the brick works
Production of bricks had made Arlesey the place it is today. The Arlesey White has gone down in
history with its production techniques. The bricks themselves are durable and made from the gault
clay with a distinctive colour.
The different sites here were a major employer in the area, with many workers living in Arlesey
themselves. The effects the industry had here can still be seen everywhere, if you look – the terraces
of workers cottages clad with the yellow coloured facing bricks, some of the names and the pits still
here. Although subtle landmarks they were less visible than the chimneys that dominated the skyline.
Just before the Second World War in 1937 there were seven chimneys at the site. All heralding the
height of this huge industry. Since then they had gradually and systematically demolished when no
longer used or even unsafe. Some aerial photos taken around this time can be seen at the
Britain from Above website: www.britainfromabove.org.uk
In the 1980’s Butterley
Brick started remaking
Arlesey Whites on the site.
Butterley, an old Mining
Company, based in Derby,
carried on production for
a time, but in 1992 the
last brick was made at the
Arlesey plant and it
closed completely.
ress site:
Image: Taken from Clive Lombari’s wordp
https://arcangelolombari.wordpress.com
8 |
January 2016
|
on the button, 32 Stotfold Road, Arlesey. Bedfordshire. SG15 6XT www.onthebuttonarlesey.co.uk
Image: Brian Juffs
This month is the final part of
the Brickworks feature looking at
the site and the end of production here. The following is mainly
pictorial and shows the chimneys
and gradual demolition.
Part 5 – Down they came