This was a really good ending to our day trip in Bedfordshire. We went up there with an exploring friend we had made not long before this, and whilst out on our day trip, we bumped into another explorer who was on her own so we invited her to join us for the day. Overall, there was 5 of us and it was really enjoyable.
I understand that so many reports have been done on this so I wont bore you with the same history you've read about 20 times but i'll give the basics.
(Also, taking notes and putting them into my own words was never a strong point for me at school so here you are)
The History -Brickmaking began in Stewartby in 1897. It was originally named 'The Wootton Pillinge' but renamed to 'Stewartby' in 1937 in recognition of the Stewart family who had helped develop the brickworks.
In 1936, Stewartby was recognised at the largest brickworks in the world employing 2,000 people to produce 500 million bricks a year.
The brickworks was home to the worlds biggest kiln and produced 18 millions bricks at the height of production.
In 2008, Stewartby was closed after over 100 years of brickmaking because the owners could not meet UK limits for sulphur dioxide emissions.
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.
The Explore - We saved this location until last as we were confident security was going to be a big challenge, however, no security. Before we realised this, we came in through the back which was way too easy and tiptoed our way to the first building. As we approached the first building, we heard a group of people behind us, it turned out to be a bunch of very young teenage girls. They were so loud and giggly which then made us think theres no security at all because they seemed way too confident in what they were doing. Personally, this ruined the experience for me a bit because the mystery had gone and I realised that this location is obviously used as teenagers hang out spots.
There was a couple of levels in the first building, very dangerous the higher up you go though. You can see the machinery used and if you go to the end, you can see the rail tracks.
We entered a few more buildings, one of them has one of the chimneys built into it, I was walking around the bottom of the chimney for a little while trying to see if we could get in but there was no access. This may be due to the fact that your not actually supposed to go into the chimneys but I dont know.
You could honestly spend the whole day here! Everytime we turned a corner, there was another 5 buildings in site, once you've done them, you then end up spotting another load, it just went on forever. There was the odd couple of buildings we didn't manage to get into but most we did.
Enjoy
I understand that so many reports have been done on this so I wont bore you with the same history you've read about 20 times but i'll give the basics.
(Also, taking notes and putting them into my own words was never a strong point for me at school so here you are)
The History -Brickmaking began in Stewartby in 1897. It was originally named 'The Wootton Pillinge' but renamed to 'Stewartby' in 1937 in recognition of the Stewart family who had helped develop the brickworks.
In 1936, Stewartby was recognised at the largest brickworks in the world employing 2,000 people to produce 500 million bricks a year.
The brickworks was home to the worlds biggest kiln and produced 18 millions bricks at the height of production.
In 2008, Stewartby was closed after over 100 years of brickmaking because the owners could not meet UK limits for sulphur dioxide emissions.
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.
The Explore - We saved this location until last as we were confident security was going to be a big challenge, however, no security. Before we realised this, we came in through the back which was way too easy and tiptoed our way to the first building. As we approached the first building, we heard a group of people behind us, it turned out to be a bunch of very young teenage girls. They were so loud and giggly which then made us think theres no security at all because they seemed way too confident in what they were doing. Personally, this ruined the experience for me a bit because the mystery had gone and I realised that this location is obviously used as teenagers hang out spots.
There was a couple of levels in the first building, very dangerous the higher up you go though. You can see the machinery used and if you go to the end, you can see the rail tracks.
We entered a few more buildings, one of them has one of the chimneys built into it, I was walking around the bottom of the chimney for a little while trying to see if we could get in but there was no access. This may be due to the fact that your not actually supposed to go into the chimneys but I dont know.
You could honestly spend the whole day here! Everytime we turned a corner, there was another 5 buildings in site, once you've done them, you then end up spotting another load, it just went on forever. There was the odd couple of buildings we didn't manage to get into but most we did.
Enjoy
Last edited:
