GREAT HARWOOD

CLIFFE BRICK WORKS

The unearthing of this brick by Michael Eddleston produced a goodly amount of comment regarding the place of its manufacture in The Great Harwood Appreciation Society so on Sunday, 30th Jan, 2005 me and Mike (or should that be Mike and I) went to have a look.

From "A Guide to the Industrial Archaeology of Great Harwood", Michael Rothwell.
"Cliffe Quarry, Brick and Terra Cotta Co., Ltd., formed 1897 ........ ....... previously worked by Eatough & Greenwood. .......... ........ was short lived and in 1905 the works closed.
Remains: Quarry off Blackburn Old Road, now used for caravan parking."

These photographs show not only the area in which the works were located but maybe the actual kiln in which it was fired. Knowing very little about the making of bricks I await any expert opinion be it either to confirm or contradict what we were told.

The operation seems to have involved workings on both sides of Dean Lane at the junction with Blackburn Old Road and Cliffe Lane.

This field to the east of Dean Lane used to have three 'lodges' the water filled remains of pits where clay had been extracted. Also there was a tunnel beneath Dean Lane through which this material was taken to be processed.

Blackburn Old Road from the end of Dean Lane.
The cricket field is behind the stone wall on the left and the Cliffe Brick Works is behind the higher stone wall on the right.

This bank is the edge of the quarry. The stone is soft shale which could have been used in making bricks. I don't know how but shale can be used in making bricks. Below is a shot from the top of the quarry, which isn't very deep, showing most of its area.

Above, from the north and overgrown, is a dark wall. Below, catching a bit more light, is another wall from the south.

On the east side is the entrance to the 'kiln'

Most of the roof has gone so we could look down into it.
We didn't take any measurements but the gap between the walls was 3 feet or so and the walls a similar thickness.

The walls seem to be of concrete where I'd expected some kind of fire brick but their thickness does suggest a need for insulation.

Left.
Not ghostly figures but light penetrating the undergrowth and coming from the outside through a hole at the bottom of the south wall about half way along.

Below a similar shot but this time with the flash switched on.

You can just make out a tangle of vegetation beneath the two red bricks to the right of shot.
There's obviously been some collapse within the wall but would this have occurred if there hadn't been a hole of some sort to begin with ?
A duct for hot air perhaps ?

Remains of some less substantial walls on the south side of the 'kiln'. If the hole in the wall was a duct maybe this was where the fires were.
In the foreground is the camera shy John Simpson who showed us around.

Below is a photo taken November 2006 after some clearing of vegetation.

Is this a kiln ?

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Last updated 5th May 2005
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