History of Brickmaking in the Environs of Haxby
In common with many places in the Vale of York, Haxby is situated on layers of clay, sand and gravel. Over the centuries these materials have been used in the construction of buildings and the manufacture of pottery. Brickmaking is one of the industries that has developed in this area. There are many early records of bricks being made and used.
The Romans used bricks for their buildings in Eboracum. Roman brick kilns have been found in the Peasholme Green area of York. It is thought that brickmaking continued until at least the 3rd Century and possibly longer.
To this day Roman bricks can be seen on a corner tower of the ancient Roman wall in the Museum Gardens and in the Roman pillar found in the undercroft of the Minster. Roman bricks and tiles have been found in various places in and near York including tiles
found in the masonry of Askham Bryan church (Smith 2004).
The find of interest to Haxby people is the Roman tile found in 1966 in a drainage ditch at Grange Farm, Crossmoor Lane, Haxby. There is speculation that a villa may have been there.
Evidence of brickmaking after the Romans left our shores is sparse. It is not until 1379 that it is recorded again. The poll tax list for York that year includes Willelmus Watson, tyghler (Cowling 2001).
In 1563 'clay pytts' are mentioned in a document concerning lease of land in York at Hob Moor (Smith 2004).
In 1620, not far from Haxby, Thomas Baites, a brickmaker from Clifton, agreed to make 100,000 bricks for the building of New Parks, a
substantial house near Easingwold, said to have been a royal hunting lodge (Mennim 1995).
There is no doubt that brickmaking was being established- maybe not for the small houses but certainly for more notable buildings.
Brickmaking usually develops where there is a lack of readily accessible stone and a shortage of local timber. This would be the case here. The Forest of Galtres was becoming smaller and smaller and people were no longer being allowed to gather wood as they had in the past.
Before the late 17th Century most of the small houses were still being made with timber — using a few wooden beams with the walls
constructed of interlaced twigs smeared with mud, (the process known as wattle and daub). Now the chimneys and sometimes the gable ends were starting to be built in brick. There was a need for bricks and with transport being difficult in those days local brickmaking was being developed.
There are records of several brickfields in the Haxby area from around the late and early 19 th Centuries but they may have been here earlier.
There was one at Suet Carr (Mennim 1995) on the way to Sutton on the Forest possibly on the site of what is now 'The Terracotta Centre' on the B1363 and there was another one north of there on Hinterlands Common (Mennim 1995) to the north east of the Sutton Road.
There was another brickfield at the side of the Foss Navigation near Sheriff Hutton Bridge (Mitchell 2000). The bricks were possibly being needed for the building of the new canalisation of the River Foss.
A brickyard at the end of The Village in Strensall, near the railway, was still in operation until the late 1950s and there still is a brickyard in Alne specialising in the manufacture of tiles.
A brickworks was established in 1902 in New Earswick to make the bricks for the new houses of the Joseph Rowntree Village. In the 1920s Roman artefacts were discovered there and there is speculation that this may also be the site of a Roman tilery. The area is now a nature reserve.
York itself had many brick works notably at Hob Moor and other parts of Dringhouses, Heworth, Layerthorpe, Acomb and several in Lawrence Street.
Romano British Kiln
These kilns were used during the Roman occupation of Britain between the 1st and 4th Centuries AD. This photograph shows one of a group of 20 similar kilns found at Wattisford near Bury Sy Edmunds in Suffolk. They can still be seen on display at Henry Watson's Potteries in Wattisford. The pots or bricks would be packed inside. A dome would have been formed of slabs of wet clay and grass. The kiln would have been fired with wood and brushwood to around 900 degrees centigrade. Similar Roman kilns would have been used in the York area.
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The Romans used bricks for their buildings in Eboracum. Roman brick kilns have been found in the Peasholme Green area of York. It is thought that brickmaking continued until at least the 3rd Century and possibly longer.
To this day Roman bricks can be seen on a corner tower of the ancient Roman wall in the Museum Gardens and in the Roman pillar found in the undercroft of the Minster. Roman bricks and tiles have been found in various places in and near York including tiles
found in the masonry of Askham Bryan church (Smith 2004).
The find of interest to Haxby people is the Roman tile found in 1966 in a drainage ditch at Grange Farm, Crossmoor Lane, Haxby. There is speculation that a villa may have been there.
Evidence of brickmaking after the Romans left our shores is sparse. It is not until 1379 that it is recorded again. The poll tax list for York that year includes Willelmus Watson, tyghler (Cowling 2001).
In 1563 'clay pytts' are mentioned in a document concerning lease of land in York at Hob Moor (Smith 2004).
In 1620, not far from Haxby, Thomas Baites, a brickmaker from Clifton, agreed to make 100,000 bricks for the building of New Parks, a
substantial house near Easingwold, said to have been a royal hunting lodge (Mennim 1995).
There is no doubt that brickmaking was being established- maybe not for the small houses but certainly for more notable buildings.
Brickmaking usually develops where there is a lack of readily accessible stone and a shortage of local timber. This would be the case here. The Forest of Galtres was becoming smaller and smaller and people were no longer being allowed to gather wood as they had in the past.
Before the late 17th Century most of the small houses were still being made with timber — using a few wooden beams with the walls
constructed of interlaced twigs smeared with mud, (the process known as wattle and daub). Now the chimneys and sometimes the gable ends were starting to be built in brick. There was a need for bricks and with transport being difficult in those days local brickmaking was being developed.
There are records of several brickfields in the Haxby area from around the late and early 19 th Centuries but they may have been here earlier.
There was one at Suet Carr (Mennim 1995) on the way to Sutton on the Forest possibly on the site of what is now 'The Terracotta Centre' on the B1363 and there was another one north of there on Hinterlands Common (Mennim 1995) to the north east of the Sutton Road.
There was another brickfield at the side of the Foss Navigation near Sheriff Hutton Bridge (Mitchell 2000). The bricks were possibly being needed for the building of the new canalisation of the River Foss.
A brickyard at the end of The Village in Strensall, near the railway, was still in operation until the late 1950s and there still is a brickyard in Alne specialising in the manufacture of tiles.
A brickworks was established in 1902 in New Earswick to make the bricks for the new houses of the Joseph Rowntree Village. In the 1920s Roman artefacts were discovered there and there is speculation that this may also be the site of a Roman tilery. The area is now a nature reserve.
York itself had many brick works notably at Hob Moor and other parts of Dringhouses, Heworth, Layerthorpe, Acomb and several in Lawrence Street.
Romano British Kiln
These kilns were used during the Roman occupation of Britain between the 1st and 4th Centuries AD. This photograph shows one of a group of 20 similar kilns found at Wattisford near Bury Sy Edmunds in Suffolk. They can still be seen on display at Henry Watson's Potteries in Wattisford. The pots or bricks would be packed inside. A dome would have been formed of slabs of wet clay and grass. The kiln would have been fired with wood and brushwood to around 900 degrees centigrade. Similar Roman kilns would have been used in the York area.
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