Sutton-in-Ashfield Brickmakers

Searching new trade directories has revealed the names of several "new brickmakers" which I have not previously wrote about who worked in Sutton-in-Ashfield, Notts. As of yet no bricks stamped by these makers have been found. 

I first use a 1877 map of Sutton & Skegby to show the possible locations of some of these brickmakers works because in most cases the exact location of their works is not given in trade directories. This is followed by another map of another part of Skegby where brickmaking also took place & more will be explained about that area of Skegby later. Then I cover a brickyard which was on Wild Hill, Teversal.

So after listing these "new" brickmakers I have then added the possible timeline to each of these works which are shown on the 1877 map, with information just gathered or previously wrote about. Please note that the orange coloured yard was not started until 1904 & in most cases each of these brickworks expanded in size over the years. I have also listed the timeline for two other yards which are not shown on this map.

  © Crown Copyright. Reproduced by permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1877.

My first "new brickmaker" is Aaron Knighton & his listed in Kelly's 1876 edition at Skegby, Mansfield. Then John Lane is listed at Skegby, Mansfield in Kelly's 1885 edition. As to Skegby, Mansfield in these entries & in subsequent entries, Skegby at this date was a parish within the district of Mansfield, today it forms part of Sutton in Ashfield/Ashfield District. I then found that George Vallance is recorded at Skegby in Kelly's 1876 & 81 editions & he was the son (b.1832) to the George Vallance (b.1808) who is recorded in directories dating from 1853 to 1872 first as George Vallance then Vallance & Sons, builders & brickmakers in Mansfield. There are two yards shown on this 1877 map which fall into the Parish of Skegby & these are the purple & green yards, but I have note because dates clash with other brickmakers operating at Skegby at this time, some of these Skegby entries may refer to the two brickworks which where in another part of Skegby & I write about these yards later.

Kelly's 1876 edition lists Robert Boot at Eastfield Side, S-in-A. & this may have been the red works, but this cannot be confirmed. Robert Boot may have been the father or brother to George Boot who was a brickmaker from 1904 in Sutton, but again this cannot be confirmed.

William Bilson is listed at Eastfield, Sutton in White's 1864 edition, then in Morris's 1869 edition William is listed as Brick & Tile Manufacturer at Eastfield Side, Sutton with Richard Carter as Manager. So William's yard will have been the red coloured yard. Now this 1869 entry records Richard Carter as Manager of this works & we next find in White's 1872 edition that Richard Carter had started working at his own works in Skegby, (the purple coloured works & I have wrote about Richard Carter in my Henry Shaw Post).

Kelly's 1853 edition records brickmaker John Miller as living at Dalestorth House, Sutton & White's 1853 edition actually records his works address as Eastfield Side, Sutton, so this could be the red coloured works. John Miller is then listed in Kelly's 1855 edition at Dalestorth, Skegby. Further investigation has revealed that John Miller a farmer & maltster acquired Dalestorth House in the early 1900's. It was then his nephew, also John Miller together with his wife who were to open a "An Establishment for Young Ladies' in 1852 at their 18th century built Dalestorth House. For the sum of 20 guineas per annum young ladies of the area would receive instruction on plain and ornamental needlework, reading, writing, arithmetic, grammar, composition, history, geography and French. So it appears from the trade directory dates that this second John Miller is our brickmaker. Today the house is a B & B together with a garden centre set within it's grounds.

I now write about two brickmakers who worked at a brickworks which was at the side of Blackmires Farm & is not shown on the map above. The yard was situated about half a mile south off the bottom of this map on Coxmoor Road & next to Sutton Reservoir. By the way Coxmoor Road joins Eastfield Side road (which is shown on this map going south) at the junction with Garden Lane. So Charles Lindley is listed at Blackmires in White's 1844 edition with John Baines as Manager. Then Charles Lindley is next listed in White's 1853 edition again at Blackmires. 

The 1861 Census records William Tomlinson as Master Brickmaker & living/boarding with William Clay at Blackmires Cottage. This cottage could have been on Blackmires Lane, which ran from Newark Road to Blackmires Farm & is now named Hamilton Road. So this William Tomlinson may have worked at or owned the Blackmires brickworks before William Beeley. I have wrote about William Beeley & his son William junior in a previous post. 

I now move on to the Timeline for the brickworks marked on the 1877 map above. Please note that the dates given are from trade directories or from info found & I would like to say that this timeline is 100% accurate, but I am unable to do so. The brickmakers who I am not sure if they worked at that yard are marked with an asterisk. 

Green Works on Forest Road, Skegby. This yard is shown on maps dated 1877 to 1938.

George Vallance* 1876 - 1881.

John Lane* 1885.

Aaron Barke 1904 & then Barke Brothers 1912 - 1916. Also see Blue Works entry.

Purple Works on Dalestorth Road, Skegby. Please note that the parish boundary follows the length of this road (dotted line) with the north side being Skegby & the south side being Sutton. This yard is shown on maps dated 1877 to 1938.

Richard Carter 1872 - 1878.

Henry Shaw 1894 - 1916. 

Sutton in Ashfield Brick Co. 1928. Owned by Walter Shaw. 

Pale Yellow Works on Dalestorth Road, Sutton. This yard is shown on maps dated 1877 to 1938.

Thomas Slack 1891 - 1899.

George Boot 1901 - 1916.

S.E. Carding & Son* 1922 - 1925. There is the option that Carding & Son operated the purple works instead at these dates.

Boot Brothers 1928 - 1933. Sons of George.

Orange Works, clay pit went up to Mansfield Road, but access was via a lane off Skegby Road which today is Hill Crescent. Only shown on 1913 & 1917 maps as disused. Not on 1898 map.

I originally thought George Boot operated this yard, but I now have a March 1901 newspaper advert recording his brickworks as being on Dalestorth Road (Pale Yellow works) & builders yard on Mansfield Road (precise location of which is unknown). If I establish who owned this works I will update the post. 

Blue Works on Mansfield Road. This yard is shown on maps dated 1875, 1898 & then marked disused on the 1913 map. 

Aaron Barke 1871 - 1900 .

Mrs. Louise Barke 1904.

Aaron is then recorded at Skegby in 1904 & 1908, followed by his sons George & John who are recorded as Barke Brothers in 1912 to 1916 at Skegby. See Green Yard.

Red Works on Mansfield Road/ Eastfield Side. Earlier maps show this New Cross area of Sutton as a open field called East Field. This yard is shown on maps dated 1877 to 1898. Works had closed sometime after 1904 & was gone by the 1913 map.

John Miller 1853 - 1855.

William Bilson 1864 - 1869 with Richard Carter as Manager.

Robert Boot 1876. (possibly at this works).

Walter Straw (junior) 1895 to 1905.

I now list the two brickworks which are not shown on the 1877 map above.

Blackmires Brickyard was situated between Sutton Reservoir & Blackmires Farm, just to the south on this map on Coxmoor Road. This yard is shown on the 1877 map, but only the clay pit is shown on the 1898 map.

Charles Lindley 1844 to 1853 with John Baines as Manager.

William Tomlinson* 1861.

William Beeley senior 1864 up to 1885.

William Beeley junior 1876 up to 1885.

Priestsic Road - near town centre. Only on 1898 map.

William Beeley senior 1885.

William junior & John Beeley as Beeley Brothers 1885 possibly up to 1898.

This just leaves Aaron Knighton of Skegby in 1876 not yet assigned to a yard, but there is the option that he may have worked in this other part of Skegby where two more brick yards were situated & I write about these two yards little later in the post after I have wrote about the Skegby Colliery Lime & Brick Co.

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

After finding a 1872 trade directory entry for the Skegby Colliery Lime & Brick Company I then delved into the web to find information & the location of this colliery as I had not come across it before. So I first slightly digress to tell you about this colliery & Skegby/Stanton Hill. 
I first use the 1876 map above to show the location of Skegby Colliery (coloured yellow), then the 1898 map below shows that Skegby Colliery was at the end of Wharf Road in what we now know as Stanton Hill, but why was it called Skegby Colliery. Further investigation has revealed that the village of Stanton Hill did not exist in 1876 & this area where the colliery had been sunk was in the Parish of Skegby, hence it's name. The Dodsley family of Skegby Hall were the Lords of the Manor & owners of this land & they sunk Skegby Colliery sometime in the early 1800's, the actual date is unknown. Local Historian Bill Clay-Dove wrote in his book that in 1847 coal production was recorded as only being small compared to modern outputs with an average output of 500 tons per month. Some of the coal was used by Dodsley himself to operate his colliery, lime kilns & brickworks. The Stanton Ironworks Co. then sunk Butcherwood Colliery (Teversal) in 1867 & Silverhill Colliery in 1878 with the Company then building houses for it's workers at Cooperative Street, Institute Street & Cross Row starting in 1877. These streets were to be later known as Stanton Hill in the Parish of Skegby in 1881. The first entry for Stanton Hill appears in the 1871 Census, but only as the name of a street in the Parish of Skegby. Further houses were then built by the Stanton Ironworks Co. at Meden Bank in 1880, but these houses have since been replaced with Council built houses, possibly around the 1970's. Bill records these 1880 Meden Bank houses as being demolished around 1963. It is also thought that Stanton Hill was named after the Stanton Ironworks Company with them building these houses. 
You will see another colliery which I have coloured red on these maps & this pit was sunk in 1873, again by the Dodsley's who first named it New Skegby Colliery. This pit then took on the name of Brierley Colliery as it was sunk by miners who had come from Brierley Hill in Staffordshire. By the time the Blackwell Colliery Co. had taken over this pit it had been renamed Sutton Colliery & had been named after Sutton Colliery Limited which had been formed from the Skegby Colliery Lime & Brick Co., but this pit was always affectionally known as Brierley. The original Skegby Colliery which I have coloured yellow closed in 1887. 

Now back to the brickworks at Skegby Colliery & the first trade directory entry that I have found for this brickworks is in Morris's 1869 edition & the entry is Skegby Colliery Co., coal owners, lime & brick manufacturers, Skegby with Richard B. Henson as Manager. Then the entry in White's 1872 edition is Skegby Colliery Lime & Brick Co., Skegby. Although both these two maps do not indicate which are the brickyard buildings, the clay pit is shown next to the colliery (yellow). I have also coloured Wharf Road yellow on the 1898 map below to show you the distance this colliery was from Stanton Hill, it was almost in Huthwaite. As to the Lime kilns owned by Skegby Colliery these may have been the lime kins that I have coloured green on the 1876 map above & where situated on Stoneyford Lane (now Road). Some small holdings & Fisher Close now occupies this former lime producing works. I have also found that there are some lime kilns & quarry marked on the 1875 map nearly opposite Skegby Hall on Mansfield Road, so more than likely these lime kilns were also owned by John Dodsley.

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

I now write about the two brickyards which where next to the New Skegby Colliery (aka Brierley & later Sutton) in Skegby as shown on the 1876 map below. Please note that road which was used to access these two works was called Rooley Lane at this date & was later renamed Brand Lane as shown on the 1898 map above. I have no proof, but there is the possibility that the yard which I have coloured purple may have been owned by the colliery with the Skegby Colliery Co. previously owning a brickyard at their other colliery site & this purple yard is connected to the colliery via a lane. So this theory does look promising, if I only had written proof !!!

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

So as previously wrote I was unable to allot a yard to Aaron Knighton who is listed at Skegby in Kelly's 1876 edition & this blue coloured yard may have been his works as the criteria of Skegby in 1876 fits, with this area of Skegby then becoming known as Stanton Hill after 1881. As said earlier in the post Aaron Knighton may have worked at one of the yards which was on the Sutton side of Skegby & it might have been George Vallance that was at this blue coloured yard in 1876 & 1881 ?  Both these two brickyards are no longer shown on the 1898 map.

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

I finish the post with a brickworks which was situated on Wild Hill at the junction with Chesterfield Road in an area of Sutton in Ashfield which is called City of Whiteborough. It is unknown why this area has got this name as it only consisted of a few cottages, farms & farm land at this date as shown on the 1898 map. Wild Hill is the road (red) which connects Teversal to Tibshelf. I have been unable to find any information about this brickworks neither from trade directories or from Sutton Library. I have even asked someone who I know & has lived all his life on Wild Hill & this brickworks was unknown to him also. So this one will remain a mystery unless new information turns up. If anyone has any information about this works or any other brickworks in this post, please get in touch. Thanks.