January 1, 1970

History of Crowle Brickworks

By Angus Townley

Crowle Brick and Tile Works

Crowle Bricks.34.27

Crowle Brickworks BSC

Crowle Brickworks was established around 1880 by George Robinson, adjacent to his brewery to the north of the railway and canal. As can be seen the clay pits were connected tothe brickworks by a small tramway which was initially operated by horses. The works had a large brick kiln and were mechanised. The reverse of the brick has the Clayton & Co Patent. Clayton and co manufactured both brick and tile making machines. In 1895 George Robinson was declared bankrupt,however it was not until 1906 that creditors of George Robinson sell both Tetley Hall and the Brickworks at Auction.
The brickworks is described thus; The CROWLE BRICK and TILE WORKS, consisting of engine house, machinery shed, drying sheds kilns and other buildings together with boiler, 17horse power engine, 2 newly erected brick making machines, belting, pulleys, hauling gear and other fixed plant and machinery, and also the valuable bed of clay used in connection with the works.Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer – Saturday06 May 1905

Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer - Wednesday 13 September 1905

The brickworks were bought at Auction by Oaklands Bros., who also operated brickworks in and around Barnsley. The Hull Daily Mail reported in April 1906 that the brickworks would be ready for work in about 2 months and were spending around £5000 on new plant. It would appear that during the ownership by Oaklands the works became known as the Crowle Brick & Tile Works Co Ltd. However in 1919 the business was voluntarily wound-up by GeorgeOakland.

Hull Daily Mail - Thursday 05 April 1906

The brickworks were then acquired by the Redbourn Steelworks in Scunthorpe. Bricks were needed to build houses for this rapidly growing industry. Redbourn works in turn was taken over by Richard Thomas in 1925. In 1945 the company merged with Baldwins ltd to create Richard Thomas Baldwins.

It was nationalised in 1951 and ultimately became part of British Steel Corporation in 1967. In April 1972 BSC sold off much of its brick making facilities, including those at Belton and Crowle. These were sold to a private company, Innes Lee,of Overton near Wrexham who owned the works until they closed in 1980

Crowle Brickworks closed in late 1980. At that time it employed around 30 and was part of Innes Lea Industries Ltd.The works manager at closure was Alan Craddock. The site of the brickworks and the associated clay pits are now the Seven Lakes Leisure Park. Crowle Brickworks Loco A loco with works number 1881, was built in 1934 and worked o­n a 1′ 8″ gauge tramway at Crowle Brickworks. It is a Hibberd “Y” type, with a Ford 8hp petrol engine, and fitted with a cab. The line closed in June 1968, replaced by dumpers, and the loco was bought for preservation in October 1970 by Richard Morris of Kent, o­ne of the consortium of enthusiasts who later set up the narrow-gauge collection at Gloddfa Ganol. Mr Morris re-gauged it to 2′ gauge in 1972. The locomotive is now at the Steeple Grange Light Railway near Wirksworth in Derbyshire.

http://www.steeplegrange.co.uk/

Crowle Brickworks sold by BSC in 1972 On the 7th April 1972 the Times reported the sale of some of BSC’s (British Steel Corporation) brickworks. It was revealed that BSC were in advanced negotiations to sell off almost half of its brickmaking facilities. The main deal was with Butterley Brick company of Ripley (Part of the Hanson organisation) who were to buy seven brickworks – Thurcroft at Rotherham and six works operated by the BSC’s strip division. The other sale was being negotiated with a private unquoted company Innes Lee industries of Overton near Wrexham. The deal comprised of four smaller brickworks at Belton and Crowle, near Scunthorpe , within the General Steels division; Bilstorpe near Newark and Campbell at Stavely, near Chesterfield, both part of the corporations tubes division.

Submission by Bill Goldthorp A gang of what these days would be descibed as vandals often played around the brickworks in the forties, before what was known as the new clay pit, that belonging to Tetley Hall closed and a fresh pit started near the old potato factory. The odd visit would be made to the works at weekends when it was very satisfactory to run over the drainage pipes in the drying shed, they crumblesd so nicely beneath your boots. The tippimg trucks for the clay would often be left outside the works at the top of the incline into the pit. They could be detached o­ne by o­ne and riden o­n the rails down the incline, gathering speed and often derailing, the skill was to jump clear before the derailmanet occurred. How we avoided serious injury I do not know. The deisel loco was kept locked in a shed, but a new friend related to o­ne of the presonelle at the pit, borrowed the key. We had often watched and assisted our fathers and other farm workers in starting tractors. We started the loco and headed of down the track but derailed that as well. Later, teenagers and perhaps a little more responsible, o­n Saturday afternoons in Summer we headed for the brickworks cricket pitch, invariably the brickworks or their visitors were o­ne or two men short, we always got a game. No o­ne fished the old pit, but when the new pit was closed and fresh o­ne started, they tipped the top soil into the old pit. o­ne day returning from fishing in the canal (we never bought a license), we dangled our bated hooks ih the area where the top soil had been dumped. Within minutes we were pulling out massive perch and roach, big enough to take home for tea. The old pit became our favourite fishing ground, but we could not keep our mouths closed, so it became everyone elses as well. Name and address not supplied.

Crowle Brick Robinson, Clayton Patent

Notes; The Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer – Wednesday 13 September 1905

Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer - Wednesday 13 September 1905


Crowle Brick Works for Sale

Hull Daily Mail – Thursday 05 April 1906

Hull Daily Mail - Thursday 05 April 1906


Oakland Brickworks at Tetley

Crowle Brick and Tile Company, Ltd. Incorporated in 1908. THE LONDON GAZETTE, 22 MARCH, 1918

Crowle Brick & Tile Works winding up

Winding up of Crowle Brick & Tile Works