Report - STEWARTBY BRICK WORKS - BEDFORD - August 2020

[Down and beyond]

History :
Stewartby Brickworks has stood in the small village of Stewartby since the 1920s. Stewartby, then named Wooton Pillinge, soon became the mainstay of brick production in the county of Bedfordshire.

In 1923 the two companies operating in the area merged to form the London Brick Company. Throughout the second world war, London Bricks from Stewartby and the other London Brick plants were used to build air raid shelters, official buildings, and airfield buildings. London Brick plants were also used to manufacture machine gun parts, and the great clay pits used to test tanks imported from America.

At the height of the industry’s production there were 167 brick chimneys in the Marston Vale. There are four chimneys still standing in Stewartby however at the time of operation it
had 37. It was also home to the UK's biggest kiln.

In the 1970s Bedfordshire produced 20% of England’s bricks. Stewartby produced 500 million bricks a year at its height of production.

The Brickworks was closed in 2008 after the operators were unable to bring the emissions of sulphur dioxide in line with regulations, and has sat empty ever since. Large parts have been demolished, and the rest is set to follow. A live railway runs through the site, however this has to be closed during high winds due to the risk of the chimneys falling. The chimneys are listed, however due to their structural instability they may have to be demolished for safety reasons. It is a real shame that this massive building, which produced the bricks that many people's homes were built with, so integral to the history of Bedfordshire, will soon be almost completely erased from the landscape it once dominated

the explore this place is very vast and takes a long time to get around so I have lots and lots of photos I have tried to capture it to the best of
My ability so it gets logged before its demolition I no it’s been captured by others but I have not edited any pictures it is just how it looks today : risks lots of pigeon poop , open drains dodgy roofs dodgy floors all the normal stuff really we had a nice walk around found some awesome
Stuff for pictures and some awesome construction shots as well cheers at bikinglyn for showing me around glad you had a good time also !
The first half is the factory side of the rail way track where the bricks where formed and quality insurance took place

let’s clock in and get moving at the stamp your card point

 

[Down and beyond]

Still the factory side of the track at the point you see the public crossing it changes over to the 2nd side where it’s the furnaces work shops and now security hut we didn’t get to meet him just nice place to wash your hands at before lunch from the Hanson sign picture we have crossed over to 2nd side

 

[Bikin Glynn]

You have captured it well, no crane though?
Glad u liked it, its still arguably one of the best industrial left these days

 

[Down and beyond]

And the ending

Let’s decide where to go next! Thanks for viewing any issues let me no ! So I can get them corrected

 

[Down and beyond]

You have captured it well, no crane though?
Glad u liked it, its still arguably one of the best industrial left these days

Haha you just snuck in 1 min before I finished god a monster of a place

 

[mookster]

Always liked this place, it's definitely one of the better brickworks left now even if so much of it has been demolished for years. Been meaning to go back and reshoot the part on the eastern side with the chimneys for ages as my photos from there a decade ago are dogshit lol.

 

[Bikin Glynn]

Haha you just snuck in 1 min before I finished god a monster of a place

Oh yeah thats made it a monster of a report

 

[TheTimeChamber]

Looking good, I thought this place had gone!

 

[HughieD]

Wow, still loads to see there and you captured it really well.

 

[westernsultan]

The railway is also interesting in that it was formerly part of the Varsity Line between Oxford and Cambridge, It is now the Marston Vale line running between Bletchley and Bedford using class 230 units converted from LT stock - An hourly service operates in each direction Monday–Saturday. History of the station -
When first opened in 1905 by the London and North Western Railway, the station was a halt serving the small village of Wootton Pillinge, a largely rural community that, in 1897, had become the site of B.J.H. Forder's brickworks. The plant was served by sidings close to and alongside the halt which were controlled by a signal box; the halt was simply constructed with a platform at ground level constructed out of sleepers. By 1910, the Wootton Pillinge Brick Company was selling 48 million bricks per year and in 1923, it merged with the London Brick Company (LBC). The brickworks developed virtually across the railway line and as the wagon capacity of the old sidings was exceeded, they became an extension for a larger group of sidings developing at Wootton Broadmead. The Wootton Pillinge signal box was closed and a new box was opened called "Forder's Sidings" which controlled heavy movements from the works.

In 1926 the LBC began to build a "garden village" for its employees at Wootton Pillinge; the village was to be named "Stewartby" after Sir Halley Stewart, the former Liberal Parliamentary candidate for Peterborough and first chairman of the Wootton Pillinge Brick Company. Following the building of the village, the London, Midland and Scottish Railway renamed the station (which ceased to be a halt in 1928) to Stewartby. The Stewartby brickworks was connected to the Marston Vale Line via a 2 ft 11 in (889 mm) narrow gauge railway operating on overhead electrification. This is believed to have been installed in the 1930s and lasted until 1960. After reaching a peak production level of 738 million bricks in 1973, demand for bricks declined and the LBC (trading as Easidispose) signed an agreement the following year to re-use its empty clay pits as landfill transported from London. One or two daily container trains began transporting 1,000 tons of waste from Hendon to handling facilities at Stewartby.

 

[Giymo85]

I've been here the last couple of Sundays trying to work around the whole place so you beat me to the chase on this one. There is still so much to see and I think you've captured it well mate.

 

[Calamity Jane]

Nicely covered. Youve showcased that well. liking the long panoramic shots. The furnace side has some great industrial bits left. looks massive, and hot no doubt.

 

[Aleesha3]

I love this place, I went there 2 months ago, it took us a few hours to get around, everytime we turned a corner, there were always loads more buildings, amazing report!

 

[Down and beyond]

I love this place, I went there 2 months ago, it took us a few hours to get around, everytime we turned a corner, there were always loads more buildings, amazing report!

Thanks very much it’s only 20 minute drive for me to get their , I imagen it took you a lot longer !

 

[Aleesha3]

Thanks very much it’s only 20 minute drive for me to get their , I imagen it took you a lot longer !

Yeah it was about a 2 hour drive for me haha, or maybe hour and a half, defo would love to go back