Monument record 6384/1 - Modern Brickworks

{1}Two updraught kilns worked by Bonser family up until 1940;

{2} Working by 1883 under the ownership of Joseph Bonsor. The yard at SP 693719 was worked by the Bonsors up to 1940 when wartime conditions forced closure. At the start of the winter a railway track was laid into the part of the pit to be worked. The clay dug during the winter was dumped in heaps on top of this, and collected as required, in wagons, during the brickmaking season. The trucks (3 of which were used) were hauled up by cable. Wire cut bricks were produced (8 at a time) and transferred in batches of 32, on barrows, to the drying shed. The machinery was driven by an Allchin portable engine. Two updraught kilns were used, each holding 50,000 bricks. The older of the two was apparently built with rough clamp burned bricks and the newer with bricks burnt in the other. Part of this latter still stands and is being used for repairs to buildings built of the same bricks. Both kilns had 12 fire holes per side, arched roofs, and small chimneys built into the roof. Production from them was 30,000 per week during the season. The works was bought in 1935 to obtain puddling clay for the building of the Reservoir and Bonsors afterwards leased the land. Clay was found on site however and the last big
order from the yard was 1 million bricks for the reservoir works.

<1> STARMER G., List of Industrial Sites in Northamptonshire (Various, Including N.R.I.M.), (unchecked) (Catalogue). SNN1444.

<2> O'Rourke R., 1970, Some Northamptonshire Brickworks, p. 16 (Article). SNN103347.

Record last edited

Jan 12 2017 2:03PM