Billingsley and The Bold brickyards

Billingsley brickyard seems to have been in existence by 1851, when Thomas Evans, a brickmaker (who also owned a brickyard in Chetton) is listed in a trade directory as living in theb parish. In 1861 the census shows that Thomas Davies was operating the yard, situated on land leased from the Duke of Cleveland. After his death in 1889 his widow Eliza ran the yard. In 1911 the lease of the yard was taken over by the newly formed Billingsley Colliery Company, who needed bricks to build houses for their workmen in Highley. The yard was linked to the company’s railway by an aerial ropeway in 1914, but stopped production in 1915 when company sold out to the Highley Mining Company.

One ledger from the brickyard survives, from the 1880s. This details wages and expenses. The yard normally employed around 10 individuals at this period, paid fortnightly. The moulders were paid on piece-rate for each item they produced (as set down in the making price list). The chief expenditure was on coal, usually bought from Alfred Gibbs, owner of Billingsley Colliery, but with occasional loads purchased from the Highley Mining Company. The accounts also show items such as rent and rates and corn for Davies’s horse. Apart from the sale of bricks, Davies also seems to have acted as a haulage contractor, taking loads of coal and other materials around the district. The yard was typical of rural brick yards in making bricks, floor and roofing tiles but especially drainage pipes. The main customers were local farmers and landowners.

The book was previously used as the sales ledger from 1855-6 at another rural brickyard, at the Bold Farm at Aston Botterell. At this date the Bold Farm was owned by John Sparrow and he was the largest customer of the brickyard; it is likely that he leased the yard to a specialist brickmaker. The yard had a very short life; no more a couple of years either side of 1855/6. The kiln still survives. There was another brickyard in Aston Botterell, probably of a similar date at Hayward Farm, on land belonging to the Duke of Cleveland.

Extracts dealing with both yards are reproduced.

Billingsley Brickyard

[Wages, Fortnight ending] 20th October 1879
E. Broom 6 days @ 3/6 per day £1.10
E. Rollins 11 ½ days @ 3/3 per day £1.17.4 ½
James Rollins 11 ½ days @ 3/3 per day £1.17.4 ½
John Rollins 11 days @ 1/8 per day 18/4
Sam Rollins 11 days @ 1/4 per day 14/8
W Evsall 11 days @ 1/3 per day 14/-

[Wages, Fortnight ending] 3rd May 1880
E Broom 11 days £2. 14/6
E Rollins 11 days £2.0.0.
James Rollins 12 days £2.0.0.
John Rollins 12 days £1. 2/-
Sam Rollins 12 days 17/-
C Davies 12 days £2. 0. 0.
J Badger 11 days 19/-
W Ball 6 days £1. 0 .0.

[Wages, Fortnight ending] 30th May 1881
E Broom £2. 14/-
E Rollins 11 days £2. 0.0.
J Rollins 12 days £2. 6/-
John Rollins 12 days £1. 8/-
Sam Rollins 12 days £1. 2/-
E Davies 10 days £1. 13/6
John Corfield 12 days £1. 16/-
G Foxall 7 days £1. 14/-
W Rowley 8. ½ days £1. 1/3
A Smith ½ day 2/-
Robert Green 5 days 12/6

[Selected Expenses 1881-2]
27th June 1881 Mr Gibbs £13. 8/5
8th July 1881 Mr Gibbs £2. 0. 0.
30th July 1881 Mr Gibbs £7. 17/1
3rd August 1881 Mr Gibbs £2. 2/-
19th August 1881 Mr Gibbs £2. 7/-
31st October 1881 Mr Gibbs 10/-
2nd December 1881 Mr Gibbs 10/-
15th October 1881 Hughes Lime 16/-
6th January 1882 Mr Gibbs £1. 0. 0.
16th January 1882 Highley Co. £17. 8/5
21st January 1882 Railway £2. 12/-
7th March 1882 Mr Gibbs £3. 10/-
17th March 1882 Highley Co. £11. 7/2
24th March 1882 Mr Gibbs £6. 0. 0.

General Expenses 15th – 26th April 1882
15th April John Evans £2. 0. 0.
15th April Self Londes £1. 0. 0.
15th April Mr Hinksman £2. 15/-
21st April F. Beddoes £3. 3/6
22nd April Mr Melling £5. 10/-
22nd April Mr Henshull 11/6
22nd April Self 10/-
26th April Gibbs (coal) £5. 8/8

[Selected expenses, May-Sept 1882]
May 5th 1882 Highley Co £12. 10/-
May 12th 1882 Gibbs £5. 12/3
May 27th 1882 Cloth for engine 10/-
June 8th 1882 Gibbs £5. 10/3
June 12th 1882 Mr Deighton, oil 6/-
June 17th 1882 Gibbs £7. 6/5
June 30th 1882 Gibbs £4. 15/1
July 8th 1882 Highley Co £12. 0. 0.
July 17th 1882 Gibbs £8. 3/5
July 17th 1882 Ormrod corn 10/-
July 27th 1882 Gibbs £6. 0. 0.
August 14th 1882 Gibbs £10. 6/2
August 30th 1882 Gibbs £12. 19/9
September 12th 1882 Gibbs £6. 0. 0.
September 20th 1882 Gibbs £9. 2/-

General expenses 1st – 10th August
1st August Mr Ashdown, rent £15. 3/-
3rd August Londes 6/-
3rd August J Barker £4. 10/-
3rd August A Wall, Chorley £4. 14/6
4th August J Evans £1. 10/-
10th August B. Maney £3. 1/9

Time for kiln building 1880
9th February – 27th March
E. Heasses 53 ¼ days
Humphrey Brown 10 ½ days
W. Cartwright 1 ¾ days
Haney 33 days
Ted 44 days
J Nollins 29 ¾ days
Scoldock 5 days

March 13th 1882: Making prices
Flange Cress 10d / dozen
Plain Cress 9d / dozen
Short Cress 4d / dozen
Hips and Gutters 3d / dozen
6” quarries 8/- per thousand
9” quarries 3d / dozen
8” quarries 2 ½ d dozen
Floor bricks 8/- per thousand
Tile pressing and pitching 2/6 per thousand

[Prices for coal, 1882]
12 cwt coal 7/- August 28th 1882
14 cwt coal 8/8
1 ton coal 12/-

[Wages, Fortnight ending] September 22nd 1884
E Brown 9 days £2.0.0.
E Davies 10 ½ days £2.0.0.
E. Nollins 12 days £2.0.0.
James Nollins 11 ½ days £2.0.0.
John Nollins 11 ½ days £1.14/6
Sam Badger 11 ½ days £2.0.0.
G Hinton 9 ½ days 15/5
Henry James 5 ½ days £1.0.0.

General expenses 1884-5
Powell rates £4. 7/7
Lands £2.0.0.
Nock £6. 19/6
Beddowes £1. 15/-
Turnball £1.0.0.
J Badger 5/-
W. Hinton 4/-

13th October Gibbs £14. 13/3
29th October Mr Hughes, lime 15/6
7th November Gibbs £14. 9/5
12th December Gibbs £12. 12/-
5th January 1885 James Jones, corn £2. 18/-
4th February Rent £16. 9/-
13th February Income Tax £1. 14/4
13th February Gibbs £10. ¼

[Income from haulage 1884]
22nd October 1 load of timber to Burnt Pit 10/-
24th October 1884 4 tons 2 cwt coal for Rev. G.E. Harris. Middleton 16/-
18th November 2tons 5cwt coal to Burwarton 18/3
27th November 2tons 17cwt coal to Deuxhill School 18/8
4th April 1885 3 loads of timber from Hampton to Billingsley timber yard £1. 4/-
12th April 1 load of timber from yard to Loughton School 15/-
12th July 2 loads of timber from yard to Aston Botterell £1. 0. 0.
27th August 3 tons coal to Deuxhill School 7/-
29th September load of lime to Mellings from Oreton 15/-
30th September 1 load of sand to Mellings from Walton 10/-
14th December 3 loads of ashes to road, Mr. Thersall
9th March 1886 1ton 4cwt Hay from Cape
9th March 17cwt clover from Hook

[Expenses February 1886]
16th February Royalty £28. 15/6
25th February Martindale - oats 11/6
25th February Hinksman - corn 10/-
25th February Mr Fox - corn £5. 0. 0.
25th February Evans – horse £1. 0. 0.
25th February Rudon – corn £3. 6/-
26th February Nock – corn £3. 15/-
24th March Gibbs £5. 5/-
30th April Gibbs £10. 1/10
8th June Gibbs £7. 2/5
14th July Gibbs £7. 7/7
11th August Gibbs £8. 4/-
9th September Gibbs £9. 10/4

[Wages, Fortnight ending] November 1886
J. E. Davies 12 days @ 3/4 £2. 0. 0.
E. Broome 11 ¼ days @ 3/6 £1. 19/6
W. Evans 11 days @ 3/4 £1.16/ 8
Jos Galliers 10 ¾ days @ 3/- £1. 12/3
John Galliers 10 ¾ days @ 3/- £1. 12/3
J. Painter 12 days @ 2/10 £1. 14/-
W. Rowley 10 days @ 1/2. 11/8
E. Manwaring Kiln £1. 1/8 ( Haywood)
A. Green 10 ½ days @ 1/- 10/6
R. Green Turning Hay 6/6

[Income from haulage, 1886-7]
18th March 1 ton 9 cwt coal to Kinlet Vicarage, A.Gibbs
June 4th 5 tons 5 cwt Timber from Hampton to yard £1. 15/-
June 11th 1 ton 10 cwt coal to Kinlet
October 21st 1886 2 tons 3 cwt coal to Glazeley Rectory
October 30th 1886 Rails from station, A. Gibbs
January 8th 1887 coal to Kinlet Rectory




Sales 1881

2” pipes 211,312, 3” pipes 32,611, 4” pipes 2,902, 6” pipes 1,657, 9” pipes 946, 6” quarries 271 dozen, 8” quarries 26 dozen, tiles 39,145, bricks 52,670, gutters 20 ½ dozen, coping 19 dozen, flooring bricks 314 dozen, cress: long 27 ¾ dozen, cress: short 13 ¼ dozen, oven squares 2 dozen.


Major customer was Hampton Estate who ordered most of the 2” pipes. Others included Chatham of Neenton, Lady Crompton of Chorley, Bate of Bridgnorth, Bradley of Halfway, Hincksman of Charlcott Lane, Stottesdon, Beddard of Highley, Lewis of Chelmarsh and Gretton of Deuxhill.

The Bold Brickyard

30th April 1855-22nd December 1855 of W. Sparrow, Esq had 18.900 1 ¾ “ pipes, 25,300 ~ 2” pipes, 550 ~ 2 ¾” pipes, 3,065 3 ½ “ pipes, 730 ~ 9” bricks and 121 flooring bricks.

From May 3rd 1855 ~ December 31st 1855 other customers had 7,400 ~ 1 ½” pipes, 14,300 ~ 1 ¾” pipes, 43,500 ~ 2” pipes, 1,000 2 ¾ “ pipes, 875 ~ 3” pipes,4,235 3 ½” pipes, 2,368 ~ 6” pipes 5.800 ~ roofing tiles, 28,900 ~ 9” bricks,1,000 ~ pressed bricks, and 58 best bricks.

From January 17th to October 10th 1856, Sparrow had 1100 1 ¾ “ pipes, 76,438 2” pipes, 1229 2 ¾ “ pipes, 5523 3 ½ “ pipes, 286 6” pipes, 12,470 tiles,32,955 9” bricks,5970 pressed bricks and 240 flooring bricks.

From January 4th to October 10th 1856, other customers had 2,500 1 ½“ pipes, 7,800 1 ¾“ pipes, 92,600 2” pipes, 4,900 2 ¾ “ pipes, 3,950 3” pipes, 4,850 3 ½ “ pipes, 896 6” pipes 4,050 tiles, 13,845 9” bricks, 2400 pressed bricks and 467 flooring bricks.

Customers ( apart from Sparrow) included, Mr Tilley, Burwarton, and customers from Cleobury, Stottesdon, Oreton, Farlow, Faintree, Lord Boyne and Bridgnorth.