Leicester Brickworks - part 1

Messenger & Healey, Wigston.

Photo by Dennis Gamble & reproduced with the permission of the "Old Bricks" website.

Some info in this entry has been supplied by Dennis Gamble.

I first tell you that Ebenezer Healey in the 1871 census is recorded as a Manager of a Steam Brickworks in Knighton, Leicester. Wright's 1878 edition records Healey was now the owner & brickmaker of this works which was on Saffron Lane, Leicester. Healey may have left this works shortly after 1878 as we find in White's 1877 edition Ebenezer Healey was in partnership with Thomas Goode Messenger at the Wigston Junction Brickworks in Glen Parva, Blaby. This works is also listed as being in Wigston or South Wigston. The 1881 census records Healey as a Master Brickmaker, living in Glen Parva & employing 45 men & 20 boys. It appears Thomas Goode Messenger who lived in Loughborough was the moneyman in this partnership with him owning several other businesses as well. He is recorded as a Master Plumber, Glazier & Horticultural Builder. Then listed under Messenger & Co. as Valve Makers, Hot Water Engineers & Iron Founders. 

Several editions of Wright's directories & Kelly's 1881 edition records Messenger and Healey at the Wigston Junction Brickworks, Glen Parva & their works is shown on the 1884 OS map below. This is followed by Messenger & Healey's half page 1881 advert for their works. 

The London Gazette dated 17th August 1883 reveals the Partnership between Thomas Goode Messenger & Ebenezer Healey was dissolved by mutual consent on the 23rd of January 1883. Healey then continues to run the Glen Parva Works with him being listed in Wright's 1887 edition.

Dennis Gamble has found that by 1888 Orson Wright was now the owner of this Glen Parva works & his company the Knighton Brick Co. is listed in Kelly's 1891 edition as owning two works, Welford Road, Knighton Junction & Wigston Junction, Glen Parva, so it appears Messenger & Healey ran this Wigston Junction brickworks at Glen Parva for around ten years. 

I have also found Ebenezer Healey operated another brickworks in Sileby called the Sileby Brickworks on Barrow Road from 1886 to at least 1888. The next brickmaker at this works is recorded as being there in November 1894, so Healey could have been at this works up to 1894. 

In the 1891 census Messenger is recorded as a Retired Horticultural Builder & Healey is recorded as a Farmer in Aylestone, however in Wright's 1899 edition & the 1901 census Healey, aged 60 is listed as a Brick Manufacturer in Kirby Muxloe & living a mile away from his works on Hinckley Road in Leicester.

© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1884.

Kelly's 1881 edition.

Blaby Brick & Tile Co.

The Blaby Brick & Tile Co. is listed in Kelly’s 1928 to 1936 editions at Cork Lane, Blaby, Leicester. I have used the 1928 OS below to show the location of this brick & tile works.

© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1928.

The advert below from Leicester Daily Mercury dated 9th of September 1939 indicates the works was still active in the sale of it's bricks & operating an Air Raid Warning Station, but the making of bricks had ceased due to the war. The 1943 Ministry of War Directory of Brickworks records the Blaby works was completely closed & not under their ownership, however my next newspaper article dated 28th of March 1946 written by Managing Director Mr Charles Arthur Sword in the Leicester Evening Mail records the opposite & the works had been used by the Ministry of War. Simply Blaby on Facebook also revealed some bits of info about this works. Charlie Sword grandson of Managing Director Charles Sword wrote in 2021 that the War Dept requisitioned the works from his grandfather to store Rolls Royce aircraft engines there during the war with the location of the brickworks being far enough away from major industrial centres which were being bombed. Charlie also writes that his father also called Charles was the works general foreman & he use to take him as a child down to the works to see the kilns being fired & emptied. Charlie notes his happy memories of the brickworks & what a great bunch of chaps who worked there were. I tried contacting Charlie for more info on the works in August 2023 through FB, but alas I have not had a reply.   

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

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

In 1947 the company was taken over by the Butterley Brick Co. & in 1955 Butterley was renamed the Butterley & Blaby Brick Co. The Butterley & Blaby Brick Co. was taken over by the Wiles Group in 1968, later called the Hanson Trust & the company was renamed Butterley Building Materials Ltd. In June 1986 Lady Hanson commissioned the new kiln at Blaby. However with poor brick sales Butterley/Hanson decided to close it's Blaby works in November 1990 with a loss of 60 jobs & hand made brick production was transferred to Butterley's Heather works. Today houses on Navigation Drive have been built on this former brickworks site. 

As a footnote there was another brickworks which was on the opposite corner of Cork Lane were the Chemical Works is shown on the 1928 map above which was only operational for a few years around 1900. Kelly's 1900 edition lists the Blaby Brick Co. with Charles Halford as Managing Director. Charles Halford was a builder & timber merchant in Blaby. The 1900 map shows this works had two bee-hive kilns & a tramway into the clay pit from the main building.   

Knighton Junction Brick Co.

The Knighton Junction Brick Company first appears in Kelly's 1891 edition with James Squires as Manager & as wrote previously this company was formed around 1888 & was owned by Orson Wright, a local builder. A new find by Mark Cranston in a newspaper article which appeared in the Leicester Chronicle dated 19th of November 1887 reveals The Knighton Junction Brick Company had been formed with capital of £30,000 in 3000 shares at £10 each to take over the brickworks owned by William Watts Clarkson & it's owners are listed as William Henry Ellis & Arthur B. Partridge of Ellis Partridge & Co. Builders Merchants in Leicester, Orson Wright, Builder & Edward Sharman, MD of the Wellingborough Brick & Tile Co. Ellis was Chairman & Partridge & Wright were joint Managing Directors. The majority of the shares had been taken up by it's Directors, with the rest being available to the general public. 

This Knighton Junction brickworks on Welford Road in Leicester had been owned & run in his own name by William Watts Clarkson from at least 1871 to 1888 when he retired, hence the Knighton Junction Co. being formed to take over the running of this works. I am therefore thinking this Knighton Junction brick was made by the Knighton Junction Brick Co. rather than Clarkson. William Watts Clarkson is first recorded as a Brick Manufacturer in the 1871 census employing 33 men & 2 boys. The next references to William Clarkson manufacturing bricks are the many advertisements which appear in local newspapers from May 1874 & these all refer to his works being on Welford Road. I next found two trade directory adverts, the first is from Barker's 1875 edition & the second is from Kelly's 1881 edition. It is only the 1881 advert which refers to Clarkson's works as being situated at Knighton Junction, hence my thoughts this Knighton Junction brick was made by the Knighton Brick Co. I am just hoping a brick stamped Clarkson now turns up, so it can be added to this entry. 

Barker's 1875 edition.

Kelly's 1881 edition.

© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1902.

As I have digressed I now return to the Knighton Brick Co. & I have used the 1902 OS map above to show their Welford Road brickworks which I have coloured green. Kelly's 1891 edition also records that the company owned a second works called the Wigston Junction Brick Works at Glen Parva & this works up to 1888 or thereabouts had been run by Messenger & Healey. I have coloured this Glen Parva Brickworks yellow on the 1902 OS map below.

© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1902.

Kelly's 1891 advert for the Knighton Junction Brick Co. with works at Knighton Junction & South Wigston which is the Glen Parva works.

I next found in Kelly's 1895 edition that the company had acquired another brickworks at Countesthorpe previously operated by the Countesthorpe Brick Co. & below is the OS 1885 map showing this works which I have coloured purple.  

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

Kelly's 1895 edition advert with the addition of the Countesthorpe works & this time the Glen Parva works is listed as Wigston. Kelly's 1899 editions only lists the Knighton Junction & Wigston brickworks, so the Countesthorpe works was only short lived & the 1902 OS map confirms this with only the clay pit now being shown. 

In 1902 the owners of the Knighton Junction Brick Co. along with the owners of the Gypsy Lane Brick Co. & Messrs Barrow Brothers formed a Marketing Company called the Leicester Brick Co. to sell their bricks. This alliance had all come about by the drop in demand for bricks & to stop each of the above companies in competing with one another for what little trade there was. Over the next few years their combined output being sold by this Marketing Company reaped rewards for the three Companies. I write more on the Gypsy Lane Brick Co., Barrow Brothers & the Leicester Brick Co. later in this post. 

Back to Knighton & 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. This article goes on to say that at it's most profitable time the company was paying it's workers £100 pounds per week, but this had gradually dwindled until the Glen Parva works was now only paying £40 & Knighton Junction £35. I then found in the London Gazette dated 27th of January 1911 that Chairman Orson Wright put the Knighton Junction Brick Co. into Voluntary Liquidation & the company was wound up a year later by the Liquidator. It appears Wright had become chairman of the company after the death of Ellis in December 1894.

Norman & Underwood

Norman & Underwood were primarily plumbers & glaziers in Leicester originally operating from Free School Lane in the centre of Leicester (now part of the High Cross Shopping Centre), however the company diversified into brick making & are later recorded as also being builders & roofers. The firm recently closed in 2023 after operating for 198 years. 

So the first reference to Norman & Underwood as brickmakers appears in Kelly's 1876 edition with the address of 15, Free School Lane, Leicester. A notice in the Leicester Journal dated 26th July 1878 informs you Henry Norman was retiring from the company & the business of Norman & Underwood would then continue under the sole control of John Underwood who had joined the company in 1860. It was their uncle Thomas Norman who had established the plumbing & glazing company in 1825. Kelly's 1895 & 1900 editions record Norman & Underwood's brickworks as being on Saffron Lane in Leicester & I have coloured this works purple on the 1885 OS map below. Kelly's 1908 & Wright's 1911 edition now records Francis Underwood at the Saffron Lane Works. I am assuming Francis was John's son. The 1912 map now shows the Saffron Lane Works as disused. The site after being disused for many years eventually became allotments. Today a sports centre & running track now occupy part of the site.    

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

Vincent Bradley

Photo by Dennis Gamble & reproduced with the permission of the "Old Bricks" website.

The first reference I have found to Vincent Bradley is in 1846 when he is listed as the Victualler of the Richard III Inn on Highcross Street, Leicester. 1852 is the first reference to Vincent Bradley being recorded as a builder, however a newspaper article in the Leicester Journal dated 2nd of October 1857 records James Spratbury, a brickmaker was working for Vincent Bradley at his Ansty Lane brickyard. I have coloured this yard green on the 1885 OS map below. 

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

I then found Vincent Bradley owned a second brickyard from the For Sale Notice of the Bell Lane Brickyard adjoining the Midland Railway in the Leicester Journal dated 17th of February 1860. All stock consisting of 150,000 common bricks, pressed bricks, quarries were to be sold in lots to suit the purchaser. Then the Clay Mill in good working order, two eight hole brick kilns, sheds & stable were to be sold as a going concern. St George's Retail Park is now built were this brickyard had once stood. White's 1863 edition records builder Vincent Bradley with the address of 84, Highcross Street, Leicester. So it appears Vincent Bradley was making bricks for both his own use & for the retail market. Vincent Bradley died in October 1869 & from a notice in the Leicester Journal dated 9th of March 1877 which records the sale of the Freehold of the Ansty Lane brickyard, it is noted after Vincent Bradley had died the yard was run by George Fletcher & the present leaseholder was Mr. Thomas L. Wilson. However, the 1875 & 1876 trade directories record Thomas L. Wilson as the brickmaker of the Ansty Lane yard. By 1878 George Wain was leasing this Ansty Lane brickyard & I write about him next.  

George Wain

Photo by Frank Lawson.

Brickmaker George Wain is listed in Wright's 1878 edition with the address of Leicester Road, Belgrave & this could be his home or office address. Then the 1880 edition of the Commercial Gazette records his works as being on Ansty Road & from information found George Wain had taken over this works from Thomas L. Wilson in 1878. With this brickworks being marked as disused on the 1885 map it appears Wain only ran the works for a few years. A new find in the Leicester Mercury dated 20th November 1880 reports George Wain was unable pay the rent on the yard & the whole of the Brickmaking Plant & Stock-In-Trade & Effects were to sold to cover the Rent. The Leaseholder (T.L. Wilson) was then going to Re-Let the Yard, but this appears not to have happened with the works being disused on the 1885 map.  

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

Billesdon Brick & Pipe Works

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

Before I write about the marked brick, tile & pipe works, coloured green on this 1900 OS map I tell you about another brick yard in the village. A Freehold Sale Notice in the Leicester Journal dated 15th of February 1867 describes this excellent brick yard together with pasture land of 3 acres, cow shed, stables. piggeries, pottery, sand pit & other buildings situated with a considerable frontage to the Turn-pike-road from Billesdon to Leicester, & also to Long Lane, & adjacent to the Work House. This all points to the fields which I have coloured yellow. The buildings listed may relate to the ones situated to the right side of this field on the Turn-pike-road, but by this 1900 map some may have disappeared. The Notice goes on to say the brick yard was leased & worked by Thomas Henry Sharpe who is recorded in another article as being a brickmaker in the village in 1865. Also in the same Notice there were eight other houses/cottages being sold with sitting tenants, two were on the main street & five situated on or just off Long Lane which I have coloured red. I am therefore assuming one person was disposing of their estate which included all of these houses & the land on which the brick yard was built. It appears from my next find this brick yard was purchased by Thomas, John & William Batchelor, builders in Glenn Magna. However by April 1868 the brothers were advertising this brick yard to be Let. With the brothers failing to Let this yard they then proceeded in October 1868 to sell 90,000 bricks, all of the Plant & tools associated with brickmaking some of which were being sold as nearly new. In January 1869 Messers Batchelor advertised the Freehold Sale of the brick yard, kilns, a house & other buildings together with land amounting to three acres. It appears with there being no takers for the brick yard it then closed. 

Now on to the marked brickworks coloured green & it appears Thomas Henry Sharpe, brickmaker at the other yard had established this works by 1876 with Thomas being listed as brickmaker in Billesdon in Kelly's 1876 edition. Thomas then goes into partnership with George Ward Ward, a Provisions Merchant in Leicester operating as Sharpe & Ward. The London Gazette dated 11th of February 1879 records Thomas Henry Sharpe now living in Ruabon & a Brick & Pipe Manufacturer in the County of Denbigh, North Wales & George Ward Ward, a Provisions Merchant in Leicester operating as Sharpe & Ward, brickmakers in Billesdon had dissolved their partnership by mutual consent on the 5th of February 1879 & from this date William W. Ward alone would continue to operate this brickworks under the name of Sharpe & Ward. The only answer I can come up with Ward continuing to operate as Sharpe & Ward is that he felt customers would continue to purchase bricks & pipes from him with Henry Sharpe being a trusted brickmaker in the area. Kelly's 1881 edition records the company of Sharpe & Ward as brickmakers in Billesdon, however Kelly's 1891 edition records this works was being operated in George W. Ward's name only. 

Photo by Lynne Dyer.

A newspaper article in The Leicester Chronicle dated 21st of April 1894 states the Billesdon Brick & Pipe Works would be Let by Private Treaty. Machinery & all Stock in Trade could also be purchased at current prices. Immediate possession can also be had. Apply Williamson & Whittle, Auctioneers & Estate Agents, Leicester. Kelly's 1900 edition records the partnership of Bird & Hubbard were now operating the Billesdon works, therefore it appears Bird & Hubbard purchased the lease in 1894. Bird & Hubbard are not listed in Kelly's 1908 edition nor is anyone else, so I am assuming the brickworks had closed for good by 1908. The shape of the frog indicates the brick above may have been made between 1890 to when the works closed. Lynne has found there are several of these bricks displayed in walls in the village. Thanks Lynne. 

Belgrave Brick Co.

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

The first reference found to the Belgrave Brick Co. appears in a newspaper article dated 29th July 1898 when the company had been summoned to court for allowing two youths under the aged 18 to be working after 6pm. The bench fined the company one & a half guineas plus costs. 

Kelly's 1900 edition records the Belgrave Brick Co. Barkby Road, Leicester. I have coloured this works green on the 1901 OS map above. Kelly's 1908 edition is the same entry plus John Henry Weston as manager. However from my next find in a newspaper article dated September 1909 it records John Henry Weston as a brick manufacturer & had died in June 1909. With John not having any sons his estate was left to his brother Joseph, a retired farmer, so I have come to the conclusion with the death of John the brickworks closed. The 1919 map shows this works as disused & not shown at all on the 1928 map. 

Photo by Paul Ross. 

I next write the three company's who ran the Humberstone brickworks which was accessed from both Morton Road & Victoria Road.

Leicester Patent Brick & Tile Co.

The Leicester Patent Brick & Tile Co. Ltd was formed in March 1873 with a Share Capital of £9000 in £25 shares. The two men who had formed this company were Edward Ensor junior of Woodville, Burton on Trent & J.A. Bosworth of Humberstone Cottage, Leicester. Edward Ensor junior is recorded as Managing Engineer within the company, he also had interests in Ensor Brothers, fire brick manufacturers in Church Gresley. J.A. Bosworth is recorded as Managing Director with George F. Harrison as Secretary. An 1877 job advert for the company gives the works address as Humberstone Road, but the works was accessed via Morton Road or Victoria Road both just off Humberstone Road, see the 1885 OS map below. Please note the works had change hands by this 1885 map hence the name of the Humberstone Works. Kelly's 1876 & 1881 editions record the Leicester Patent Brick & Tile Co. with offices in Grey Friars, Leicester & works New Humberstone, with Thomas Beech as Works Manager. However Wright's 1878 edition does record the works address as Morton Road, Humberstone. 

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

A 25th of March 1881 Notice in the Leicester Journal notifies readers that on the 6th of April the Valuable & Extensive Leasehold Brickworks of about 8 acres lately occupied & operated by the Leicester Patent Brick Co. at New Humberstone was to be Sold at Auction. The Notice states the works had Patent Kilns (Hoffmann), powerful steam engines, all modern plant & machinery, valuable beds of clay & clay mills. The rent & royalties are moderate. We next find by October 1881 this works was being run by the Humberstone Brick Co. & I write about them next. 

Humberstone Brick Co.

Courtesy of Nottingham Museums & Galleries.

The first reference I have Humberstone Brick Co. is a October 1881 advert recording the Brick & Tile Works on Victoria Road was now open for the sale of wire-cut, pressed & ornamental bricks, quarries, floor bricks & drain pipes. Apply. C. Cayless, Manager. The next reference to the company is February 1884 when George Hewitt, a labourer was found living rough in the works kilns by the local police constable. Kelly's 1895 & 1900 editions record Matthew Adey Forrest as the Proprietor of the Humberstone Brick Co. Morton Road, West Humberstone. M.A. Forrest was a coal, coke & timber merchant in Leicester. By 1901 the Morton Road works was being run by Broadbent & Co. 

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

Broadbent & Co.

Photo by Peter Harris courtesy of Brocross Old Bricks website.

Established in 1840 Broadbent & Co. were builders merchants in Leicester. It was originally thought that their named bricks were made by another local company, however when Alwyn Sparrow found the one below stamped Victoria Works, Humberstone that set me on my search for new info & the location of this Victoria Brickworks. 

Photo by Alwyn Sparrow.

Broadbent & Co. are listed in Bennett's 1901 edition as builders merchants; brick & pipe manufacturers; slating & tiling contractors, Head Office - Erskire Street, Humberstone Road, Leicester. The 1901 edition of the Clayworkers Directory also records Broadbent & Co. as brick manufacturers at this address. The company is next recorded in Kelly's 1908 & 1912 editions as brick manufacturers with the address of 36, Humberstone Road. As to the location of Broadbent's Victoria Works I have established it was the works which was situated at the end of Morton Road in Humberstone previously run by the Humberstone Brick Co. who are last recorded in Kelly's 1900 edition. The 1900 map I have used below shows this works as disused for some unknown reason. I have coloured Morton Road red & Victoria Road green. Broadbent & Co. are next recorded in the Brick & Tile section in Kelly's 1912 edition however in the same section in Kelly's 1916 to 1925 editions the entry is Broadbent & Stephens, merchants. I have to note with Broadbent & Co. & then Broadbent & Stephens being primarily builders merchants Broadbent & Co. may have only manufactured their own bricks up to 1912.

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

Edward Newton

Fielding Moore

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

I now write about the two brick yards which were at Spinney Hill, Leicester, one was owned by Edward Newton around 1880 & the other by Fielding Moore. I am not 100% sure who owned which, but from a bit of info found on Newton he may have owned the yellow yard & then Moore owned the green yard. I then found in Harrold's 1870 edition there are listings for three brickmakers operating at Spinney Hill, these being Fielding Moore, William Cox & John Millington, so there may have been two yards in the area which I have coloured green ? With John Millington being listed with the address of Maynard Street (coloured red on map) Spinney Hill same as Edward Newton, Millington may have owned the yellow yard in 1870 before Newton took over ? 

Edward Newton is listed as brickmaking on Humberstone Road, Leicester in Wright's 1878 edition then Kelly's 1881 edition records him as brickmaking on Melbourne Road, Leicester. With Humberstone Road being not to far from Melbourne Road I am thinking these two locations are the same brickworks. A Notice in the Leicester Journal dated 9th December 1881 informs readers Edward Newton of the Spinney Hill Brickyard, Maynard Street, Leicester was closing his brickyard & there is a list of items in this notice which were to be sold at Auction. All the fixed machinery, boilers & engines had already been sold either at a previous auction or by private treaty. The OS 1885 map above shows there had been two brickyards on Melbourne Road (purple) but I am not 100% sure which Edward Newton had worked. I have coloured Maynard Street (now Road) red & Newton may have lived on this street or it could be a reference to Newton's yard, if so Newton's yard could have been the one which I have coloured yellow. 

Photo by Frank Lawson.

A notice in the Hinkley News dated May 15th 1869 reveals Fielding Moore, Spinney Hill Pottery begs to inform the Trade & Public that he is now manufacturing a first class description of pancheons, stone bottles, ham pots, jars & earthenware generally used for domestic purposes & these could be obtained from his home address 8, Upper Regent Street, London Road, Leicester or from his works. So it appears he made not have been making bricks at this 1869 date, however Harrold's 1870 trade directory lists Fielding Moore as brickmaking at Spinney Hill, Leicester & Moore's yard may have been situated in the area that I have coloured green on the 1885 OS map above. On another page in this 1870 directory it records Fielding Moore as manufacturing bricks, tiles, chimney pots, seakale pots, ornamental & common garden pots & vases, piping of various dimensions & seed pans. A 1882 newspaper article records Henry Woodfield had worked as Works Manager for Fielding Moore at the Spinney Hill Terra Cotta Works for the last 15 years, so this takes us back to at least 1867 when Fielding Moore was operating the Spinney Hill Works.

A newspaper notice in the Leicester Guardian dated 10th of June 1874 reports Fielding Moore had taken over the Breedon & Cloud Hill Lime Works & could deliver lime to any railway station, also a good supply was kept at his depot at Humberstone Wharf. Kelly's 1876 edition now records Fielding Moore with offices at 1A, Bowling Green Street, brickworks Spinney Hill & depot at Humberstone Road Wharf. Below I have added Fielding Moore's advert from White's 1877 edition which also records him as a Coal Merchant & this is followed by his Kelly's 1881 advert. 

White's 1877 edition.

Kelly's 1881 edition.

Fielding Moore died in either July or August 1881 & although he had two sons Charles & Fielding junior to take over his business, his brickworks, coal wharf & lime works all closed. The Building News dated 13th January 1882 reports the whole of the Spinney Hill Brickworks plant, machinery, tools & all remaining stock would be sold at Auction on the 18th of January 1882. 

Then an 1885 Court case reveals the Executors of Fielding Moore's Will were Joseph Isaac Hallam & Fielding Moore junior & I have gleamed after Fielding's children, Fielding junior, Charles & Elizabeth had been paid their money from the Will the vast majority of the Estate which include his grand house on Upper Regent Street, 64 other houses & some land on Spinney Hill Road went to Joseph Hallam. The children were disputing Hallam's claim, but the judge said if this case continued there would be no money left for the children as it would all be taken up in the court costs. So I have come to the conclusion Joseph Hallam had invested his own money into Fielding's business hence him being one of the Executors & then being able to get his investment back when the businesses were sold.   

Glenfield Premier Brick & Terra Cotta Co.

Glenfield Brick & Tile Co.

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

The Glenfield Premier Brick & Terra Cotta Co. Ltd. was established in 1898 & is first listed in Kelly's 1899 edition. Situated just outside the village of Glenfield I have coloured this works green on the 1900 OS map above which also shows there was a siding into the works from the West Bridge Branch Line. In 1904 Mr. Ratcliff was the manager of the company.

The Glenfield Premier Brick & Terra Cotta Company continues to be listed in Kelly's up to it's 1928 edition. 

A share issue notice in the Sunday Mirror dated 17th June 1928 tells you the Glenfield Premier Brick & Terra Cotta Co. together with the Fontley Brick & Tile Co. & the Fareham Brick & Tile Co. both in Fareham, Hants. were to be taken over by a newly formed consortium which consisted of the Frewin Cavity Brick Co. Ltd. & B. Whitaker & Sons of Accrington & Leeds. This new holding company then traded as the British Cavity Brick & Tile Co. Ltd. running the five companies mentioned. The directors of this new company were Lord Islington, Bury St Edmunds (chairman), Sir Walter Townley, London, Percy Burton, Hatfield, then Joint Managing Directors, Albert Brathwaite, (B. Whitaker & Sons) & Edmond Frewin (Frewin Cavity Brick). The Nottingham Journal dated 10th of August 1928 reports the British Cavity Brick & Tile Co. had completed the take-over process of it's recent acquisitions. 

After the take over the Glenfield works then operated as the Glenfield Brick & Tile Works & this company is listed in Kelly's 1932 to 1941 editions. 

I then found in the Leicester Mercury dated 8th of May 1958 the Glenfield works was to close in five weeks time with the loss of 50 jobs. The reason of the closure was the works plant was totally out of date & it would have been to costly to replace with new equipment to then try & compete with the very large concerns in a very weak market. Apparently the works had a very large stock of cable covers which was their chief line & for which they had no orders for. The works also produced agricultural land drains & chimney pots. At this closure date there is no mention of bricks, so I am assuming brick production had been phased out at some point. Bricks stamped Glenfield Brick & Tile have still to turn up, so one to keep a look out for. Below is an 1932 advert which does list bricks. 

Leicester Evening Mail - Saturday 15 October 1932. Image © Reach PLC. 

Image created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD

As a footnote I mention the Glenfield Brick & Terra Co. Ltd was wound up in 1932.

Here are two links to photos by Nigel Tout of the Premier Works, taken in 1967.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Glenfield_Premier_Brick_%26_Terracotta_Co._brickworks,_Nigel_Tout,_29.4.1967.jpg

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Glenfield_Premier_Brick_%26_Terracotta_Co,_Nigel_Tout,_29.4.1967.jpg

Leicestershire Brickworks - part 2

In this post I cover brickmakers who operated in Ashby, Burton Bandalls, Castle Donington, Diseworth, Griffydam, Loughborough, Sileby & Whitwick. 

Heather Brickworks have now been moved to this post.

https://eastmidlandsnamedbricks.blogspot.com/2025/02/leicestershire-brickworks-part-4.html

Then I have written individual posts on Shepshed Brickworks, Hathern Station Brick Co. & Tuckers, Loughborough which can read at these Links.

https://eastmidlandsnamedbricks.blogspot.com/2023/08/shepshed-brickworks-leicestershire.html

https://eastmidlandsnamedbricks.blogspot.com/2021/06/the-hathern-station-brick-terra-cotta.html

https://eastmidlandsnamedbricks.blogspot.com/2014/10/tucker-sons-brickmakers-loughborough.html

Henry Dickens, Burton Bandalls & Rempstone

Henry Dickens (in some documents & records it's spelt as Dickins) was born in 1840 in Loughborough & the 1861 census records him as a brickmaker aged 21 living on Bridge Road, Loughborough together with his wife Elizabeth & 2 year old son, John Henry b. 1st February 1859. In 1861 Henry will have been working for another brickmaker. An advertisement in the Loughborough Monitor dated 5th of September 1867 reports Henry Dickens had re-opened the Burton Bandall's brickworks on the 28th of August & was willing to sell bricks & pipes at much lower prices than normally charged. The 1871 census records Henry was living & running his own brickworks at Burton Baudill. During my research I have found several ways of spelling Baudill, in Bandals & on the brick above Bandalls. One web reference states Bandalls is in the Parish of Burton on the Wolds on land running down to the River Soar. This spelling is used today for Bandalls Lane. Another son Thomas was born in 1865. Kelly's 1876 edition is the first trade directory for Henry Dickens at Burton Bandalls. I have coloured Henry's brickworks yellow on the 1879 OS map below.

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

We next find in the 1881 census that Henry & Elizabeth had moved to Rempstone, Notts., living on Main Street with Henry taking over the brickworks which was just south of the village on Loughborough Road. This census records Henry was employing 3 men & 3 boys. I have to note the village of Rempstone, Notts is situated very close to the border with Leicestershire & some trade directory entries do list it as Rempstone, Loughborough.

Meanwhile son John Henry is listed in the 1881 census as a brickmaker, unmarried & living at The Brickyard, Burton Bandalls. With Henry Dickens still listed in Leicestershire trade directories up to & including Kelly's 1900 edition at Burton Bandalls, son John Henry was running this Burton Bandalls works for his father during this time. The 1881 census records Henry's other son Thomas became an Agricultural Engine Driver & later a Coal Merchant. 

The two Dickens, Bandals bricks below will more than likely been made by John Henry. 

John Henry Dickens, b.1859 in Thrussington is recorded in the 1891 census aged 32, a foreman brickmaker & now married to Elizabeth, living at the Brickyard House, Burton Bandalls. Their son Charles Harold was born on the 3rd of May 1888. As wrote John Henry continued to run this brickworks for his father to at least the early 1900's. The 1901 census records John Henry, a brick manufacturer (worker) was now living at 40 Glebe Street, Loughborough. I have come to the conclusion with there being no more trade directory entries for the Burton Bandall's works after 1900 that the good quality clay on this site had been worked out, hence the brickworks closing. I write more about John Henry & his son later.

© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1899.

Back to Henry Dickens at Rempstone & the 1891 census records Henry, aged 51, a Brick Manufacturer & living with his wife Elizabeth at The Old Manor House, Rempstone, so it appears Henry was making good money from brickmaking. I have coloured this brickworks green on the 1899 OS map above & the Old Manor House red. At this moment in time no bricks stamped Henry Dickens, Rempstone have turned up. So if you have got one please get in touch via email, the address of which can be found on the Contacts Tab at the top of this page. Thanks.

Still living at the Old Manor House in the 1901 census Henry is also listed as a Farmer as well as a Brick Master in Rempstone. Kelly's 1904 edition is the last trade directory recording Henry brickmaking at Rempstone. Henry died on the 10th of May 1909 leaving effects of £3610 19s & 3d to his son John Henry Dickens, brickworks manager & Henry Lovett, tailor. This probate notice records Henry had been a Coal Merchant at the time of his death.

I now digress & take you out of the East Midlands with me returning to John Henry Dickens & the 1911 census now records John Henry Dickens, wife Elizabeth & son Charles Harold were now living at 192, Charles Road, Small Heath, Birmingham. John Henry, 52 is listed as a brickmaker (worker) & 22 year old Charles Harold is listed as a Traveller - Brick Trade (salesman). Although there had been a brickworks on Charles Road up to 1900, John Henry was more than likely working at the Little Bromwich Brick Co's works which just around the corner from where he lived on Bordesley Green road. Charles Harold may have also worked for the Little Bromwich Brick Co. which was owned by the Winterton family. An old newspaper article reveals that the Winterton family lived in Cadby, Leicestershire & were also co-owners of the Gypsy Lane Brickworks in Leicester, so I am assuming John Henry Dickens knew the Winterton's hence his move to Birmingham & working at their Little Bromwich Brickworks.

The 1939 Register lists John Henry as a Brick Manager, aged 80 living at 51, Elmdon Lane, Marston Green, Birmingham & son Charles Harold is listed as a Brick Manufacturer living on Bordesley Green road, so from this Register it appears father & son were running their own brickworks, but where ? With me writing about the Little Bromwich Brick Co. on my UK brick site my findings are that the Winterton family owned their Little Bromwich brickworks up to 1951. There are no trade directory entries for Dickens owning a brickworks around 1939, so were the Dicken's running the Little Bromwich Brick for the Winterton Family ? I do know Mr. Winterton's son-in-law G.H. Major was Managing Director when LBBC was wound up in 1951. 

I do have a second option to were father & son were working in the late 1930's. With the help of Mark Cranston who has tracked down some newspaper articles & me studying old maps, I am putting forward a brickworks at Bickenhill which may have been owned or run by Charles Harold & John Henry Dickens. This works was only 4 miles from John's house & 7 miles from Charles'. Although the Dicken's are not named as such in this article which appeared in the Birmingham Daily Gazette dated 1st November, 1927, I think they may have had an interest in Bickenhill Brickworks Limited. This new company with a capital of £5,000 pounds had been formed by Mr & Mrs Sutton of Bora, Broad Lane near Coventry who were builders to purchase the "Bickenhill Brickworks". This new limited company would then continue to operate the works, making brick, tiles, drain pipes & other clay goods. Bickenhill Brickworks Limited is listed in Kelly's 1928 & 1936 editions on Birmingham Road, Bickenhill. I have to note that today this former brickworks site is on Coventry Road & Birmingham Road does not start until the junction with the A452.

So had the Dicken's joined the Sutton's at this Bickenhill Brickworks between 1927 & 1937 ? I have two bits of info which indicates this may have been the case. First a Coventry Evening Telegraph newspaper article dated April 1936 reports Charles Harold Dickens was standing down as a Vicar's Warden at St. Peters Church, Bickenhill after 12 years of service, with him planning to leave the district shortly. Then second the Dicken's certainly made money from brickmaking because when John Henry Dickens died on the 24th January 1942 he left effects of £24,323 2s 8d to his son Charles Harold Dickens, brickworks manager & daughter Mrs. Alice Barker. Then when Charles died in June 1957, while living in Manor Road, Solihull, he left effects of £19,565 9s & 8d to his wife Constance. If I do get concrete evidence of the Dickens having an interest in the Bickenhill Brickworks, I will update the post. 

Horace Rendall Mansfield, Whitwick

Horace Rendall Mansfield (1863-1914) is listed as owning the Hermitage Brickworks, Whitwick in Kelly's 1899 to 1912 editions. Mansfield's works was renowned for manufacturing terra cotta bricks & mouldings. I have coloured this works green on the 1920 OS map below. The Hermitage works had it's own railway siding coming into the yard from the Charnwood Forest Branch Line. Horace also owned the Railway Works, Church Gresley, producing salt-glazed pipes & fittings there.  

© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1920.

Horace Mansfield was a devout Methodist, a Justice of the Peace in Derbyshire & the Member of Parliament for Spalding between 1900 & 1910. In 1908 Horace purchased Broom Ley's House in Coalville, this large Victorian house had been built in the 1840's for brick manufacturer William Whetstone who I have written about in Leicestershire Brickmakers - part 1. 

With the death of Horace & the First World War in 1914, I am assuming the works then stood idle. The next record of this Hermitage Works as being in production again is in Kelly's 1925 edition when it lists the National Brick Co. situated in Heather were now operating this works. 

Photo by Frank Lawson, found in Leicestershire.

Photo by Frank Lawson.

Courtesy of Ashby Museum.

This next shaped brick is stamped Mansfield on one side & Hermitage Brickworks on the other. Bricks just stamped Hermitage Brickworks have also turned up, but until I found this brick below the previous Hermitage bricks were in a folder marked unknown maker with there being three more brickworks in the country called Hermitage, with one being fairly local in Mansfield & both works using the same band of clay which runs from Leicestershire to Nottinghamshire.

John Stanley Brown, Loughborough

Photo by Richard Thorpe.

John Stanley Brown, is listed as brickmaker on Park Lane, Loughborough; & grocer in White's 1877 edition. This is the only entry for John as a brickmaker, so how long he was making bricks for, is unknown. He does not appear in Kelly's 1881 edition. The earliest map that I have for Park Lane is 1883 & this map only shows Tucker's yard, therefore I cannot give you the exact location of Brown's yard.

I then found in Barker's 1875 edition that John is only listed as a grocer at 26, High Street, Loughborough & then in Kelly's 1876 & White's 1877 editions John is listed as being in the partnership of Brown & Jarratt as grocers & provision dealers, High Street, Loughborough. It appears William Wright Jarratt was only a partner in the grocer side of the business.  

John Smith, Loughborough

John Smith is listed as brickmaker on Park Lane, Loughborough in White's 1863 edition. I can only assume that this was the same yard that John Brown took over around 1877, as we next find that John Smith is listed as brick merchant at 5, Derby Road, Loughborough in White's 1877 & Brown is listed as brickmaker on Park Lane in this same directory. 

Henry Ebenezer Harrold, Diseworth

Photo by Steve Follows.

Henry Ebenezer Harrold is listed in Kelly's 1876 edition as residing at Bedford Square, Loughborough & brickworks at Diseworth. Harrold owned the brickworks which I have coloured yellow on the 1882 OS map (below) & is marked as disused, so we know Harrold had finished brickmaking by 1882. 

© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1882.

Charles Moore, Diseworth

Charles Moore is listed as brickmaker at Clements Gate, Diseworth in Kelly's 1876 & 1881 editions. I have coloured this brickworks green in the Harrold entry above.

Old Parks Brick Manufactory, Ashby

Courtesy of Ashby Museum.

At first I was not able to find much info on this Old Parks Brick Works, Ashby other than the information on this brick & the works is shown on the 1881 OS map & had gone by the 1900 map, both are shown below. Then in Ashby Museum there is a photo of the Old Parks Railway Tunnel which was built between 1799 & 1802 to take a single track tramway from Ashby canal to Derby. In 1845 this line became part of the London, Midland, Scottish Railway. I don't think this brick will have been made at the time of the construction of the tunnel because bricks weren't stamped at that date, but will have been made in the 1870's or 1880's when this brickworks was still operational as per 1881 map. 

Just found Samuel Love is listed in the Brick Manufacturers section in White's 1877 edition with the address of 79, Market Street, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, therefore this trade directory entry certainly dates this brick to have been made around 1877. I then found an entry for Samuel Love in the Ashby Street Index & Samuel is listed as a Currier of leather, farmer, brick, tile & sanitary manufacturer, Inland Revenue Office, Midland Railway parcel receiving office and the victualer of the Queens Head, 79, Market Street, Ashby, so a very busy man. This listing also records his home address as Ivanhoe House, Old Parks, Ashby & this house was next to the brick manufactory & is shown on the 1881 map. By the 1900 map this house had been renamed Cliftonthorpe.  

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

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

Griffydam

Trevor Stewart has kindly given me permission to use some of his information from his website on this brickworks in Breedon Brand just north of the village of Griffydam. 

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

Up to 1880 these two brick yards as shown on the 1881 OS map above were classed as being in Breedon Brand & it was only after this date they were referred to as being in Griffydam, so we know the two bricks in this entry were made after 1880. The yellow coloured brick yard which was accessed off a road called Lower Brand (purple) is believed to have been worked by Joseph Smart & his son between 1845 to 1879. Then the green yard with access off a road called Top Brand (red) was worked by Thomas Hoult around 1851. A newspaper article records Thomas at the yard in 1857. Then after his death his son William Hoult took over & this was by the 1861 census, William was also a farmer. An 1873 newspaper article records William Hoult as a Farmer & Brick Manufacturer & it appears he may have been employing Henry Toon at this date to make his bricks with William being imprisoned for 4 months for causing the death of an elderly lady while driving his pony & trap at speed. Kelly's 1876 edition records brick manufacturer William Hoult with the address of Thringstone which was a village just south west of Griffydam. In a newspaper article date 1880 on the sale of the green coloured brick yard, the notice records the yard was leased to William Hoult & Henry Toon. Now a similar For Sale Notice in 1882 only records Henry Toon as occupying this yard. So it is thought the Henry Toon brick below was made between 1880 & 1882. I have also photographed a brick just stamped Griffidam (please note the spelling of the village on both bricks, an i instead of a y) & I did think that this brick was made by another brickmaker who had taken over the yard from Henry Toon, but no evidence has been found of another brickmaker as being at this yard. The field in which disused brickyard buildings stood was put up for Auction in 1899 & it appears that was the end of brickmaking at this yard. 

Photo by Trevor Stewart.

Newbold Brick Co.

© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1920.

The Newbold Brick Co. was owned by Frank Hodges who established his brickworks on the site of the former Worthington Colliery Pipe Works in November 1934. Mr. E. Martin is recorded as the Manager of the works. According to the 1900 map this site had previously been run by the Staunton Colliery Co. as a colliery & brickworks. With there not being a 1938 map available showing Hodge's new brickworks I have used the 1920 map above which shows the works occupied the same area (coloured yellow). A 22 chambered continuous kiln was built which had the capacity to produce 8,000,000 bricks per annum.  

Nottingham Journal - Tuesday 01 January 1935 Image © Reach PLC. 

Image created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD..

It appears the Newbold Brick Co. was short lived because by 1937 the works was being operated as a pipe works once more. Still owned by Frank Hodges the works was trading as the Newbold & Lount Pipe Co., however Kelly's 1941 edition still records the Newbold Brick Co. at Newbold, very confusing. To make things more confusing Frank Hodges was also the owner of the Leicestershire Colliery & Pipe Co. & in one newspaper article it records this company was running the Newbold pipe works in 1939. So I think we can date these three bricks as being made between 1934 & possibly 1941.   

I then found the National Coal Board was operating the Newbold pipe works in 1949 with a June 1949 job advertisement reading - Wanted immediately, continuous kiln burners required for a NCB brickworks. Apply National Coal Board, Clay Workings Department, Newbold (pipe works), Coleorton. Frank Hodges had died in June 1947, so I am assuming that's when NCB took over the works. No bricks stamped NCB Newbold have ever turned up. I then I found the Ellistown Brick & Pipe Co. Ltd. purchased the Newbold pipe works from the National Coal Board in November 1960. My next find were two 1973 job adverts which records the Newbold works was now being operated by the Newbold Fire Brick Co. Findings by Trevor Stewart, a Griffydam local historian records the Newbold works closed in 1975 & that was the end of brick & pipe making at this works for good. 

Chimney of the Newbold brickworks, taken Friday, 15 October, 2010

cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Richard Green - geograph.org.uk/p/2112439

Hill Top Brickworks, Castle Donington.

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

With Darren Micheal West sending me some information on the Hill Top Brickyard, High Street, Castle Donington I have gone on to establish three brick makers & one company operated this works. 

From information passed on to him by a local lady historian based at Castle Donington Museum, Darren tells me the land on which a brick yard was later established was given to the Webb family by the Lord of the Manor in 1785 who then farmed the land. The first reference I have found from old newspapers recording this brick yard is in 1841 when John Webb was the brickmaker. A search on a family website has revealed John was born in 1801 & aged 40 in the 1841 census. John had four sons of which I just mention two, John junior b.1831 & George b.1843. Darren continues to tell me the barn & row of cottages next the Nags Head opposite the brickyard were built with bricks made at the Hill Top brickyard & may have been made by John Webb, but I doubt these bricks will be stamped with his name at this early date with them being hand-mades.   

I then found brickmaker John Webb is listed in Slater's 1862 edition with the address of Ashby Road, Castle Donington & this will be John junior now aged 31 & the maker of the machine made brick below which I think was made in the 1870's. Kelly's 1876 then records John with the address of High Street, Castle Donington. White's 1877 & Kelly's 1881 editions now list John & George Webb at the Hill Top works, so George also became a brickmaker.   

An Auction Sale Notice in the Hinckley News dated 8th October 1881 records George Webb was selling the farm's live stock, produce & farm implements, including dairy cows, young stock, horses, pigs, poultry; also 100,000 bricks & other effects. I am assuming John may have died & George was selling up. I then found a newspaper reference to George Webb in 1891 & it appears he still owned the Hill Top land & living at the former farm house.  

Photo by Mike Shaw.

John Thomas Adams, High Street, Castle Donington is listed as brickmaker in Kelly's 1891 to 1900 editions, whether John Adams leased or purchased the brickworks from George Webb is unknown, but what I can say the works had stood idle for 10 years, so I am assuming Adams had to start afresh with new plant & machinery. By 1901 the Castle Donington Brick Co. was operating the Hill Top Works.

The first listing found for the Castle Donington Brick Co. Limited appears in the 1901 Directory of Clayworkers which records the works produced wire-cut, pressed & sand-faced bricks, & quarries. It is unknown why Donington is spelt with two N's on this brick & the Adams brick. My only thought is that Adams may have formed the Castle Donington Brick Co. ?

 

I next found in the Derbyshire Advertiser dated the 30th of May 1902 that the 5 acre Freehold Property known as the Hill Top Brickyard was to be sold at Auction on the 16th of June & this included the farmhouse & it's outbuildings. The brickworks is listed as having square & round kilns, drying sheds, engine & boiler, a Woottons brick press & a clay mill. Wheelbarrows, moulds & brick-making equipment could be taken at extra cost. So why the Castle Donington Brick Company had closed after only a year is unknown. 

The Notice goes on to say there was a very valuable bed of clay at great depth, but information received via Darren from this lady at the Museum appears to paint a different story. "She adds that some bricks were not as strong due to them being made of the local clay & local buildings built with these bricks have needed to be rendered to protect them." So I have come to the conclusion that was the reason the brickworks was put up for sale, but it appears no one purchased it with the 1920 OS map showing it as "Disused". The London Gazette records The Castle Donington Brick Co. was struck off the Joint Stock Companies Register in July 1919, so it appears the company was not wound up.   

Thomas Russell, Sileby

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

Thomas Russell who was also a builder is recorded as brickmaking at Sileby in Kelly's 1876 to 1881 editions, however Eric Wheeler has informed me Thomas Russell had established his the Albion Works by 1872 with it being shown on a railway map dated 1872. I have coloured Thomas' Albion Brickworks situated on Albion Road green on the 1883 OS map above. A January 1883 newspaper notice for the sale of the Albion Brickworks records Thomas giving up the business. Thomas born in 1807 would have been 76 at the time of him selling the Albion Brickworks in 1883. The purchasers of the Albion Brickworks turned out to be the Wright Brothers, William & Samuel, Iron Founders in Leicester & I write about the Wright Family next.

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

W.T. Wright, Sileby

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

William Trickett Wright established his Sileby brickmaking business in 1883 with the purchase of the Albion Works which was advertised for sale in the Leicester Journal dated 8th January 1883. This notice states the owner (not named) was giving up the business, however I found this to be Thomas Russell, also a builder in Sileby & he is recorded as brickmaking at Sileby in Kelly's 1876 to 1881 editions. Thomas Russell was born in 1807 & would have been 76 at the time of him giving up the brickworks. I have coloured the Albion Brickworks situated on Albion Road green on the 1900 OS map above.

At first William b.1836 was in partnership with his brother Samuel b.1840 at the Albion Works & they were trading as the Wright Brothers. A For Sale notice in the Hinckley News dated 5th of September 1885 for land drain pipes of excellent quality were available from the Wright Brothers either from the Albion Brick & Tile Works, Sileby or from Wright's Foundry in Leicester. Further research has revealed the iron foundry situated on Havelock Street, Leicester was being operated by Samuel Wright & Sons in 1866. This Samuel being the father of William T. & Samuel junior Wright. The London Gazette records Samuel Wright senior left the partnership on the 23rd of November 1874 & his two sons would then carry on running the iron foundry trading as the Wright Brothers. This iron foundry continues to be run by the Wright family & the most recent newspaper article found recording Wright's Foundry Ltd. on Havelock Street is a January 1966 job advert.  

The London Gazette records that on the 30th of April 1887 the partnership of Wright Brothers, Iron Founders & Brick Manufacturers was mutually dissolved & the Iron Foundry would then be run by Samuel Wright junior on his own account & the Brick Works would then be run by William T. Wright on his own account. The first newspaper job advert recording W.T. Wright at the Albion Brick Works requiring a Sand Stock Moulder appeared in the Leicester Daily Mercury dated 10th of July 1888. The first trade directory listing for W.T. Wright at Sileby appears in Kelly's 1891 edition. In the late 1880's & early 1890's William added two more brickworks to his expanding business. 

Just thought I would mention William's middle name as it was customary in this period of time for a son or even a daughter to be given their mothers maiden name as a middle name, in this case Trickett. William then went on to give two of his sons this middle name which is slightly a bit more unusual.  

William's second brickworks was called Barrow End situated on Barrow Road which I have coloured purple on the 1900 map above. Before William took over this brickyard it had been called the Sileby Brick Yard. Now a For Sale notice in the Leicester Journal dated 28th August 1886 advertises a brickyard in good working order was being sold which was situated on the Barrow Turnpike Road & had a siding from the Midland Main Line & with looking at maps this notice describes this yellow coloured brickyard, however I then found an 1887 article which describes the wilful damage to a Midland Railway tarpaulin wagon cover at Mr. Healey's brickyard, therefore we know William Wright was not at this brickyard until later. Mr. Healey also owned another brickworks in Wigston & he sold that works in 1888, so William Wright may have take over Healey's Sileby works in 1888. A find in a November 1894 newspaper reports on an accident to a Mr. Allin at Mr. W.T. Wright's Barrow End Brickyard, therefore I can say for certain William was at this yard in 1894.   

William's third brickworks was situated on Cemetery Road & called the Phoenix Brickworks which I have coloured yellow on the 1900 map above. A March 1894 newspaper article on an accident at the Cemetery Road Works records W.T. Wright as it's owner, however William may have taken over the running of this works in 1892 or 1893 with finding William Atkins the previous brick maker at this Phoenix works being in dispute at Court in February 1892 with the leaseholder of the land Mrs. Annie Mills, over the payments of rent & loyalties. The case ended with the lease being terminated. It is unknown if William Wright leased or purchased the Phoenix Works off Mrs. Mills.

The entry in Kelly's 1895 edition now reads W.T. Wright & Co. Ltd., Sileby & from a later newspaper article I found William had taken on two of his five sons as partners in the firm. These two sons were William Henry Wright b.1864 who joined his father in 1899 & Edward Trickett Wright b.1871 who had joined the company in 1894. It appears William's three other sons did not join the company & they worked in their own chosen profession. Two Sileby newspaper articles in 1897 & 1904 record William T. Wright gave coal to the poor. 

William T. Wright died on the 31st of January 1905 & his abode is given as The Elms, Sileby. In his Will he turned the running of the Company over to his two sons, William Henry Wright & Edward Trickett Wright who had up to that point been junior partners. A 1906 Notice records William Henry Wright as the Managing Director of W.T. Wright & Co. Ltd & it also lists the company's three brickworks, Albion, Phoenix & Barrow End. Edward T. Wright  became a Director & the Company's Secretary. A January 1908 article reports W.T. Wright & Co., brick manufacturers had given their usual gift of coals to the deserving poor, so it appears the two brothers were carrying on with their father's kindness.    

An article in the Leicester Mail dated 17th February 1925 which is headed - Surprises Galore - Brickworkers Happy Evening at Sileby - Directors' Generosity - reports on a tea & social evening at the Sileby Institute yesterday given by the Directors' of W.T. Wright & Co. The Company had sent invitations to around 150 of it's employees together with their wives & friends from it's three brickworks, Albion, Phoenix & Barrow End. The article goes on to say, very few or none at all knew what was going to be revealed in the evening.     

So after a fine meal which was enjoyed by all, everyone gathered in the Concert Room were Mr. William Henry Wright & his wife, Mr. Edward T. Wright & Councillor S. Taylor took to the stage. After the introductions & pleasantries with William Henry jokingly saying he did not recognise some of the men when they were all dressed up rather than covered in clay - (laughter) - the many surprises were revealed. First WH said with last year being the best year ever for the sale of bricks, the directors' had decided to reward their workpeople for all their hard work which without their help the company would not have been able to achieve good profits, so in recognition of this the Directors' had decided to pay each employee who had worked throughout the last year a 5 percent bonus on the total wages earned during that time. (Loud applause). WH stated he held the view that men should participate in the profits which they helped to earn.  

Next to be announced were the Long Service Awards which the company had not done before. WH said he was somewhat surprised to find 22 of his employees had worked continuously for the firm for 25 years or over. (Applause). One had been there for 42 years, two others for 40 & one for 37 years. That was a record of which he was very proud. Those men had been loyal, true & had rendered the best service they could. To mark their appreciation of those 22 men, the directors' had decided to present each with a silver lever watch & gold chain. (Loud Applause). After the excitement had died down each man stepped forward to receive their gift from Mrs. Wright. A few of the men then made short speeches of thanks for their gifts. After the speeches all were entertained for about two hours by musical artists & a ventriloquist. So a good evening had by all.  

I note that the man who had worked 42 years for W.T. Wright & then his sons had started in 1883 & this coincides with the year William Trickett Wright took over the Albion Works. It would have been nice if the newspaper reporter had recorded his name & the other long service employees for us to remember them today. I also note this 1925 article is the last reference to the Barrow End Works, which is not shown on the 1927 OS map.

From the good news to some sad news. Edward Trickett Wright, director & secretary died on the 17th of October 1934 aged 63. He had been connected with the firm for 40 years with the last 25 years as a director. His abode is given as Lynton, Cossington Road, Sileby which is still there today, a grand looking house & hopefully made with Wright's bricks. The 40 years coincides with the 1895 Kelly's directory entry for W.T. Wright & Co. from just W.T. Wright. Then the 25 years coincides with the death of his father in 1909. 

The trade directory entry for W.T. Wright & Co. at Sileby in Kelly's 1895 edition continue to the last available directory in 1941. 

The 1943 Ministry of War Directory records both the Albion & the Phoenix Works were closed for the duration of the war, however the Albion Works was being used for the storage of armaments. This is the last reference found to the Phoenix Works & the 1950 OS map shows the works as disused, but still complete, so it appears this works did not re-start after the war. 

William Henry Wright died on the 20th of November 1950 aged 86. An article in the Leicester Evening Mail the follow day detailing William's life states he had been the Managing Director of W.T. Wright & Co. Ltd up to when the brickworks was sold in 1949. However the article does not state who had purchased it, but you will read in moment who did.

A newspaper notice dated December 1952 reports W.T. Wright were disposing of large stocks of bricks at substantial discounts for cash on the bricks listed, so I am assuming these bricks may have been made at the Phoenix Works & the site was being cleared.

The Leicester Evening Mail dated 16th March 1953 reports the Coronet Brick Co. of Measham had acquired W.T. Wright & Co. I next found they had only acquired a controlling interest in the company & the Albion Works would continue to operate as W.T. Wright & Co. (Sileby) Ltd., a subsidiary of the Coronet Brick Co. So it appears members of the Wright family were still holding shares in the company, hence the company keeping it's original name & the take over taking several years to complete. In December 1958 Mr. S.H. Wilkes was appointed Managing Director of W.T. Wright & Co. (Sileby) Ltd., a subsidiary of the Coronet Brick Co. 

A June 1964 newspaper article reports with some of the Albion Works plant being over 70 years old it was decided to close down production in February 1964 & replace the old machinery with the latest type of machinery costing £30,000. The works would then be back in production in a few weeks time with the new machinery doubling it's previous best output. The kilns were also converted to run on oil which would produce a cleaner brick, well burnt & free from ash deposits. A photograph accompanies this article & shows Managing Director Mr. Wilkes, Mr. J. Willis, technical director & Mr. G. Patrick, works manager. 

It appears from 1961 onwards job adverts records the Albion Works was operating as Wright's of Sileby. However a job advert in the Leicester Chronicle dated 12th July 1968 for a Brick Setter, good wages. reads Apply W.T. Wright & Co. Ltd. Sileby. Tel. 404. This is the last advert found for the company.

Then the last reference found to the Albion Brickworks is a January 1985 newspaper article reporting on a fire in a drying shed when workmen were using an oxy-acetylene cutter to remove a metal tank in the roof space & a 100 foot section of roof was destroyed. Now I am wondering if the brickworks had closed by 1985 with not finding any other newspaper articles reporting it was still operating. The Redbank Brick Co. had purchased the Coronet Brick Co. in the late 1970's, so I am thinking the Albion Brickworks ceased brick production at the time of this take-over. If anyone knows when Wright's Albion Brickworks closed please let me know. Thanks. 

Update - Eric Wheeler who runs https://www.silebyhistory.com/ has sent me some info which narrows down the closure date of the Albion brickworks to just after 1973 with W. T. Wright & Co. being listed in Blairs' 1973 trade directory & the building of houses on Kendal Road, situated near the old clay pits which were started in 1973-74. Therefore it appears the closure of Wright's brickworks is starting to match up to when Redbank took over Coronet with Wright's being a subsidiary of Coronet. 

A 1949 photo of Wright's Albion Works can be seen at this link. Wright's Albion Yard 1949

Eric also tells me he found the gates to Sileby Cemetery on Cemetery Road situated opposite Wright's Phoenix Brickworks were cast at Wright's Foundry in Leicester around 1885. Then "The Elms" lived in by William T. Wright still stands, but has now been divided into two.

Just thought I would mention that there was a fourth brickworks in Sileby, this being on Radcliffe Road near the parish boundary, so with no named bricks turning up yet made by the brick makers who operated this works I will just list the Timeline from information found, directories & newspapers.

William Knight, leased to, either side of 1867 when the works was being sold.

William Adcock, Kelly's 1876 - 1881 editions.

Mr. Townsend, leased to, from ? up to 1896 from another for sale notice.

Last map showing the works is 1901. 

Mountsorrel Brick Co.
William Atkins

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

The first reference found to brick yard in Mount Sorrel is a notice in the Nottingham Journal dated 22nd June 1872 when Henry Wheelock was advertising he was disposing of the brick yard. For particulars apply to Henry Wheelock at the yard. I am assuming Henry was the brickmaker at the yard. I then found Henry Wheelock was brickmaking near Bromsgrove, Worcestershire in 1879. 

Kelly's 1876 edition records the Mountsorrel Brick Co. at Mount Sorrel with John Smith as manager. I am taking it this company purchased the yard from Henry Wheelock in 1872. A 1877 notice in the London Gazette reveals the owners of this brick company to be Francis Henry Paget of Birstall & Joseph John Fairfax Scott of Mount Sorrel, however at this 1877 date they were dissolving their partnership by mutual consent which took place on the 22nd of June 1877 & Joseph Scott would then carry on the running of the Mountsorrel Brick Co. on his own. A July 1878 newspaper article records John Smith again as manager at the works. Kelly's 1881 edition now records the Mountsorrel Brick Co. with J.F.F. Scott as manager & proprietor.   

Hinckley News - Saturday 10 March 1877 

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I am unsure how long J. Scott ran the brickworks because in October 1885 he was appointed Clerk to the Board of Guardians at the nearby Barrow Workhouse. I next found William Atkins was the brickmaker at the Union Road brickworks in 1888 & operating it under his own name. 

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

William Atkins is first listed in Kelly's 1895 at Rothley. This is the Mount Sorrel works with it being near to Rothley Lodge (coloured purple on the map above). The 1888 start date for Atkins has come from a newspaper article which states he had been at the works for 12 years. I then found William Atkins is recorded in Kelly's 1891 edition as operating another brickworks called the Phoenix Works in Sileby, however due to a disagreement with the Leasehold over payments, Atkins' lease was terminated in February 1892. William Atkins is next listed in Kelly's 1899 edition as brickmaking in Mount Sorrel. This is the last trade directory recording William. I then found a December 1902 for sale notice selling the furniture & contents of house which W. Atkins Esq. had lived at with the notice saying he had left the neighbourhood. Very strange. That appears to the end of brickmaking in Mount Sorrel.   

As a footnote, it appears J.J. Fairfax Scott did not wind up the Mountsorrel Brick Co. because the London Gazette records on the 17th of March 1911 the company was struck off the Joint Stock Register.