In this entry I cover the several companies who owned The Oakwell Brickworks on Derby Road. Started around 1874 this works was the largest & longest in time to operate in Ilkeston. After several changes in ownership, name changes & temporary closures in between, the works finally closed in mid-December 1966 due to the lack of demand for bricks.
I first start with some info on the sinking of a pit on this Derby Road site. Harry Bostock & William Sudbury leased this land from the Rt. Hon. Edward Strutt, 1st Baron Belper in 1872 & in doing so formed the Oakwell Colliery Co. to extract coal from the Furnace seam. This company only operated for a short while as we find that in 1874 the two owners together with new investors & backers formed the Ilkeston (Oakwell) Colliery Co. to extract coal from the much deeper Kilburn seam. The precise year the brickworks was started is unknown, but the brickworks is shown next to the colliery on the 1879 map below.
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced by permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1879.
There are no trade directory entries for the Ilkeston Colliery Co. operating the brickworks, but I have found three bricks stamped I.C. Co. This first one was found on some waste land next to the former Bentinck Colliery site in Kirkby which is now an industrial estate.
Came across this nearly mint brick in 2023 with the same imprint.
The brick below came from the demolished terrace houses which had stood on Pleasley Road in Mansfield. So the manufacture of this brick can be dated to between 1897 & 1914 because the houses are not shown on the 1897 map, but are shown built on the 1914 map.
Photo by Richard Bull.
Richard Bull came across these blue Ilkeston Colliery Co. bricks while having a stroll near the former brickworks.
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced by permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1899.
This 1899 map shows the colliery & the brickworks site had been split into two with the laying of the G.N.R. Stanton branch line. This next Ilkeston brick came from a reclamation yard at Spondon & was more than likely made at this brickworks. It is a very heavy brick, slightly larger than a normal imperial sized brick & it may have been hand made using a wooden mould.
Up to 1913 this works consisted of four downdraught kilns, a drying shed in which they also produce hand made bricks, a brickmaking shed, a boiler house plus other associated buildings & offices. By 1913 a Hoffmann kiln had been built over the site of one of the kilns & a colour photograph of the Hoffmann kiln can be seen later in the post.
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced by permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1913.
Ilkeston Colliery closed in 1910 (see 1913 map above) & after The Ilkeston Colliery Co. had gone into liquidation the brickworks was sold to Henry M. Worthington forming The Oakwell Red & Blue Brick Co. Ltd. in February 1916. Kelly's 1916 edition lists the company in the brick & tile makers section with H.M. Worthington as Managing Director. Later that year Henry died & his brother William became manager of the works & two years later was appointed to the board. William had started at the brickworks in 1913.
We next find that in February 1919 the Stanton Ironworks Co. purchased all the shares in the company, but the Oakwell Red & Blue Brick Co. continued as an independent company under it's original name. SIC then appointed three new directors, Messrs C.R. Crompton, J.N. Derbyshire & E.J. Fox to replace the former directors on the board. Kelly's 1922, 25, 28 edition lists the Oakwell Red & Blue Brick Co. with W. Worthington listed as manager of the works. So it appears that William continued in the roll of manager after SIC had purchased all the shares from himself & the rest of the board.
Below are three bricks made by the Oakwell Red & Blue Brick Co. As to the Blue Brick in the title of the company, no blue bricks have been found so far by anyone on the Derby Road site & I have not come across any on my travels in reclamation yards. True blue bricks are made of Etruria clay which is normally found in the West Midlands, but the clay found at Oakwell could be burnt to a greyish-blue or purple colour at high temperatures above 1100 degrees centigrade, but as said none have been found on site or otherwise.
In February 1930 the Oakwell Red & Blue Brick Company was wound up & the works was fully incorporated into the Stanton Ironworks Company. William Worthington continued as manager of the brickworks until he retired in 1946. William had started at the brickworks in 1913, so spent 33 happy years there.
Kelly's trade directories lists the Stanton Ironworks Co. Ltd. as brickmakers on Derby Road, Ilkeston in their 1932, 36 & 41 editions & below are three bricks made by the company.
Next there are two 1930's photos of the brickworks taken by the Stanton Ironworks Co. & have been reproduced with the permission of the Picture the Past website.
Below are three bricks made by the Oakwell Red & Blue Brick Co. As to the Blue Brick in the title of the company, no blue bricks have been found so far by anyone on the Derby Road site & I have not come across any on my travels in reclamation yards. True blue bricks are made of Etruria clay which is normally found in the West Midlands, but the clay found at Oakwell could be burnt to a greyish-blue or purple colour at high temperatures above 1100 degrees centigrade, but as said none have been found on site or otherwise.
In February 1930 the Oakwell Red & Blue Brick Company was wound up & the works was fully incorporated into the Stanton Ironworks Company. William Worthington continued as manager of the brickworks until he retired in 1946. William had started at the brickworks in 1913, so spent 33 happy years there.
Kelly's trade directories lists the Stanton Ironworks Co. Ltd. as brickmakers on Derby Road, Ilkeston in their 1932, 36 & 41 editions & below are three bricks made by the company.
Photo by Frank Lawson.
Photo by Simon Patterson.
Simon found me this SIC brick for my collection in 2021 & I'm hoping a better pressing will eventually turn-up.
In February 1942 the Oakwell brickworks temporary closed due to wartime economics & the risk of light coming from the kilns showing their location to German bomber planes. The brickworks re-opened in November 1945 with the potential of producing over three million bricks annually & by 1950 this potential figure had increased to four million per year, but due to the inconsistent nature of the Oakwell clay measures & the lack of demand for bricks these figures were never achieved & the brickworks finally closed in mid December 1966.
Photo taken by Frank Nixon in May 1965 of the Hoffman Kiln which still stands today, but in a very dilapidated state, photos of which can be seen at this link.
http://www.derelictplaces.co.uk/main/industrial-sites/5985-oakwell-brickworks-ilkeston-derbyshire-07-08-a.html#.WHOoiLGcZAY
I wish to thank the following people who's information & photos have helped me bring the history of the Oakwell Brickworks to the web.
Stanton & Staveley News - a 1967 article on the history of the Oakwell brickworks.
Ilkeston & District Local History Society - Oakwell articles from 1970/2.
Matlock Archives
Picture the Past
Silk Mill Museum, Derby
Ilkeston Library
National Library of Scotland/Ordnance Survey - maps
Frank Lawson
Simon Patterson
Frank Nixon
Stanton Ironworks Co.
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