"Old Bricks - history at your feet"

English bricks - page 4b-1

Brashaw to Brightside

Brashaw

Found Sheffield, South Yorks. Two examples have been found separately in the Sheffield area. The most likely source is Thomas Brashaw who was a colliery proprietor in Darnall area of Sheffield in 1850s - 1860s. Photo by Frank Lawson.

Brasside

Brasside brickworks, County Durham. Photo by Steven Tait.

Bratt Colbran

Bratt Colbran was formed in 1909 with offices at 10, Mortimer Street, London. The company were manufacturers of gas fires, electric fires, coal fires & surrounds, hence this glazed brick. The company is unlikely to have actually manufactured bricks and will have contracted with one or more brick manufacturers to make glazed bricks with its name on. Company adverts can be seen at this Link. Info and Photo by Martyn Fretwell.

Photos by Penny Foreman.

Bray

Found near Sheffield. Photo by courtesy of the Frank Lawson collection.

H Bray

It seems that H Bray & Co was formed as one of four partnership companies in 1881 after taking a 21 year lease on a 7 acre plot of land owned by Hempstead Brothers of Grantham. Kellys Huntingdonshire 1898 & 1903 editions records Henry Bray & Co. at Fletton, Peterborough & Kellys Notts. 1891 to 1904 editions lists his office address as Wheelergate, Nottingham, but with no works address. Info by Martyn Fretwell. Photo by Frank Lawson courtesy of the Bill Richardson Collection at Southwick Hall.

Brereton Collieries

The Brereton Collieries were situated just to the south of Rugeley, operating from the late 18th century to 1960. A number of brickworks have been recorded at various locations around the colliery and this one comes from the last works which was in business by 1921 at a site alongside the colliery railway to the north of the Coppice Pit. There was a large production building and three rectangular kilns which are marked as disused on the 1955 OS map. Info by David Kitching, photo taken at the Chasewater Railway museum.

Bretby Brick, Newhall

Bretby Brick & Stoneware Co Ltd, Newhall, Derbyshire. Photo by Frank Lawson.

Bretby Colliery

Produced at the colliery which was sunk in 1872 and originally owned by the Countess of Chesterfield, then the Earl of Carnarvon in 1890, who both resided at Bretby Hall. Carnarvon sold the colliery and Bretby Hall to fund his Tutankhamen expedition in 1920. The colliery closed in 1928 due to it being unprofitable. Various seams were re-opened at different times up to 1962. Photo by Henry Noon, info by Martyn Fretwell.

Bridges

photo courtesy of Graham Hague (Sheffield) collection.Henry Bridges, Norroy Street, Sheffield, info by Frank Lawson.

Bridgewater Collieries

The Bridgewater Collieries operated extensive brickworks at Mosley Common adjacent to the pit. Photo by Alan Davies.

It appears that the letters were put on upside down. Photo by Elaine Hill.

Bridgewater Estates

Photo by Jason Stott.

Bridgnorth

Found at Kinlet Colliery Engine House, Highley, Shropshire. Photo by Michael Raybould.

The Bridgnorth brickworks was situated just north of Eardington village about 1.5 miles south of Bridgnorth town centre and was originally known as the Knowle Sands Brickworks when it opened between 1891 and 1903 and it had two round kilns. The 1926 OS map shows a large rectangular kiln and a Hoffmann kiln served by a through siding off the Severn Valley Railway. The works appears to have closed by the early 1950s and the site is now occupied by the Knowle Sands Industrial Estate. Photo & info by David Kitching.

Photo by Nigel Furniss.

Abraham Brierley & Sons Ltd

Abraham Brierley & Son Ltd. Brimrod (Sparth), Rochdale, Lancs. Worrall's Directory 1885. Photo by David Kitching.

J Brierley & Son

J.Brierley & Son - Brandwood Moor, Stacksteads, Rossendale. Found in Rossendale. Info by Colin Driver, photo by David Kitching.

Briggs, Normanton

Henry Briggs Son & Co Ltd., Whitwood, Normanton, West Yorks. The Company were major industrialists and the owners of several collieries in the Normanton & Pontefract area including Snydale, Whitwood, Haigh Moor and Methley Junction. The Company also owned Snydale Brickworks, Snydale, and the Micklefield and Newthorpe Lime Quarries and also controlled Briggs Collieries Limited. Photo and info by courtesy of the Frank Lawson collection.

Photo by Chris Shaw.

Briggs Shipley

By 1869 there was a coal mine on Shipley High Moor, West Yorks operated by Briggs & Co. The same family owned the Fairweather Green brickworks. There were several generations who were active in Thornton, Clayton, Allerton and Shipley. John Schofield Briggs was a coal merchant of Thornton. His son was Joseph Briggs (1851-1912) who married Arabella Fairbank, thus uniting two Bradford coal mining and brick-making families. John Schofield Briggs and Joseph Briggs seem to have been partners in several enterprises. In 1860 they leased land from the Earl of Rosse at Shipley Moor and Sandy Lane Bottom for coal extraction. Colliery brickworks are common in West Yorkshire although I cannot identify the exact site of this brick's production, unless they were made at Fairweather Green but marked 'Shipley'. These bricks are still occasionally found today in the Shipley area and also in at least one derelict site near the University of Bradford. Thanks to Derek Barker for the photo and information.

W Briggs, Cheetham, Manchester

William Briggs first appears in the trade directories as a brickmaker in the early 1880s. His works in Cheetham had two rectangular kilns in 1890. Having started as a bricklayer Briggs describes himself as a contractor and brick manufacturer in 1881 and a master brickmaker in 1901. The works is shown as derelict in 1923 with a new brickworks to the south west. Photo by David Kitching.

Brighouse

Photos by courtesy of the Frank Lawson collection.

These bricks were produced by a company called Brighouse Brick, Tile & Stone Co. Ltd., Gooder Lane, Rastrick. I believe that it was this company that built Brick Terrace, Tile Terrace, and Brick & Tile Terrace, Rastrick for its employees. The quarry face behind the terraces is still clearly visible. In the late 19th century its addresses are given as Rastrick, Brighouse & Hillhouse Rd, Huddersfield. Thanks to Derek Barker for the information.