Birtley, Old Yard Brickworks, Birtley Station

HER Number:
8596

District:
Outside

Site Name:
Birtley, Old Yard Brickworks, Birtley Station

Place:
Birtley

Map Sheet:
NZ25NE

Class:
Industrial

Site Type: Broad:
Brick and Tilemaking Site

Site Type: Specific:
Brickworks

General Period:
Early Modern

Specific Period:
C19

Form of Evidence:
Documentary Evidence

Description:
1858-1978, T Blythe and Sons The firm of Blythe and Sons originated in 1858 at Birtley Station under Thomas Blythe, and one of the first machines there was a horse-driven pug mill. Steam power was introduced by his son J C Blythe. The Old Yard had 12 large Newcastle kilns, each capable of holding 24,000 bricks. Brick production stopped in 1978 and the site is now a builders merchants. Pugged clay was extruded through a Fawcett brick machine, and then cut into ten bricks on a steel pallet and cutting bench. In the 1930s, the Old Yard had a drying area heated by steam pipes, and an additional area was heated by open fires beneath a floor covered in iron plates. The Fawcett machine was replaced in 1948 by a De-airing extrusion brick machine. By the late 1950s, the drying flats became disused having been replaced by drying chambers.

Easting:
2642

Northing:
5558

Grid Reference:
NZ26425558

Lats/Lons:

Sources:
Davison, P J, 1986. Brickworks of the North East, 159 site 6, 163, 164