Mansfield Brick Co. - Lane Bros - Millott & Mettham - Mansfield Stone & Brick Co. Ltd. - Mansfield Stone & Brick Works.

Mansfield

The Mansfield Brick Company, a subsidiary of Mansfield Sand Co. produced calcium silicate bricks from 1926 to the mid 1990's at its Sandhurst Avenue site. The brickworks is listed in Kelly's 1936 edition as the Mansfield Standard Sand Co., Sandhurst Avenue, Mansfield.
This brick came from a 1930's/40's house situated very close to were it was made. It was a chance find as I spotted a house being demolished when I was waiting for the traffic lights to change at High Oakham. These calcium silicate bricks were used in the construction of the internal walls & Sherwood Colliery bricks were used for the external walls. In 2010 the Company relocated to Crown Farm Way, Mansfield and now produces bespoke concrete bricks and products.

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

1938 map showing the location of Mansfield Sand Co.'s brickworks off Sandhurst Avenue.

This arrow brick came a house (internal wall) in Rainworth, so there's a good chance this sand type brick was made by the Mansfield Sand Co. Many thanks to Andy Kemp for getting me this brick. The M S Co. brick below came from the recently demolished Savanna Rags building (February 2024) in Mansfield. Sadly all the bricks have now been crushed.

   

Lane Bros.

The Hermitage Brickworks was owned by brothers, Richard and Sampson Clay Lane and was in operation in the early 1900's. The brothers are recorded in Kelly's 1904 edition to the 1916 edition at the Hermitage Brickworks, Sutton Road, Mansfield. The works occupied land which was on the right hand side of Hermitage Lane from it's junction with Sutton Road down to the railway line. Today this site now has houses built upon it. 

 © Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of Nottingham Insight Mapping/Ordnance Survey 1912.

This 1912 OS map shows the location of the Lane Brothers Hermitage Lane works which I have coloured yellow. The Lane Brothers brickworks is shown as still being in operation on the 1937 map, but I have no trade directory entries or any info to say if the Lane Brothers were still brickmaking or not in 1937. Hugh Slaney has informed me that when Geoff Lane became MD of the company in 1950, the company had definitely finished brickmaking by then & were chiefly Civil Engineers on this Hermitage Lane site, so the search still continues for the closure date of this brickworks.

Richard Bromhead

Richard Bromhead is listed as a builder, stone mason, quarry owner & brickmaker living on Westgate in Pigot's 1828 edition. Although there will be no bricks stamped with Bromhead's name I writing about him because after his death in 1855 his business, quarries & brickworks were left to his nephew Richard Millott, born 1811 & I write about the Millott family next.

Richard Bromhead's home on Westgate no longer exists as it was knocked down to build a road through from St John's Street to Clumber Street, however Hugh Slaney of the Old Mansfield Society has sent me this 1972 photograph of the house, it's the white house on the far right. The New Inn pub next to it still stands. 

Photo reproduced courtesy of the Old Mansfield Society.

So in 1828 his stone quarry was on Chesterfield Road where the former Wickes DIY store now stands. The location of his brickworks at this date is unknown & his builders yard was to the rear of his house with access from Clumber Street. Hugh has sent me info from the Tithe Map of 1844 & Richard Bromhead owned 9 pieces of land in three areas of Mansfield. First was his house & business on Westgate, the second was his quarry, stables & grazing for his horses on Chesterfield Road & third was land which in 1844 was now the location of his brickworks & another stone quarry (white stone) situated on land between Quarry Lane & Moor Lane which by 1862 had come into the hands of Richard Millott b.1811, hence my interest in Bromhead. 

 © Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1898 &1913 maps.

The map above sent to me by Hugh shows Bromhead owned all of the land covered by the orange box. The red box to the north of the railway line was were Bromhead dug his clay & his brick ovens & yard buildings were on the south side of the railway line in the other red box. Please note the carriages which ran on this railway line at this date were drawn by horses & passage from over this line would not have been a problem in 1844, however when Mansfield Railway introduced steam trains in 1846 crossing the line between the two parts of the brickworks would have caused problems & Hugh thinks this was when Bromhead moved the whole of his brickworks to the north side of the railway line. The land on the south side of the railway line was sold to George Bradder, a Mansfield Builder in the 1870's & I am assuming it was Richard Millott (1811-1870) or his son Thomas who sold the land. George Bradder then built houses on the land, naming the road Bradder Street. The houses have since gone & this street is now Bradder Way which has industrial units built upon it. Apparently the white stone on the south side of the railway line hadn't been quarried before Bradder built his houses. So with the brickworks & land on north side of railway line now in the hands of Richard Millott by 1862, a 1868 court case records Richard Millott accuses a woman of steeling coal from his brickworks. So we know in 1868 the brickworks was still operational. I next write about the partnership of Millott & Mettham.      

Millott & Mettham

Kelly's 1876 edition lists Millott & Mettham in the Brick & Tile Makers section at the Victoria Steam Brick Works & White Stone Quarries, Mansfield. Also in the Brick & Tile Makers section of this 1876 edition is the listing of John Mettham at 1, Church Street, Mansfield, but this entry will have been John's home address, which was just off the market square in the centre of town. On another page in this 1876 directory John Mettham is listed as a brick & tile manufacturer, fishmonger & game dealer at 1 Church Street, Mansfield. He was also the landlord of the Eclipse Inn which also formed part of 1 Church Street. I then checked out census entries for John Mettham b.1826 & they reveal his profession is given as a fishmonger, poulterer & supplier of venison & game, so this Church Street address was his shop & home. A 1869 advert for his business verifies this Church Street address was his shop as well as his home. Today the modern building of Lloyds Bank now occupies this address. 

As to the Millott in this partnership, I first thought this was Richard Millott b.1811 with him owning the brickworks & stone quarry off Moor Lane which was left to him by Richard Bromhead, but Richard Millott died in 1870. From further findings his eldest son Richard junior took over his stone quarry on Chesterfield Road & youngest son Thomas got the Moor Lane brickworks & quarry. The 1871 census records Thomas Millott b.1844 as a Masoner (Stone Mason) living in Thompson's Alley which was off Westgate in the centre of town. 

Photo by Stuart Harrington.

Info received from Hugh Slaney indicates Millott & Mettham's partnership was formed in 1872 & Hugh thinks this came about by John Mettham purchasing the field next door to Thomas Millott's brickworks & quarry in 1871 which was advertised as being rich in good brickmaking clay. Why Thomas Millott did not purchase this field himself is unknown unless he did not have the money to do this & it a appears Mettham was an canny businessman who couldn't resist an opportunity to make money.  

Kelly's 1876 edition still lists Thomas Millott as a Mason, but now living at Victoria Terrace which was a row of cottages next to the brickworks & Victoria Terrace is shown on the map below. We then find in Morris' 1877 edition Thomas Millott is listed as still living at Victoria Terrace & in brackets "Firm of Millott & Mettham. So this trade directory confirms the partnership of John Mettham & Thomas Millott.

In January 1877 John Mettham passed away & from the Morris' trade directory entry it appears Thomas Millott was running the whole business with John Mettham not being listed. None of John Mettham's sons followed him into brickmaking or his shop business which was run by his wife after his death. His son Frederick Mettham took over the running of the Eclipse Inn.

 © Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1878.

This 1878 OS map shows Millott & Mettham's works as the Victoria Steam Brick Works which I have coloured yellow. Access to the works at this date was via a lane (today called Moor Lane) which ran off Sutton Road. Sutton Road is just off the top of this map. 

So with John Mettham dying January 1877 I then found in the London Gazette that the partnership of Millott & Mettham was mutually dissolved by Thomas Millott & John Mettham's wife, Mary on the 18th of March 1878. 

Kelly's 1881 edition now records the Mansfield Stone & Brick Co. were now operating this Victoria Steam Brickworks & I write about this company next. With new owners of this brickworks I next found the 1881 census records Thomas Millott as a Stone Quarry Owner & living at 6, Belmont Terrace which was off Clumber Street in the town, so it appears Thomas was now running his brother's stone quarry on Chesterfield Road in Mansfield with Richard now listed as retired in 1881 census. 

Mansfield Stone & Brick Co. Ltd.

As wrote the Mansfield Stone & Brick Co. took over Millott & Mettham's brickworks soon after March 1878 & this works was still accesed off Moor Lane at this date. Please see map in the Millott & Mettham entry for this works which is coloured yellow. The first trade directory listing this new company is Kelly's 1881 edition & it records Charles W. Hardy as manager of the Mansfield Stone & Brick Co. Ltd.

I am indebted to Hugh Slaney of the Old Mansfield Society for sending me this info. Formed on the 7th February 1878 the Mansfield Stone & Brick Co. Ltd. then took over the assets of Millott & Mettham, issuing 2,000 shares at £10 each.

The first subscribers were :-

Thomas Millott, Mansfield Stone Mason & previous co-owner of this brickworks, 100 Shares

Frederick William Mettham, Mansfield Innkeeper (John Mettham’s son, John had died in 1877), 100 shares

Thomas Fish, Nottingham Builder, 100 shares

Enoch Hind, Nottingham Builder, 75 shares

George Frederick Slight, Nottingham Builder, 75 shares

Charles John Lowe, Nottingham Builder, 50 shares

Joseph Hodson, Nottingham Builder, 50 shares

Frederick Messon, Nottingham Builder, 50 shares

W Hall, Nottingham Timber Merchant, 50 shares.

The listing in Kelly's 1885 edition is the M.S.& B. Co. Ltd., Victoria Brick Works, Victoria Terrace, Mansfield & Wollaton Road, Beeston, Nottingham. I have found no brickworks marked on maps situated on Wollaton Road only gravel pits, so it looks like the Beeston listing may be these gravel pits which were owned by the Company. Then in the Quarry Owners section of Wright's 1885 edition, M. S. & B. Co., are listed with the address of Victoria Terrace, Mansfield. Also to note on the map above is that the brickworks had it's own railway siding, so the stone could have been extracted from the area where the railway line comes into the works. There are some wiggly lines in this area suggesting different ground levels. 

With the share issue not being fully taken up an Extraordinary General Meeting took place on the 14th November 1887 & it was agreed to voluntarily wind the company up. Frederick Meeson was the chairman at the time. The assets of the company were sold off on the 8th of December 1887 to Derby Builder & Brickmaker Joseph Tomlinson for £7,850, the highest bidder & I write about Joseph Tomlinson next. 

I then found a Notice in the London Gazette which reports to shareholders that on the 29th of December 1890 at a special meeting, The Mansfield Stone & Brick Company Ltd. would have it's accounts laid before them before the Company was Liquidated. Apparently the Liquidation process was not straight forward & the company was still being investigated some thirteen years later, longer than the company was in existence.

Mansfield Stone & Brick Works

 © Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1898.

We next find that Joseph Tomlinson, a General Contractor & owner of the Rowditch Brick Works in Derby takes over the brickworks previously owned by the Mansfield Stone & Brick Co. Limited, paying £7850 for it's assets to the Liquidators on the 8th of December 1887. Joseph Tomlinson is first listed as brickmaker in Mansfield in Kelly's 1891 edition & this entry is repeated in Kelly's 1900 edition. Joseph is then listed with the address of Princess Street, Mansfield in Kelly's 1904 to 1912 editions. The change of address for this brickworks previously recorded as Moor Lane or Victoria Terrace to Princess Street was the result of two factors. First with the extension of either the clay pit or the removal of stone as shown on the 1913 OS map below, resulted in the Moor Lane access being cut off. Then with new streets being laid around 1898 & houses being built on them from 1899 onwards, access was then gained to the brickworks via Princess Street which I have coloured green. Access to Princess Street was via Victoria Street (brown) which in turn could be accessed either from Moor Lane (purple) or from the town centre just off the right hand side of this map. Victoria Terrace is coloured pink & it's stone cottages are still shown on the 1938 map, but they were later demolished & replaced with flats which were built around 1960/70. Then the two blocks of flats built on the former cottages site have also since been demolished, leaving three blocks of flats on the right side of Victoria Terrace where the railway branch line is shown on this map, which appears to be still in use on this 1913 map.

© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of Nottingham Insight Mapping/Ordnance Survey 1913.

Joseph Tomlinson is listed as a stone quarry owner in Kelly's 1891 to Kelly's 1904 editions. There are no more stone quarry entries for Joseph after 1904, so with Joseph still listed at this brickworks in Kelly's 1912 edition I am assuming the quarrying side of the business had finished. A 1911 photo of Tomlinson's clay pit & his men getting clay can be seen at this Link.

We next find in Kelly's 1916 edition the entry for this brickworks is F. J. Tomlinson, Princess Street, Mansfield & this was Joseph's grandson Francis Joseph Tomlinson. From information received from Hugh Slaney & checking out the census, it records Joseph's son John Drabble Tomlinson (father to Francis) is recorded in the 1911 census as a foreman in a brickyard in Mansfield which I assuming was this one. Hugh also informed me that Joseph Tomlinson after running this brickworks himself for a number of years then passed the running of the Mansfield works to his grandson Francis Joseph Tomlinson while he concentrated on running the Derby side of the business. The exact date when this change-over took place is unknown, but the change over appears to have been between 1912 & 1916.  

At another unknown date it appears Francis Tomlinson went into partnership with Herbert Fretwell at this brickworks operating their firm under the name of the Mansfield Stone & Brick Works same as the bricks shown below. This info came about with me finding a Notice in the London Gazette announcing this partnership was being mutually dissolved on the 3rd of December 1917 & Francis Tomlinson would then continue run the business himself. I have therefore come to the conclusion with not finding any bricks stamped with Joseph Tomlison's name that he also made bricks stamped Mansfield Stone & Brick Works. The first two examples below with them having a line under the s & a deeper imprint, indicates they maybe 1890's bricks. I have not been able to establish who this Herbert Fretwell was. I have found there was a Herbert Fretwell born in Ault Hucknall near Glapwell who could be our man, but the census does not record him as a brickmaker or brickworks owner. With my name being Fretwell there appears to be bricks in my blood after all, but I don't think I am related to him as my family came from Huthwaite. This is the second Fretwell brickmaker that I have come across & he was in partnership with two others at a brickworks in Sheepbridge, Chesterfield in 1874.

Going back to Francis Tomlinson & the last trade directory entry that I have for him at Princess Street, Mansfield is Kelly's 1922 edition. With finding no more later entries for this Princess Street works I am assuming the works was closed by Francis Tomlinson not long after 1922. The last newspaper reference to the brickworks was in May 1922 when Francis was advertising for a Smart Boy to work in the Ticket Office. This works is not shown on the 1938 map & today the former claypit has been filled in & is a football pitch & the rest of the site is an open green space. 

I can now add a little more info about Francis Tomlinson around 1922. First in September 1921 with T. Hartley leaving the partnership of Hollis & Hartley, Timber Fellers & Hauliers in Mansfield, Francis then joined J. Hollis in Hollis & Co. with this new partnership setting up a timber yard at Francis's Mansfield Stone & Brick Works on Princess Street. Then in the summer of 1922 Francis purchased some scrap metal from a gentleman called Captain Johnstone who worked at the Langwith Munitions Factory with the view to sell this scrap on, however Johnstone had stollen this scrap from his employers & Francis was out of pocket to the sum of £539 15s. During the trial of Johnstone, Francis gave the evidence that he was told by Johnstone that he had the authority to sell the scrap on behalf of the Munitions Board. Francis kept records of all these cash or cheque transactions to Johnstone, but no records of any scrap sales were made by Johnstone at the Munitions Factory. This info came from a newspaper account of Johnstone's trial, so I am taking it Johnstone was put in jail for his offences which included the sale of scrap to other persons. 

On the 1st of January 1923 the partnership of Tomlinson & Hollis in Hollis & Co was dissolved by mutual consent & from that day Hollis & Co. would be solely operated by Francis Tomlinson. 

Expect you have realised what I am going to tell you next. In July 1923 Francis Joseph Tomlinson, brick manufacturer, coal merchant & timber merchant operating under the style of the Mansfield Stone & Brick Works & Hollis & Co. initiated the Deeds of Arrangement Act, 1914. This was a process to be able to sort your financial problems out with your creditors at the Courts without declaring yourself Bankrupt. At the time of these proceedings Francis was living at the Talbot Hotel in Belper. So with the outlay of the Hollis partnership & the loss of the money he paid for the scrap metal Francis had put himself in financial difficulties, hence the brickworks closing. However another newspaper article dated July 1925 reveals Francis was operating as a Contractor with the address of Princess Street, I am therefore assuming Francis had sorted his finances out & was operating his contractor business from the old brickworks. This article states his workmen were removing very heavy wooden beams from an old shop in Church Street when one of his workmen was injured. 

These next two examples will be post 1900. 

Before I sign off on this brickworks Hugh Slaney has sent me this image of a postcard which is in the possession of the Old Mansfield Society & it shows how lightening stuck the brickworks on the 21st of August 1909 when owned by Joseph Tomlinson. This is followed by a newspaper article reporting the event. 

Derby Daily Telegraph - Monday 23 August 1909 

Image © Reach PLC. Image created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD

George Vallance

George Vallance is recorded as a builder, joiner, brickmaker & stone merchant with a builders yard on Portland Street in Mansfield. I later found he owned the brickyard coloured yellow on the map below which was situated at the end of a lane (coloured blue) which was opposite St. John Street (pink). This lane later became Hudson Street, but no longer exists today.  

So from trade directories George Vallance b.1808 is listed in the Brick Makers section with the address of Portland Street, Mansfield in White's 1853 edition. George Vallance is next listed in White's 1864 again at Portland Street & this was his builders yard. Then the 1869 edition of Morris's trade directory now records Vallance & Sons at Westgate with the list of trades undertaken by the family as builders, brickmakers, joiners, cabin makers, ironmongers, dealers in Roman Cement & stone merchants. I am taking Westgate to have been the address of his ironmongers/merchants shop with Westgate being in the centre of town. The last entry for Vallance & Sons as brickmakers at Portland Street is in White's 1872 edition. 

© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1876.

Finding the above map, searching the census & doing some ground work by taking to a couple who live in one of the houses coloured turquoise on St John's Place (green) has revealed that around 1860 George Vallance owned this land then built these 6 houses. Therefore I think I can say for certain that the brickworks marked on this map was owned by George Vallance & is the one listed in trade directories up to 1872. The 1861 census records the row of 13 terrace houses (orange) as being on St. John's Place although it looks like there was access to these houses from the lane I have coloured blue. These terraced houses may have also been built by George & George's son George junior b.1832, who was a joiner & from the 1861 census George junior was living at number 13, the last house on this side of the street in 1861. Other people living in these terraced houses included a brick maker, several labourers & a painter & these men may have worked for George. Meanwhile George Vallance senior in 1861 was living on Portland Street & more than likely this was next to his builders yard. 

On to the 1871 census were we find George junior had moved to Bull's Head Lane which may have been just off Portland Street with there being a Bulls Head pub on Portland Street. Meanwhile George senior had gone in the opposite direction with him building the two sets of large semi-detached houses on St John's Place on the same side of the road as the 13 terraced houses as shown on the 1876 map above. George senior lived in the house at the end of the road, number 17 which I have coloured red & which he called Cavendish House. George's house & all the other houses on this side of St. John's Place have now been demolished & replaced by the Leyton Burroughs flats complex which were completed in 1983. Pete Warsop a descendant of George Vallance has contacted me saying up to the 1950's when George's daughter, Agnes White & her family were living in George's house (number 17) it was called Leyton Burrow. 

George Vallance senior died in May 1880. An advert in the Mansfield Reporter dated 4th of February 1881 reports the Executors of the Late George Vallance, trading as George Vallance & Sons beg to inform the Public generally that they are carrying on the business of Builders, Brick Makers & Stone Merchants & all commands they are favoured with will receive their best & prompt attention. Offices & Works; St. John's Street, Mansfield, actually the lane opposite St. John's Street.

I then found that Kelly's 1876 & 1881 editions list George Vallance as brickmaking at Skegby & from my findings I have established this was George Valance junior who had took over the running of his father's business. Which of the Skegby brickworks he owned is unknown, but I am favouring the one on Forest Road, Skegby. Bricks stamped George Vallance senior or junior have yet to turn up & if bricks were made only for their own use, father & son may not have stamped their bricks.

I next write about the Quarry Lane brickworks which I have coloured green on the 1878 OS map below.

 © Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1878.

The 1878 map above shows a brick yard (green) which was accessed off Quarry Lane. This brick yard is not named as such on the 1898 map, but there are still outlines of buildings & two newspaper articles in 1902 & 1903 record this brickworks was still operational, however it may have closed shortly afterwards with the former brickworks site being incorporated into Gregory's stone quarry which was accessed from Nottingham Road (just off to the right where it says Water Works). 

So with the help of Hugh Slaney of the Old Mansfield Society, Hugh has found that John Greenwood, a Mansfield builder owned this brickworks around 1888 when this advert appeared in Mansfield Reporter dated June 29th 1888.

By 1892 Greenwood had retired from brickmaking & was now running building contracts, organising builders & plumbers for them. 

I next found two newspaper articles regarding this works. The first dated October 1902 records Mr. A. Houfton as the owner of the Quarry Lane Brickworks. The second dated January 1903 now records Mr. F.H. Houfton as the owner. Both articles record the loss of life while men were digging clay & the deaths were due to the clay face collapsing upon them.     

The next brickworks that I write about was on Ladybrook Lane.

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

With the aid of the 1900 OS map above, I have found that there was a brickworks on Ladybrook Lane just north-west of Mansfield town centre. Finding further maps has revealed that this brickworks is shown on the 1875 map & may have been established earlier than that. Present day George Street now runs through the centre of this site & with talking to people living on the street, I have found that houses commenced to built from 1910 onwards with several houses being shown built on a 1912 map. As to the brickmaker/s or company who operated this site is unknown. 
Two trade directory entries may reveal the possible owner of this Ladybrook Lane yard. Kelly's 1885 edition lists S. & G. Frisby as brickmakers at Belvedere Street, Mansfield & the 1904 edition of the Nottingham & District Trade Directory lists Samuel B. Frisby as brickmaker on Westfield Lane, Mansfield. Now Westfield Lane borders this brick yard & Samuel Frisby could be my best option for owning this yard as he was also a builder & may have built the houses in this area. Previously I had only found S. & G. Frisby listed as builders at Belvedere Street, Mansfield in the Builders Section of many Kelly's Trade Directories. So Belvedere Street will have been the company's builders yard & not a brickworks. I don't have 100% proof of Samuel Frisby as owning the Ladybrook yard, but he now appears to be my front runner. No bricks have been found with the Frisby name stamped in them.