Evening guys,
My first explore of 2010, and managed to persuade my girlfriend to come along for her first ever explore. This site has been done before, and you will find plenty of other reports with a more comprehensive history.
We had a brief encounter with the authorities who were patrolling inside the site in a car! They spotted us a few metres away; we waved back and they left us alone
History
The first brick manufacturer on the site was B J Forder & Son in 1897 near the village of Wootton Pillinge.
By the late 1920s the company was bought by Sir Malcolm Stewart who began work on a new model village ‘Stewartby’ which was named after him.
The site was most famous for having the world’s largest kiln, and produced 18million bricks at the height of its production.
The site was finally forced to close in 2008, after years of downsizing and cut backs, as it was unable to meet the UK limits for sulphur dioxide.
Today
The site is due for demolition, as too were the iconic chimneys, however these have been saved by a local campaign and been awarded Grade II listing.
The plan for the site is... housing.
The clay dust was grounded and filtered on the top floor, before falling into hoppers:
Below the clay dust conveyor, where the dust was stored in hoppers ready for pressing:
The press shed, where the ckay dust was pressed into bricks:
The conveyor over the railway which transported freshly pressed bricks ready to be stacked and kilned
On top of the southern kiln, where coal dust was shovelled through small openings to regulate the temperature of the fire.
The southern kiln's famous 'stewartby chimney':
I thought it was only Americans who referred to electricity as 'alive':
Regards,
My first explore of 2010, and managed to persuade my girlfriend to come along for her first ever explore. This site has been done before, and you will find plenty of other reports with a more comprehensive history.
We had a brief encounter with the authorities who were patrolling inside the site in a car! They spotted us a few metres away; we waved back and they left us alone
History
The first brick manufacturer on the site was B J Forder & Son in 1897 near the village of Wootton Pillinge.
By the late 1920s the company was bought by Sir Malcolm Stewart who began work on a new model village ‘Stewartby’ which was named after him.
The site was most famous for having the world’s largest kiln, and produced 18million bricks at the height of its production.
The site was finally forced to close in 2008, after years of downsizing and cut backs, as it was unable to meet the UK limits for sulphur dioxide.
Today
The site is due for demolition, as too were the iconic chimneys, however these have been saved by a local campaign and been awarded Grade II listing.
The plan for the site is... housing.
The clay dust was grounded and filtered on the top floor, before falling into hoppers:
Below the clay dust conveyor, where the dust was stored in hoppers ready for pressing:
The press shed, where the ckay dust was pressed into bricks:
The conveyor over the railway which transported freshly pressed bricks ready to be stacked and kilned
On top of the southern kiln, where coal dust was shovelled through small openings to regulate the temperature of the fire.
The southern kiln's famous 'stewartby chimney':
I thought it was only Americans who referred to electricity as 'alive':
Regards,
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