Stewartby Brickworks - August 2008

[DAB]

In 1897, B.J. Forder and Son opened a Fletton brickworks at Wootton Pillinge (later to be called Stewartby). The company later merged with several other companies, the main one being the London Brick Company (which had been founded in 1889). By 1936 the London Brick Company and was recognised as the largest brickworks in the world employing 2,000 and manufactured over 500 million bricks per year. In 1984, the London Brick Company was taken over by Hanson. In 2005 there were just 230 people employed at the Stewartby brickworks, and only 2 kilns and 3 chimneys in use, producing a total of 135 millions bricks a year.

More than £1 million was spent on Stewartby Brickworks in 2005-7 in an attempt to reduce sulphur dioxide emissions. This attempt was unsuccessful and the brickworks finally closed in February 2008.

If you want to find out more, a very comprehensive website about the brickworks can be found here.

Six months after closure, the site remains in fabulous condition. The yard is full of new bricks awaiting shipment.

Went here in August last year. Apparently much of the machinery has now been removed

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No, I've not reversed this:








Crap




Dismissall




Obligatory Bricks






Oooh yeh, and there's these tall things that everyone can see from everywhere. There's only four left today. There used to be billions in the area







A kiln...



On top of a kiln...







Most to-the-point company name ever?


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[wolfism]

Great to see it before it was stripped - I had a mooch around a couple of months ago, but the buildings were mainly empty. I particularly liked the "smut loaders" on top of the kilns.

LOL at the security notice, though ...

[DAB]

Yea it had some good stuff in there last year.

It seems like I was the only person to photograph the more modern brick presses (which I pressume have gone now?) or at least I've never seen a report on them...

I took loadsa photos (like about more than 21) - it was hard to whittle them down to a report. I probably have some of the modern brick presses but didn't post them.. do you have one so people can see what you're talking about?

Cheers

[boxfrenzy]

That looks a great place mate, very good. I love the last picture too. Big chimneys are a winner on any explore.