclusion with WW1 still taking place & no men to run the works, the owners were preparing to close the works for good. The 1923 OS map only shows the remains of two clay pits & no buildings, so it appears it was the end of the works in 1917. 


Croft Stone Quarry & Brick Co.

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

The Croft Stone Quarry & Brick Co. at Croft near Hinckley was established by brothers Henry Davis Pochin & Samuel Davenport Pochin in 1872 on land they had purchased off the Pratt family in 1871. Then a forty year lease was taken out on Croft Hill to extract it's abundant granite & clay. Then after permission was granted from the London & North Western Railway Co. the brothers build a tramway connecting their works to the railway company's main line nearby. I have coloured the brickworks yellow & the extent of the quarry works in green on the 1900 OS map above.

The construction of a Patent Brick Kiln by Morand of Leeds was completed in 1873 & was capable of holding 100,000 bricks at one time. At the same time a machine house was built to accommodate a Murray's Patent Brickmaking machine which could handle 60 tons of clay per day. A boiler & engine by Messrs Grimson & Co. of Leicester had been ordered. The quarry by 1873 was already in production with the brothers employing 100 men. Plans were also afoot to build houses for their workmen in Croft Village.


The Croft Stone Quarry & Brick Co. is first listed in Kelly's 1876 edition with Samuel Davenport Pochin as Manager. In Kelly's 1881 edition the company is now listed as the Croft Granite & Brick Co., with Henry Davis Pochin & Samuel Davenport Pochin listed as Proprietors. Brick output in February 1882 was 5,800 to 6,000 bricks per day. The next change is in Kelly's 1891 when the company is listed as the Croft Granite, Brick & Concrete Co. & this company name remains the same right up to the last available Kelly's in 1941, however there are changes in management & these are, Kelly's 1900 edition records Samuel D. Pochin as Managing Director, Kelly's 1908 to 1922 editions record Charles Henry Robottom as Secretary & Manager, Kelly's 1925 to 1932 editions record Norman Findlay Spence as Manager. In 1933 Spence is elevated to Director, then Managing Director in Kelly's 1936 & 1941 editions. The English China Clays Group took over the Croft Works in 1962. 

Kelly's 1908 edition.

Although Croft is listed in the Brick Makers section in Kelly's right up to it's 1941 edition the last reference found to clay brick manufacture is 1918 when the company was paying bonuses to it's female workers & youths that it was employing at the brickworks, so I am slightly bemused why the company continues to be listed if clay brick production had ceased around 1918. The only option I can put forward is that they were producing concrete or reconstituted stone bricks after 1918 ? I did find a December 1916 job advert for the company requiring a Forman for a Common Brick Works, also brick setters, burners & drawers. So with many men at war & the company not being able to fill these positions the decision may have been made to close the brickworks around 1920 ? If I get the answer I will update the entry.





















Tuesday, 4 February 2025

Leicestershire Brickworks - part 4

 In this post I cover brickmakers who operated in Bagworth, Ellistown, Heather, Nailstone, 


Heather Colliery Brickworks
Heather Brick & Terra Cotta Co.
Coronet, Heather

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

This entry covers the four companies which operated the Pisca Lane brickworks in Heather, which I have coloured red on the 1901 OS map above.

The 1881 OS map shows Heather Colliery & it's associated brickworks was accessed off Pisca Lane (brickworks coloured red on the 1901 map above - colliery a little further north), but there are no trade directory entries for this brickworks at this date. It is not until 1891 when the colliery & brickworks was re-opened as the New Heather Colliery Co. that this company is listed in the Brick Manufacturers section of Kelly’s 1891 edition with Henry Slater Wooley recorded as proprietor. Henry Wooley lived at Highfield House on Station Road (coloured blue). This house still stands today. I suspect the brick below will have been made by the New Heather Colliery Co.

Photo by Peter Harris.

Heather Colliery closed in 1896 due to flooding & low coal reserves, but we find the brickworks had been sold off before then with Kelly’s 1895 recording the Heather Brick & Terra Cotta Co. proprietor, Henry J. Ford now owned this brickworks. 

The Contractors Merchants & Estate Managers Compendium 1901.

This Heather Brick & Terra Cotta Co. entry continues in trade directories until Kelly's 1922 edition when the entry now records Ford had purchased Wains Brick & Terra Cotta Works (coloured yellow) after Wains had closed down. I cover Andrew Wain's works next. Ford continues to run both works up to c1930 with Kellys 1928 edition being the last entry for the Heather Brick & Terra Cotta & Wains Co. (red & yellow works). We next find the Coronet Brick & Terra Cotta Co. in Measham, purchased both these works around 1930. Kelly's 1932 edition is the first directory listing Coronet's Heather works.

Photo by Mike Chapman.

This BCM Heather brick will have been made at the Pisca Lane works when owned by Coronet. The Coronet 1937 advert below records Coronet's three works & that BCM stands for British Commercial Monomarks, a company established in 1925 to provide manufacturers with a London address & mail forwarding services. It was an early form of the Post Code we use today, but companies & individuals back then had to pay for this service. It was with this advert being forwarded to me by Paul & Cynthia that I was able to reveal to the brick fraternity that BCM stood for British Commercial Monomarks & not British Clay/Ceramic Manufacturers as thought for many years without any written evidence turning up for this explanation of the initials. So another thumbs up to me for bring this evidence to the brick fraternity. If you would like to learn more about BCM please visit Mark Cranston's article. It is unknown in which year this Pisca Lane Works closed under Coronet.  

The Architects Compendium 1937.


Andrew Wain, Heather
Wain's Ltd.
Coronet, Heather

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

Andrew Wain (b.1843) established his brickworks around 1880 with Kelly’s 1881 to 1891 editions recording him at Mill Lane, Heather (coloured yellow on the 1901 OS map above). 



Andrew died in January 1894 & the entries in trade directories for this works are then Andrew Wain "exors of the late” in Kellys 1895, 99 & 1900 editions. Andrew had three young sons, Arthur b.1876, Walter Andrew b.1878 & Thomas Bertram b.1881. Whether Arthur was one of the exors with him being 18 is unknown & I have not been able to find later census for him to see if he took over the running of the company. However the 1901 census for Walter Andrew Wain records him aged 22 & a Brick Manufacturer, so it appears Walter was running the brickworks. The 1911 census records Walter now aged 32 as a retired brick manufacturer & that explains Kelly's 1908 entry for the Mill Lane works with it being operated by Wain's Limited. I am assuming Walter had sold the works to this new Limited Company. Walter's younger brother, Thomas became an Architect & appears not to have been involved with the brickworks. 

This is a 2 inch smooth faced paver.
 

Photo by Carwyn Tywyn.

Photo by George Denny.



I then found in Kelly's 1922 edition that Henry Ford owner of the Heather Brick & Terra Cotta Co. was now operating this Mill Lane works as well & the entry reads Heather Brick, Terra Cotta & Wains Co. Heather. This entry is repeated in Kelly's 1925 edition. Kelly's 1928 entry is the last for Ford's company at this works. Around 1930 Ford sold his two Heather works to the Coronet Brick & Terra Cotta Co. based in Measham. Kelly's 1932 is the first directory listing Coronet at Heather, but it only lists one works, this being the Mill Lane works & now listed as being on Station Road. After checking maps they reveal Mill Lane & Station Road met at the entrance of this brickworks, even today Google Maps record this section of road as Station Road, but factories on this part of the road give their address as Mill Lane. Kelly's 1936 & 1941 editions also only list the Station Road works, but we know from the 1937 Coronet advert shown earlier that Coronet were operating two brickworks in Heather, this one & the one on Pisca Lane. The year Coronet closed this Mill Lane/ Station Road works is unknown.  


John French Neal
National Brick Co.

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

The first reference found relating to this green coloured brickworks appears in the London Gazette dated 9th of July 1897, in which John French Neal & John Thomas Jacques were dissolving their partnership on the 5th of July 1897 & had operated as Neal & Jacques, Brickmakers, in Heather, Leicestershire. All debts due to & owing by the said company would be received & paid by John F. Neal. It is unknown in which year Neal & Jacques had established their brickworks, but they are not listed in Kelly's 1895 edition & this works is not shown on the 1881 OS map. John French Neal then went on to run this works on his own with Kelly's 1899 & 1900 editions recording John French Neal at 2a, Halford Street, Leicester, offices; works, Heather. 

As you can see on the 1900 OS map above this works had road access from Newton Road & footpath access from Mill Lane, both are coloured green. It's not until the 1927 map that it shows this works had road access via Station Terrace (blue dotted line) from Mill Lane. Again I found some anomalies because later company's operating this works give their address of Station Road when it was actually off Mill Lane. I then found in the 1970's after the disused railway line had been removed, a new road was built to access this works, coloured purple. This road is still there today & it will give access to whatever they build on this former brickworks site. As I have digressed I now return to John French Neal & after finding two badly damaged bricks made by Neal I came across this mint example at 4 Oaks Reclamation. 

John French Neal b.1860 is listed in the 1901 census as a Brick Manufacturer, aged 41, wife, Clavender (nee Pearson m. 1882) & with one son John P. Neal, aged 18, living at Bardon Hill House, Bardon. The 1901 edition of the Directory of Clayworkers records Neal was making Red hand-pressed bricks, facing bricks, tiles & terra cotta. I next found Bennett's 1901 trade directory records the partnership of Neal & Jacques, Brick Manufacturers in Heather once more & this find is followed by a Derbyshire Records Office reference from the web which reveals that in 1901 Neal's business had been incorporated as Neal & Co. Limited. So from this info it appears Neal & Jacques joined forces again & then started a new company called Neal & Co. This Derbyshire Records Office article then states in 1903 the company changed it's name to the National Brick Company Limited. 

I next found three London Gazette Notices which record John French Neal had declared himself bankrupt on the 25th of March 1904 or had a bankruptcy petitioned declared against him on the 24th May 1906. Neal is listed as Brick & Tile Manufacture & a Builders Merchant's Traveller with him having a second home in Kilburn, London. Now I do not know how this affected the National Brick Co. as this notice does not name this company. My only thought's are that Neal himself was declaring himself bankrupt rather than the Company. The notice dated 30th of April 1907 which records Neal had declared himself bankrupt also tells you that he is now deceased, so John died some time between May 1906 & April 1907. I can only assume other directors/shareholders were running the National Brick Co. which may have included John Thomas Jacques as you will next read next was still associated with the company.

Kelly's 1908 edition records The National Brick Co. Heather, Ashby-de-la-Zouch with John T. Jacques as manager. This entry is repeated in Kelly's 1912 & 16 editions.



After WW1 we find Kelly's 1922 & 25 editions now record John T. Jacques as Managing Director of the National Brick Co. Heather. Kelly's 1925 edition also records National were now operating the Hermitage Brickworks in Whitwick as well, previously owned by H.R. Mansfield. The 1932 to 41 directories list both brickworks with the address for the Heather Works is given as Station Road & as previously wrote this works was actually accessed off Mill Lane.

My next find is the 1959 advert below in which it states the Star Brick & Tile Company of Ponthir, Newport, South Wales was an Associated Company. Star was a large concern & owned several brickworks in South Wales. We then find at a date unknown National & Star amalgamated forming the National Star Brick Co. 


The next change at the National Star Brick Co. is when Butterley/Hanson Group purchased it in 1971. It appears Butterley continued to operate this new Group in it's own name with the Brickworks of Wales website stating National Star Limited of Newport, South Wales were still operating under this name in 1978. Whether the Heather & Whitwick works were still operating under the National Star name is unknown, but I suspect these two works changed their name to Butterley with them being close to Butterley's headquarters in Ripley, Derbyshire. Butterley's Heather Works closed in 2012 & the site is awaiting to be redeveloped, but it is unknown when the Hermitage Brickworks in Whitwick closed.   


Nailstone Colliery


Sunk in 1862 Nailstone Colliery & it's associated brickworks was run by Joseph Joel Ellis in the 1870's up to 1875. Ellis then went on to sink Ellistown Colliery & establish a brickworks there. In 1875 Nailstone Colliery was next leased to Joseph Thornton, but with his death in 1879 the leasehold to the colliery was advertised in the Leicester Journal dated 9th May 1879, with the Auction taking place on the 30th May 1879. A For Sale Notice for the supply of coal in a March 1880 newspaper reveals the new owners of the colliery as the Nailstone Colliery Company. A mining reference records the Nailstone brickworks was still in operation in 1923, but another reference records the brickworks & it's kilns were derelict by 1930. 

© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1900.
Nailstone Colliery was a good distance from the village in an area called Nailstone Wiggs & today in 2025 with the site completely levelled an extremely large distribution warehouse is being built for Aldi. There are also plans to establish a nature reserve on the site.  



Bagworth Brick Co.


The Bagworth Brick Co. Ltd was established in 1899 & this info comes from a notice by the company requiring a Manager to oversee the erection of their new brickworks & to then take charge of the running of it which appeared in the 30th of June 1899 edition of the Stamford Journal. The advert goes on to say, must have good experience in the workings of a continuous kiln & with good knowledge of machinery. Apply by letter with references & stating salary required to the Bagworth Brick Co, Ltd, 8, Imperial Buildings, Leicester. 



Wright's 1903 edition is the first directory recording the Bagworth Brick Co. A 1910 newspaper article records Mr. Burkett was the brickworks manager & the works was producing 20,000 bricks per day. Trade directories continue record the Bagworth Brick Co. up to Kelly's 1922 edition, however the London Gazette reveals the Bagworth Brick Co. Ltd was struck off the Joint Stocks Register on the 30th of March 1920, therefore the company was dissolved from that date with it not being officially wound up, therefore the 1922 directory entry is incorrect. I then found the brickworks in Kelly's 1925 to 1941 editions was now being run by the New Bagworth Coal Co., Whether the Bagworth Brick Co. had any connection to Bagworth Colliery during it's existence is unknown with them being on two separate sites as shown on the 1901 map below.

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


Ellistown

Photo by Frank Lawson.

I first note Joseph Joel Ellis born 1807, residing in London in 1871 is also referred to as Colonel J.J. Ellis in newspaper articles. So from these newspaper articles I found Joseph Joel Ellis leaseholder & operator of Nailstone Colliery had purchased Ibstock Lodge Farm at auction which took place on the 29th of April 1873. Plans were then implemented to sink a new colliery & build a brick & pipe works on the land. An 8th of May article reveals Ellis had paid £32,081 for the farm, however the article goes on to say that when the farm was put up for auction in 1869, the reserve of £8,800 was not met & an offer of £7,000 was declined. The sale of the farm had resulted with the death of it's owner, Mr. Kenny. With finding more auctions for the sale of farm land in the area all boasting rich seams of coal & other minerals, I have come to the conclusion that's why Ellis had to pay more to get the farm which cover 150 acres in 1873. A further adjoining 650 acres of land was also purchased by Ellis.   

The Leicester Daily Post dated 3rd of July 1873 reports on the Grand Ceremony which took place at the farm on the 2nd of July 1873 & was attended by most of the Ellis family, several dignitaries & many locals from the surrounding area. Then at 2pm Mrs. Marguerite Ellis used a very ornate silver spade to turned the first sod for the sinking of the new colliery. Mr. Ellis then made a speech in which he said cottages would be built for his workers same as he had provided for his workers at Nailstone. A place of worship would also be built for the spiritual needs of his workers. Ellis then announced the colliery & cottages would be known as Ellistown & this news was met with loud applause. Originally Ellis was to name his new colliery & cottages Ellistone, but it appears he changed his mind when making his speech. Eight houses were built next to the colliery for senior staff & two rows of cottages called Ellistown Terrace & West Ellistown Terrace were built for the miners & brickyard workers on the main road to the south of colliery. Sadly neither the cottages or the Methodist Church no longer exist. After the speeches & the blessing of the site by Rev. Dr. Watts, the Ellis family & their guests retired to a specially erected marquee to enjoy a sumptuous banquet provided by Mrs. Marsden of the Dog & Gun in Leicester. After the meal entertainment of singing & dancing took place until 6pm. Mr & Mrs Ellis & family then boarded their special train to much applause taking them to Leicester, were they took the London train. The article this information came from states the sinking of the colliery was to take place immediately. However the sinking to the first coal took three years & this was first down to the surface rainwater from the fields which kept filling up the shafts & had to be constantly pumped out, then they hit hard rock which at first they could not break through until dynamite was used to clear a way through. The water which was pumped out was not wasted as it was sold & piped to the local water board to be cleaned & used as drinking water.   

The colliery was fully operational bring coal to the surface in April 1877 & Mr. Thomas Millership is recorded as the manager of Ellistown Colliery. Thomas had previously been the manager of Mr. Ellis' Nailstone Colliery. A newspaper notice records Mr. J.J. Ellis had given up the lease to Nailstone Colliery on the 21st of August 1876 & would no longer be responsible for any debt or liability at the said colliery which was now back in the hands of the Mortgagee & unpaid Vendor.     

When they were digging the shafts at Ellistown they came across a very thick lay of fire-clay 1000 feet down from the surface & you will soon read this fire-clay was put to good use when the brickworks was up & running in 1879. The 1881 OS map below shows two brickworks had been established with the left works having a tramway into the clay pit from which red house bricks were made. The second works on the right produced refractory products, fire bricks & earthenware pipes & fittings made from the fire clay found in the mine.    

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

Joseph Joel Ellis died on the 10th of July 1885 aged 78 & his colliery, brickworks & farm estate was then managed by Trustees under orders of the Court of Chancery until 1936. It appears three of his sons were Trustees, these were Isidore Lewis Ellis b.1850, Walter L.J. Ellis b.1852 & George H. Ellis b.1854 & all three brothers were involved in the running of the colliery & brickworks right from the start. Joseph had three more sons & two daughters, but they are not mentioned in newspaper articles relating to the colliery or brickworks, so they may not have been involved in the running of the business.  



For many years myself & fellow brick collectors had searched high & low to find any evidence to what the container / beaker symbol represented which Ellistown used as their Trade Mark on their bricks. No one appeared to have found a satisfactory answer & it was with me writing this entry that I have found the answer in a newspaper article. I had originally thought the container was a coal bucket, but why should it have a pouring spout. My next thought was a milk ladle with Ellis continuing to run the farm, but it had no handle. I was miles away from the answer. 

An article in the American Register dated 19th of July 1894 reporting on the exhibits at the International Health Exhibition held in London states Colonel J.J. Ellis of Ellistown was displaying a splendid selection of sanitary stoneware & fire clay products. The fire-bricks are made from clay taken from a bed 1,000 feet below the surface of the earth (from Ellis's coal mine). The fire clay is largely used in the manufacture of crucibles for the steel-makers in Sheffield. A few examples of the Colonel's fine red bricks made from surface clay on his estate were also on display. Although Joseph Ellis had passed away it appears the company was still operating under his name. 

So there you have it, I think I can say for certain the Trade Mark symbol is a Crucible, it certainly looks like one on reflection. The entry in Kelly's 1881 edition reads Ellistown Collieries (fire), J.J. Ellis proprietor, Ellistown, Leicester, so it appears in the early days of this brickworks Ellis was certainly making good use of the abundant fire clay found in his mine. The advert in Kelly's 1891 shown below shows the crucible more clearly than the image on bricks which is less distinctive.


Kelly's 1891 edition.

The entry in Kelly's 1891 edition now reads Ellistown Collieries, Brick, Pipe & Fire Clay Works, Ellistown. This same entry is then repeated in trade directories up to Kelly's 1932. The 1891 census records William Valance was the manager of the sanitary pipe works. 

In January 1895 Walter Ellis celebrated 25 years of being involved in the running of Nailstone & Ellistown Collieries. At the Head Offices of Ellistown Colliery Walter was presented with a set of solid silver dessert stands by Mr W. Spencer & they were inscribed, " Presented to Walter L.J. Ellis Esq., by the officials & workmen of the Ellistown collieries, brick & pipe works as a small token of the respect & esteem in which he has always been held by them during the twenty five years control of the collieries & works." Also present at the presentation were Isidore Ellis, brother, Mr. E.D. Spencer & Mr. G.H. Light, general manager plus others. 

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

The 1900 OS map above shows how much the brickworks had expanded.

Walter Ellis died on the 31st January 1909 aged 58. His obituary records he was a solicitor.  


Kelly's 1912 edition.

Isidore Lewis Ellis died on the 15th of May 1930 aged 79. 

In 1936 with the Orders of the Court of Chancery on J.J. Ellis' Estate now expired, the colliery & brickworks were separated into two companies & Kelly's 1936 edition now reads Ellistown Brick, Pipe & Fireclay Works & Estates Ltd. Ellistown. In 1938 Mr. Robert Kirton is recorded as the brickworks manager.  


In September 1947 the Ellistown Brick, Pipe & Fireclay Works & Estates Ltd. were selling four of it's farms which totalled 371 acres & it appears from my next newspaper job advert find in March 1950 the company was trading as the Elistown Brick & Pipe Works & had dropped the words Fireclay & Estates. A March 1957 job advert now records the company as the Ellistown Brick & Pipe Co. Ltd.  

Photo by Mike Chapman.

In November 1960 the Ellistown Brick & Pipe Co. had completed the purchase from the National Coal Board it's Newbold Pipe Works as a going concern for a sum of £130,000. Then in December 1961 Ellistown purchased the whole of the share capital of the Woodville Sanitary Pipe & Fire Brick Manufacturing Co. who were producing similar products as the Ellistown group of companies. In May 1964 Chairman Mr. N.E. Webster announced that Ellistown's new £200,000 tunnel kiln was nearly up to full production & fulfilling orders in their very full order book.

The last reference found to the company operating as the Ellistown Brick & Pipe Co. Ltd appears in a share interim article dated September 1966, then by February 1967 the company was operating as the Ellistown Pipe Co. Ltd. So in the famous 1966 World Cup words of Kenneth Wolstenholme, "They think it's all over, it is now", It was certainly the end of brickmaking by Ellistown at the end 1966.

In April 1968 the Hepworth Iron Co. announced they had purchased four million shares in the Ellistown Pipe Co. & after an agreement with the Ellistown's directors & share holders the company was absorbed into the Hepworth Group, trading as Ellistown Pipes Ltd. The next change came in 1986 when pipe making ceased & Hepworth Building Products then refitted the Ellistown works as a brick works once more, opening it in 1988. An example of one of their bricks is shown next.     



In September 1999 the Ellistown brick factory was purchased by Ibstock who continue to this day in making bricks at Ellistown. As of 2025 excluding the break of 22 years when only pipes were made, bricks have been made at Ellistown for 124 years & still counting. 













Friday, 3 January 2025

Leicester Brickworks - part 2



Barrow Brothers

Photo by Dennis Gamble, courtesy of Brocross brick website.

The first reference found to John Barrow & William Barrow as Brick Makers/Manufacturers in Belgrave appears in the Leicester Chronicle dated 25th of August 1877 when five lads were accused of the malicious damage of a batch of newly made bricks, the property of the two brothers. The only brickworks found in Belgrave is this disused one on the 1885 OS map shown below, which may have been their works. Melrose Street was later built through the middle of the brickworks to give you an indication of it's location. However Wright's 1878 edition lists J. & W. Barrow as brickmaking at the Willow Bridge Works, Leicester, so this indicates their works was nearer to the Willow Brook river than the yard I have shown. If I can pinpoint the exact site of the Barrow's first yard I will update the post. 

© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1885.

The Hinckley News dated 30th March 1889 lists Brick Manufacturer John Barrow of Belgrave as a Guardian on a Local Board. Then Kelly's 1895 edition lists the Barrow Brothers with the address of 2, Malkin Street (home address). In Kelly's 1899 edition we find the first listing of the Barrow Brothers brickworks as being in Thurmaston; office, Belgrave Road. This being the County Brickworks as shown on the 1900 OS map below coloured green. The exact year the Brothers had established their County Brickworks is unknown, but a May 1898 newspaper article states the road between Messers Vass' High Meres brickworks & Messrs Barrow's new works was to be widened by 5 feet.    

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

With there being a downturn in the need of bricks in the early 1900's the Barrow Brothers joined forces with the Knighton Brick Co. & the Gypsy Lane Brick Co. to form a Marketing Company called The Leicester Brick Company Limited to sell their bricks & this was in 1902. Orston Wright of South Wigston became Chairman (also the owner of Knighton Junction Brick Co.) & the Board of Directors consisted of Mr. A.B. Partridge for the Knighton Junction Brick Co.; Mr. J. & Mr. W. Barrows for Messrs Barrow Brothers; Mr. W.H. Winterton & before his death, Mr. Weston for the Gypsy Lane Brick Co. This association worked well for several years with excellent brick sales. 

William Barrow died in January 1916 aged 77 & John Barrow died in June 1918 also aged 77. We then find Barrow Brothers was then run by the Executors of John's Will. William had two sons & four daughters & John had one son & five daughters, so I am assuming some of them took part in the running of  Barrow Brothers after William & John's deaths. 

Kelly's 1932 edition is the last trade directory listing for Barrow Bros (exors of) at the County Brickworks, however the 1943 Ministry of War Directory records Barrow's County Brickworks as closed & in the care of Ministry. This usually meant armaments were being stored in the buildings. With the Leicester Brick Co. (Marketing Company) going into Voluntary Liquidation in November 1945 it appears Barrow Brothers also ceased trading, however by February 1946 the County Brickworks was under new ownership & being run by the Leicester Brick & Tile  Co. which was owned by the Sherriff Family, Builders in Leicester & I write about this company later. 


Gypsy Lane Brick Co.

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

The Gypsy Lane Brick Co. on Fairfax Road, Belgrave, Leicester is first listed in Kelly's 1895 with John Henry Weston & William Henry Winterton listed as proprietors. Their offices were situated at 1 Campbell Street. Up to yet no bricks stamped Gypsy Lane Brick Co. have turned up, so if you have one, please send photos, Thanks. 

With there being a downturn in the need of bricks in the early 1900's the Gypsy Lane Brick Co. joined forces with the Knighton Brick Co. & Messrs Barrows to form a Marketing Company called The Leicester Brick Company Limited to sell their bricks & this was in 1902. Orston Wright of South Wigston became Chairman (also the owner of Knighton Junction Brick Co.) & the Board of Directors consisted of Mr. A.B. Partridge for the Knighton Junction Brick Co.; Mr. J. & Mr. W. Barrows for Messrs Barrow Brothers; Mr. W.H. Winterton & before his death, Mr. Weston for the Gypsy Lane Brick Co. This association worked well for several years with excellent brick sales. Kelly's 1928 edition now lists the Fairfax Road works as being in West Humberstone.  

In 1940 with men from the brickworks signing up to go to war the company set about trying to replace them to keep the brickworks operational. Several adverts appeared in local newspapers & the first in March stated they required Kiln Wheelers, Pitmen & Labourers. In June the request was for Kiln & Machine Men. However time we get to October we find with more men going to war the request was now for Strong Men & Youths, Good Wages. Then by the time we get to March 1941 & the company starting to get desperate the advert was now Wanted Boys & Youths for Brick Works. I am assuming it was around this time that the brickworks closed either by choice or from the instructions of the Ministry of War. The 1943 Ministry of War Directory records the Gypsy Lane Brick Co.'s Fairfax Road works as closed & in the care of Ministry. This usually meant armaments were being stored in the buildings. 

With the Leicester Brick Co. (Marketing Company) going into Voluntary Liquidation in November 1945 it appears the Gypsy Lane Brick Co. also ceased trading, however by February 1946 the Fairfax Road brickworks was under new ownership & being run by the Leicester Brick & Tile  Co. which was owned by the Sherriff Family, Builders in Leicester & I write about this company later. 

As a footnote John Weston & William Winterton were also the owners of two more brick companies in the West Midlands & these were the Little Bromwich Brick Co. & the Castle Bromwich Brick Co. & more can be read at this Link.


Leicester Brick Co. Ltd.

The Leicester Brick Company was formed in 1902 as a Marketing Company by several Leicester brick manufacturers who found with there being a downturn in the need for bricks & competing with one another for what little trade there was, that the only option open to them was to unite rather than to compete. So theses united companies were the Knighton Junction Brick Co., Gypsy Lane Brick Co. & Messers Barrows. Orston Wright of South Wigston became Chairman (also owner of the Knighton Brick Co.) & the Board of Directors consisted of Mr. A.B. Partridge for the Knighton Junction Brick Co.; Mr. J. & Mr. W. Barrows for Messrs Barrow Brothers; Mr. W.H. Winterton & before his death, Mr. Weston for the Gypsy Lane Brick Co.

Kelly's 1908 edition is the last trade directory recording the Knighton Junction Brick Co. & the Leicester Daily Post dated the 14th of October 1909 reports that men working at both of Knighton Junction's brickworks were given a weeks notice that the company was to close & the closure was due to very poor sales. I then found in the London Gazette dated 27th of January 1911 that owner Orson Wright put the Knighton Junction Brick Co. into Voluntary Liquidation & the company was wound up a year later by the Liquidator. So this just left the Barrow Brothers County Brickworks & Winterton's Gypsy Lane Brickworks in the group.  

The Leicester Brick Co. Limited is listed in Kelly's 1908 edition with the office address of 8, St. Martins, Leicester. In Kelly's 1932 edition the address had changed to 64 - 66 Granby Street, Leicester. 

William Barrow died in January 1916 aged 77 & John Barrow died in June 1918 also aged 77. We then find Barrow Brothers was then run by the Executors of John's Will & continued to be part of the Leicester Brick Co. 

The two bricks below were badged with the Marketing Co's name & were made at the Barrow Brother's County Works. The BB will stand for Barrow Brothers, but the XL is a bit of a mystery. I expect there will be other bricks made from the other works within the group with Marketing Co's name stamped in them, just hope they turn up. 



The London Gazette records the Leicester Brick Co. Ltd was put into Voluntary Liquidation on the 23rd of November 1945 & the Company was Liquidated on the 2nd of July 1946 when all of the accounts were laid before the Companies Members. It appears the Gypsy Lane Brick Co. & the Barrows Bros. companies also closed in 1945 with both works being shut down during WW2. 

I then found by February 1946 a new company called the Leicester Brick & Tile Co. was now running the Fairfax Lane Works previously run by the Gypsy Lane Brick Co. & the County Works previously run by the Executors of the Barrow Bros. The owners of this new company were the Sherriff Family, Builders in Leicester & I write more about the Leicester Brick & Tile Co. next. 


Leicester Brick & Tile Co.

© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1950.

The former Gypsy Lane Brick Co.'s brickworks on Fairfax Road had closed in 1946 & new brickworks was built on the same site (yellow) & was up and running in January 1947 & was being operated by a new company called the Leicester Brick & Tile Co. owned by Mr. L. Sherriff. This new company had also taken over the Barrows Brothers, County Works (green). However on the 6th of February 1946 Mr. Sherriff stated in a newspaper article that with the shortage of coal due to the Government cutting back supplies from 70 tons to 35 tons, he had to lay off 70 workers at his Gypsy Lane & County Brick Works with the exception of maintenance staff & kiln burners. Mr. Sherriff continues, the men have only been working 2 days one week & 3 days the other & 250,000 of undried bricks would also be lost if he could not get more coal & the immediate effect would be the lost supply to 20 housing projects. Apparently a government official replied to one of Mr. Sherriff's letters saying - can't you let a kiln go out & the reply was that if he did it would take 50 tons of coal to get the kiln working again. A short newspaper article the next day stated the government had released an extra 20 tons of outcrop coal to Mr Sherriff, but he said work could not resumed until it was received. From several newspaper adverts this company also operated under the name of Gypsy Lane Brick Works Ltd. 

It appears the County Brickworks had ceased production by 1950 with the 1950 map (above) recording Old Clay Pit next to the brickworks buildings. The last newspaper reference to the County Brickworks was the shortage of coal in January 1947, so the decision may have been taken to close the works at this point.

The Leicester Evening Mail on the 25th of April 1962 shows a photo of company chairman Mr. L. Sherriff setting light to the works new kiln. The article reports the design of which was the most advanced type of kiln in the world. Mr. Sherriff stated this new kiln had been 10 years in the planning & took one year to be built. The 460ft long oil-fired kiln was capable of producing 200,000 bricks per week with the kiln working in conjunction with new automatic brick-making plant which required just 12 men to operate. The bricks are fed into the kiln on a car which can carry 2000 bricks & each car spends 96 hours in the kiln. Managing Director, Mr. J.B. Sherriff stated the new kiln could produce more bricks than their 4 existing kilns. The Sherriff family continued to run this brickworks up to July 1983.

This next info has been supplied to me by Mike Chapman & strictly speaking requires a new heading, but with the Sherriff Family still being involved I have continued as per last heading. 

In the late 1970's & early 1980's the Nottingham Brick Co. were keen to expand their business in the production of Keuper Marl bricks & several brick companies in the Midlands were looked at with the view of taking them over. In 1979 the Maltby Works owned by the Badger Family (Maltby Brick Co.) was acquired by the Nottingham Brick Co. They then turned their interests to the Gypsy Lane Brickworks owned by the Sherriff Family. In a 18th of July 1983 meeting at Nottingham Brick PLC's Dorket Head Brickworks Managing Director, M.W. Sledge confirmed that an agreement had been finalised with the Sherriff Family to obtain the assets to Gypsy Lane brickworks with the Family continuing to hold the land as Leaseholders. Nottingham Brick then set about improving the Gypsy Lane works which they had now named the Thurmaston Factory & introduced a larger range of wire-cut facing bricks to compliment the ones made at Dorket Head. In 1987 Nottingham Brick PLC was taken over by roof tile manufacturer Marley & Marley Brick was formed which included the Thurmaston works & Nottingham Brick Co's two other works. Below is a Marley brochure showing the range of bricks made at Leicester. The brochure mentions the bricks were made with shale clay & Mike tells me these Leicester bricks were made from a mixture of the local Keuper Marl & shale clay from Maltby which was a very costly thing to do bringing the shale from Yorkshire. Mike continues to say this range of wire-cut bricks was never entirely successful & the Thurmston works suffered during 1989 - 1993 recession & the Thurmaston Works had closed by the time Tarmac PLC bought Marley Brick in 1993 & that was the end of brick making in this part of Leicester.     


Marley Brochure & Thurmaston Factory photo courtesy of Mike Chapman Collection.


John Day

Photo by Frank Lawson.

The Leicester Mercury dated 10th September 1864 reports on a straw fire at Mr. John Day's Thurmaston Lodge Farm which according to the report was situated one mile north of Thurmaston village & when the Sun Fire Brigade (Mr. Day's insurers) arrived they found they did enough water for the job in hand and the nearest water available was obtained from the ponds of the Barkby Lane brickworks half a mile away. Now this got me thinking that this brickworks was John Day's, so I am hoping I am right. I have to note this brickworks was actually on Barkby Thorpe Lane as shown on the 1883 OS map below.  

© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1883.


Albert Henry Vass


A newspaper article on Albert Henry Vass of Ingaraby House, Uppingham Road, Leicester records he first worked for the Knighton Brick Co. as a Manager & Salesman then in 1895 he established his own brickworks on Gypsy Lane. Now on the 1900 map there is only one brickworks situated just off Gypsy Lane & this was owned by the Gypsy Lane Brick Co. on Fairfax Road which was established in 1895 by Weston & Winterton, however nearby on Barkby Road there's the marked High Meres Brickworks (coloured yellow on the 1900 OS map below) which I had not been abled to ascertain who owned it from trade directories or old newspapers, so I have come to the conclusion Albert Vass had established this High Meres Brickworks in 1895 with him then being listed in Kelly's 1899 edition at Thurmaston. My theory is backed up by another snippet of information from a 1898 Local Council meeting in which the decision was made to widen the road by 5 feet between Messrs Barrow Brothers brickworks & Mr. Vass's brickworks. The map below shows these two works were next door to one another. This Kelly's 1899 entry is the only listing for Vass as this article goes on to say Vass sold his Leicester brickworks (to an un-named company) at a large profit in 1900. Vass then established the Carlton Brick Co. in Star Lane, Nottingham in 1901. 

It appears nothing happened to the High Mere Brickworks after it had closed with the 1919 map showing no buildings only the old clay pit. Then the 1928 map shows the same, so my only thoughts are with the Barrow Brothers County Brickworks being next door they had bought the works for the clay, but there is no evidence to support this. 

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

As a footnote, this 1907 article was reporting Albert Henry Vass was in Court addressing his situation with him running out of money & being in debt. After the sale of his Leicester brickworks in 1900 he next ran the Carlton Brick Co. on Star Lane, Carlton, Nottingham from 1901. He then ran another brickworks in Chesterfield from 1904 & this may have been the Wheeldon Mill Works which was put up for sale in October 1904. Vass also invested heavily in many house building projects, hence him running out of money. The Mortgagees of the Carlton Works took possession of the works in March 1906 & the Mortgagees of the Chesterfield took possession of their works in April 1907. Sadly Albert Henry Vass died in 1909 aged 52.      



Star Brick Works
Star Brick Co.
New Star Brick Co.

Leicester Chronicle - Saturday 19 July 1879 
Image © Reach PLC. 
Image created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD

An advert in the Leicester Chronicle dated 19th of July 1879 records The Star Brick Works, Thurmaston was owned by Robert Richard Gray & he was advertising he could supply Patent Pressed Facing bricks of high quality & colour. Kelly's 1881 edition is the first directory listing the Star Brick Works with R.R. Gray as proprietor. 

Kelly's 1881 edition.

The 1901 OS map below shows the Star Works (yellow) was on Humberstone Lane (purple) in Thurmaston. 

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

A Notice in the Leicester Chronicle dated 19th August 1882 brings your attention to the Sale of the Star Brick Works, Thurmaston by Private Treaty, owned by Robert R. Gray. The works came with a Lease of 21 years on favourable terms of rent & loyalty which had started on the 25th of December 1878, so I think I can say that was when Gray had established this works. The notice states the buildings & machinery consisted of a 20 horse-powered horizontal engine, a Cornish boiler by Gimson & Co., dry press machinery by Whittaker of Accrington, capable of making 50,000 pressed bricks per week, wire cut machinery by Ward & Co. Leeds also capable of producing 50,000 bricks per week, a new Clay Mill, four Newcastle kilns holding 30,000 bricks each plus a round oven holding 14,000 bricks, drying house & offices. There is a railway siding from the main line of the Midland Railway into the works affording excellent facilities for the forwarding of bricks etc to all parts of the country. The site is of 5 acres & contains superior clay to produce excellent facing bricks. There is a bottom bed of clay from which white bricks are made. The works is three miles from the centre of Leicester. Arrangements to visit the works by bonafide people can be made with Mr. R.R. Gray.   

It is unknown if Gray sold his works in 1882, but we find the next owners of The Star Brick Works were Thomas & Henry Herbert, Builders, Contractors & Brickmakers of Welford Road, Leicester. The brothers are first listed as the proprietors of the Star Brick Works in Kelly's 1891 edition & this entry is repeated in Kelly's 1895 edition. 

I just write a bit about the Herbert's before they took over the Star Brick Works & as well as being builders & contractors Thomas & Henry Herbert, are listed with the address of Welford Road as brickmakers in Harrod's 1870 edition, then Wright's 1878 edition records them as brickmakers on Lancaster Street. The 1885 OS map does not show a brickworks on this street only the outline of the roads without any houses, so maybe the Herbert brothers were going to build the houses in this area, hence the listing. There are several Old Clay Pits marked on this map nearby in the Spinney Hills area, so in 1878 the brothers may have owned one of these brickyards. 

Photo by Dennis Gamble, courtesy of Brocross Old Bricks website.

Kelly's 1899 edition next records the Star Brick Works as being owned by Henry Herbert & Sons & the London Gazette reveals the brothers had dissolved their partnership on the 31st of December 1897. Thomas Herbert then traded under his own name as a Builder & Contractor at the Welford Road yard & Henry Herbert was now operating his builders yard & office on Millstone Lane, trading as Henry Herbert & Sons, Brick Manufacturer, Builder & Contractor.  

Kelly's 1925 edition is the last entry for the Star Brick Works, proprietor Henry Herbert & Sons, however we find by 1928 Henry Herbert had moved to new brickworks with Kelly's 1928 edition now listing the New Star Brick Works, proprietor Henry Herbert & Sons, Thurmaston. The 1928 OS map below shows this new works (coloured green) was further down Humberstone Lane (purple) & the old works (yellow) had been dismantled. A later article on the company now records the works was on Barkby Road, coloured red (later renamed Barkby Thorpe Road).  

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

Photo by Peter Harris, courtesy of Brocross Old Bricks website.

Kelly's 1932 edition now records Sydney Frank Herbert as the proprietor of the New Star Brick Co., New Star Works, Thurmaston, however the builders & contractors side of the family business carried on as Henry Herbert & Sons. A quick check on a family website reveals Sydney was Henry's son. A 1939 newspaper article describes the New Star Brick Co.'s works as the most up to date in the area with the latest machinery & plant. The company is fortunate in possessing a bed of the finest red clay entirely free from lime & impurities covering many acres. The well known firm are the makers of the popular "Star-ruff" & Wi-ruff facing bricks & also manufacture Sand-stock facing bricks & common bricks. The 1943 Ministry of War Directory records the New Star Brick Co. was one of the very few brickworks which was allowed to operate during the war. 

Sydney Frank Herbert died in January 1950 aged 74 & he is recorded as being the senior partner in H. Herbert & Sons. The article states he had three sons, Geoffrey B. Herbert was a Solicitor, then his partners in the building company & brickworks were Henry Davis Herbert & Samuel Frank Herbert.   

The Leicester Daily Mercury dated July 1969 reports Mr. Henry Davis Herbert & his brother Samuel Frank Herbert, Partners in H. Herbert & Sons, Builders, Contractors & owners of the New Star Brick Co. were closing the builders & contractors side of the business, but the brickworks was to continue. Henry Davis Herbert stated the company which had been in existence for 160 years was not in any financial difficulties, but trade had been very slow over the last 12 years. Then with neither himself or his brother having any children to carry on the family business they had taken the decision to close the builders & contractors side & all manual workers & apprentices had been placed with other companies. With the brick company continuing a 1970 newspaper advert records The New Star Brick Co. were supplying facing bricks to the building of the Wigston Stage Motel. 

My next find in the Leicester Daily Mercury dated 20th August 1975 states the New Star Brick Co. had applied to the Local Council to change use of the brickworks to warehousing, but this meeting in September had been cancelled. I am therefore assuming the brickworks had closed by this date. 



I now write about the six owners/companies which operated the brickworks situated at the end of Red Hill Lane, Thurmaston.


Thurmaston Terra Metallic Brick Co.

The first newspaper reference found to the Thurmaston Terra Metallic Brick & Tile Co. appears in the Leicester Journal dated 22nd January 1875 when Architect & Surveyor, Mr. H. Barnard was prepared to receive Tenders from Contractors on the erection & completion of several proposed buildings for the Company's new brickworks at Thurmaston. Plans & specifications could be seen by contacting Mr. H. Barnard at Halford Street, Leicester. A July 1875 Notice notifies that an Ordinary General Meeting by the Thurmaston Terra Metallic Brick Co. for the present year would be held at the Freemasons' Hall, Halford Street, Leicester on the 26th of July. I expect this meeting was to update it's shareholders on the building of the new works. With the works operational Kelly's 1976 edition is the first directory recording this new company with offices at 9, Halford Street. A July 1877 newspaper advert tells you the works was producing Common & Patent Hand-Pressed Bricks, Tiles & Quarries, Ridges, Finials, Cornice & Beaded Bricks, String Coursing, Chimney Pots, etc, etc. Quotations on application to Mr. A. Yates, Resident Manager. The 1900 OS map below shows works (coloured green) was situated at the end of Red Hill Lane (red) & had it's own railway siding off the Midland Main Line. By December 1877 the company was now selling medium & best pressed machine pressed bricks & paving from their works which they had called Thurmaston Tileries. Please note the marked Pottery south of the works, coloured yellow was owned by Henry Woodfield from 1883 & his family continued to run this works to at least 1941 making pottery, terra cotta, tiles & bricks.    

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

A Notice in the London Gazette informs you at a General Meeting on the 11th September 1879 of the Thurmaston Terra Metallic Brick Co. that the company was unable to fulfil it's liabilities & therefore could not continue. The resulting vote was to put the company into Voluntary Liquidation. In October 1879 the surplus stock was sold at Auction & then the works was put up for Sale as a going concern by the Liquidator. The works consisted of two Ensor Patent Angular Kilns having 12 arched chambers each, 2 buffalo ovens & 2 open kilns, drying sheds, three Murray's Patent pug mills & facilities to make land drain pipes outside. The works buildings were situated on an acre & a half of Freehold Land & there was another 11 acres of land available on lease & royalties. The Thurmaston Terra Metallic Brick Co. was wound up on the 22nd of September 1881 & this notice states the works had been deposed of & we find Thomas Miles was now running this brickworks & I write about him next.    


Thomas Miles
Thurmaston Brick & Tile Works

Thomas Miles is listed as brick manufacturer at Thurmaston in Kelly's 1881 edition & this is the only entry for Thomas Miles. I then found Thomas Miles, a Solicitor of 19, Cank Street, Leicester was declaring himself bankrupt in June 1888 & this notice records Augustus Cufaude Palmer, a Charted Accountant as his Trustee. Thomas Miles' office for the brickworks was at 30, Cank Street as per Kelly's 1881 advert below.

Kelly's 1881 edition.

J.G. Burgess, Official Receiver was put in charge to dispose of Miles's works & the Sale of the Thurmaston Brick & Tile Works with immediate possession was advertised in the Leicester Chronicle on the 2nd of August 1890. So from this notice it appears Thomas Miles also was trading as the Thurmaston Brick & Tile Works. The works sitting on an acre of Freehold land consisted of a 12 chamber German Kiln (Hoffman) capable of holding 240,000 bricks, 5 round ovens holding 90,000 bricks, 4 drying sheds all heated by exhausted steam, mill room, 2 Murray's Patent brick machines, 80 horse-power engine, 2 boilers, 4 brick presses, 4 pipe machines etc etc. A further 11 acres of land was available which was on a 21 year lease from 2nd March 1881. I am assuming this was the date Thomas Miles took over the works & then renegotiated the lease on this 11 acres of land with the owner.    

The new owner of this works then turns out to be Augustus C. Palmer, Miles' Trustee & his company A.C. Palmer & Co. are listed as the Proprietors of the Thurmaston Brick & Tile Works in Kelly's 1891 edition. From this directory & another newspaper article it appears Palmer continued to trade as the Thurmaston Brick & Tile Works. 

A Notice in the Leicester Chronicle dated 30th of April 1892 tells you AC. Palmer was selling the Thurmaston Brick & Tile Works with 6 Acres of adjoining land by Private Treaty.  


I have come to the conclusion this brick was made between 1881 & 1892 by either Miles or Palmer while operating as the Thurmaston Brick Works.       


Thurmaston Brick & Tile Company

I am assuming the sale of Palmers' works was completed not long after April 1892 as we find a new company The Thurmaston Brick & Tile Company was now running the works & this company is listed in Kelly's 1895 edition with Robert Sneddon as Secretary & Manager. This company did not last long as we find the London Gazette dated 30th of July 1897 records the Thurmaston Brick & Tile Company was voluntarily wound up on the 26th of July 1897 so that the Works could be made ready to sell to a new Company. Signed John Wootton, Chairman. To me this says the transfer to a new company had already been agreed upon & we find the next owners of this works was the Thurmaston Brick Co. 


Thurmaston Brick Company

The Thurmaston Brick Co. was owned by W. G. Birkinshaw & Co., coal merchants in Leicester. It appears this company took over the Red Hill Lane works not long after July 1887. Kelly's 1899 edition records the Thurmaston Brick Co. with Claude Arthur Brown as manager. The entry in Kelly's 1908 & 1912 is the Thurmaston Brick Co., W.G. Birkinshaw proprietors. A 1913 advert now records Birkinshaw & Co. as Birkinshaw, Brown & Co, Coal, Lime, Salt & Builders Merchants of Syston & they were the Sole Agents for the Thurmaston Brick Co., so it appears Claude Brown had now become a Partner in this new company of Birkinshaw, Brown & Co. 

Kelly's 1916 edition now records the Thurmaston Brick Co. as a branch of En-tout-cas Co. Ltd. This entry is repeated in Kelly's 1922 & 1925 editions. En-tout-cas Co. Ltd were based in Syston & were designers of landscape gardens and manufacturers of chicken sheds & garden furniture. A 1932 newspaper article reveals Claude Arthur Brown was the owner of En-tout-cas Co. Ltd. So it appears Brown took full control of the Thurmaston Brick Co. from Messrs Birkinshaw by 1916. This 1932 article goes on to say with the slump in the sale of bricks around 1909 & with Thurmaston having to sell their bricks at a lower price than they could be made for, Claude Brown was given the task on how to utilise the works plant. A chance meeting with W.G. Hillyard, secretary of the All England Tennis Club about the time tennis could be played on a grass court resulted with Brown coming up with the idea of a tennis court made of burnt clay which could be played on all year round round. Naturally it took time to perfect this & it resulted in Brown taking over the Thurmaston Brick Co. by 1916 to produce this clay surface & brick production was scaled down. There are no more trade directory listings for the Thurmaston Brick Co. after 1925 & the 1927 OS map just records the name En-tout-cas Works against the former brickworks buildings.         


Melton Road - Barkby Lane Brickworks

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

I conclude this section of Thurmaston brickworks with the one I have coloured red on the 1900 map above which had access from both Barkby Lane (purple) & Melton Road/Fosse Way (orange), the later being shown as the main access to the works on later maps. 

I have not been able to find any concrete evidence on who owned this works as there appears to be no trade directory entries listing this works or any mention of the works in any newspaper articles. Now this works is shown on the 1900 map through to the 1938 map. The 1950 map only shows the clay pit. It appears from the maps that it was a significant operation with the size of the buildings & the extent of the clay pit, it even had it's own railway siding, so I cannot understand why I cannot find any info on it. 

I now have a bit of a lead on this brickworks. A September 1943 newspaper article reveals the Leicester Sanitary & Baths Committee had recommended the purchase of 29 acres of land which had formed part of the Lodge Farm Brickworks just off Melton Road for the use of controlled tipping purposes. This description certainly describes this brickworks. 

Armed with the name of the works I then found that a June 1930 Wills Notice records William Barrow, Meadowcourt, Spencefield Lane, Thurnby, formerly of The Cottage, Lodge Farm Brickworks, Thurmaston left a gross estate of £4,625 18s 8d with a net personal amount of £2,457 2s 4d. The date of his death is not recorded. Now the William Barrow of Barrow Brothers who died in January 1916 is recorded as living at Rocklands, Knighton Grange Road at the time of his death. I then found William (d. 1916) had a son called William who was born in 1863 & the 1901 census records this 1863 William as a Clerk at a Brick Works & then as a Manager at a Brick Works in the 1911 census, so this indicates to me this Melton Road Brickworks was owned by the Barrow Family & the 1863 William was running it around the time of his death in late 1820's with him having lived at the cottage next to the works. It would explain the amount he left in his Will if he was the son of the 1839 - 1916 William. I don't think I am far off from proving this Melton Road Brick Works was owned by the Barrow Family.


Leicester Evening Mail - Wednesday 08 September 1943. Image © Reach PLC. 
Image created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD.

Added February 2025 - This new find from a 1943 newspaper has now confirmed the Barrow Brothers did own the Melton Road brickworks & it was being dismantled by J.W. Durham who was selling off 2nd hand bricks & hard core from the brickworks or from his yard on Fosse Road North. Magic ! 😁