Staveley Coal & Iron Co.
Until only recently, 2012, the land adjoining Barrow Hill Roundhouse was occupied by a brickworks. Indeed many of the photographs we have in our collection feature the two chimneys as a notable backdrop to the visiting engines.
Here then is a brief history of the site reproduced with kind permission of the author, Martyn Fretwell. I would encourage you to visit his website where the article can be seen in its original form and the works can be viewed in context with the industry as a whole.
Staveley
Staveley bricks were made by the Staveley Coal & Iron Co. at it's brickworks at Barrows Hill, Staveley. The works had been built in 1929 & were in operation in the early 1930's on the former Campbell Colliery site & was known as the Campbell Brickworks. Originally the company made engineering bricks for their own use, then in later years demand for their high quality "Staveley Pressed Brick" were being used in many large building & civil contacts throughout the Midlands.
I have found during my research that the village of Barrow Hill where most of the workers who worked at both the iron & brick works lived was built & named after Richard Barrow, founder & owner of the Staveley Coal & Iron Company between 1840 & 1865. A painting of Richard Barrow which is at Chesterfield Museum can be seen at this link.
Photo from Chesterfield Museum Collection.
The kilns & railway sidings at the works. Looks like they have just received a fresh delivery of coal.
In 1960 the Staveley C. & I. Co. was taken over by Stewarts & Lloyds & was merged with the Stanton Ironworks Co. forming Stanton & Staveley. Then in 1967 Stewarts & Lloyds became part of the nationalised British Steel Corporation & the Campbell Brickworks was sold off to Innes Lee Industries in 1971. The two kilns at the brickworks were built in 1929 & 1931 & were coal fired until 1973 when they were converted to natural gas.
Four photos of the works in action from the company's advertising pamphlet.
Then in 1988 Innes Lee Industries sold Campbell & another brickworks in Scunthorpe to the Tarmac Group. With the recession & demand for bricks at an all time low the Campbell Brickworks was closed with the loss of 52 jobs in 1992.
All was not lost at the Campbell Brickworks, the saviour of the Works was an ex-management buy-out & the Phoenix Brick Co. was born & I cover that works next.
A very detailed account of the Staveley/Campbell Brickworks can be read at this link. On pages 4 to 8.
http://britishbricksoc.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/BBS_125_2013_Dec_.pdf
Phoenix Brick Co.
As wrote in the Staveley entry, the Phoenix Brick Co. was formed through an ex-works management buy-out headed by Philip Taylor in partnership with Fitzwise from the Tarmac Group & was up & running in 1993. Now running the kilns on methane gas from landfill with natural gas as a back up, the works successfully produced a wide range of bricks including once again, pressed bricks. Phoenix continued until another recession hit & the works finally closed on the 31st of December 2012.
Photo by Simon Patterson.
Simon took this photo on a cold winters day in December of 2009.
Four photographs of the works in 2010 taken by Maria Barnes of Chesterfield Museum during her visit to the works for a Museum project titled " Made in Chesterfield" which was displayed in the Museum in 2010.
I wish to thank the following people for their help in this post.
Mike Chapman & the British Brick Society.
Maria Barnes & Amanda Brassington at Chesterfield Museum for supplying me with photos & information. https://www.chesterfield.gov.uk/museum
Simon Patterson - Campbell Brickworks photo.
A video of the demolition of the chimneys (12th Dec.2013) can be seen at this link. Please note that there is an advert before the video starts.
http://www.derbyshiretimes.co.uk/news/iconic-barrow-hill-chimneys-demolished-1-6314701