Brickmaking in Heyford
There seems to have been some degree of brick making in Heyford right throughout the 1800s. This is illustrated by the references below. You can see from these that there were always two or three people employed in brickmaking, but the number seems to have increased sharply during the 1880s. It was probably during this period that brickmaking became more mechanised and that the brickyard in Furnace Lane expanded to become an important industry in the village.

1822 George Baker’s ‘History of Northamptonshire’ mentions Nether Heyford, including a reference to ‘a brick kiln towards Stowe field’.

1827 Bryants map shows some brick kilns just S of the canal and E of the railway

1849 Whellan’s directory lists three brickmakers

1851 Census return lists William Braunston of Brickyard House, aged 50, brick and tile maker. Also Richard Haynes, brick and tile maker

1861 Census lists one brickmaker and one brickyard labourer

1864 Kellys directory lists John Judkins, brickmaker

1869 Kellys directory lists Joseph Johnson, brickmaker

1871 Census lists William Towers of Furnace Road, aged 33, brickmaker

1881 Census lists 7 brickyard labourers

1891 Census lists 16 brickyard labourers

Heyford Brickworks
So from the 1880s until the 1930s Heyford had its own brickworks. It was situated in Furnace Lane, beyond the canal, beside the railway, on the site where Wickes now operates. It was on part of the Heyford Grange Estate owned by the Judkins family. The claypit and brickyard were leased to Henry Martin Ltd of Northampton who employed around 15 men. The only one now left to tell the tale is Bill Nickolls who worked there in his late teens from 1930 until 1934. Bill is now aged 84 and it is to him that we owe our thanks for the memories of the brickworks from that period.

Blood, sweat and tears
The clay, known as blue clay, was only dug during the winter. It was dug directly from the pit by hand using special shovels with extra long cutting blades. The pit which was about thirty feet deep can be seen in the photograph just behind the row of cottages in the background. Before they reached the clay they removed the topsoil and also lumps of lime which could be burnt in the kiln to use for the garden. They started digging at the top and worked downwards. Enough clay could be dug through the winter months to ensure brickmaking through until October. The pay was one shilling per square yard. The clay heap was kept moist by pecking it (making holes into the heap) and watering it.

On Easter Tuesday the workforce was doubled for brickmaking during the summer. The clay was barrowed to the brickmaking machine and put into the mincer. This ground up the clay which was then passed downwards between two sets of rollers and came out in a big slab. From there it was cut into bricks eight at a time, and then into a barrow for taking away.

Sadly one of the men died in the mincing machine. His name was Teddy West. He was a small man, but one of the most committed workers, always first to arrive in the mornings and well respected by all the others. Unfortunately he used to wear a sacking apron which on one occasion became tangled in the machine and he was drawn into it. His death was a shock to them all.

From the brickmaking machine the bricks were taken to the yard and stacked. Here they were covered and left to dry before going into the kiln. The stack was later turned inside out to allow for even drying. The pay for turning was 5d per thousand. Bill Nickolls remembers turning 25,000 in one day, but the record was set by Ron West who turned 30,000.

The kiln was fired by coal. There was a siding off the main railway and so the coal ‘slack’ was brought by train. You can just pick out in the photograph the letters of the LMS truck immediately to the left of the Bricklayers Arms. It took ten tons of coal to start the kiln and so once it had been started it was kept going twenty-four hours a day. The kiln consisted of a number of cavities joined by holes and so the fire went from one to another. The clay bricks were put into the kiln, baked, and then taken away red hot for stacking in the yard.

It was hard work. All the pay was piecework. The brick-making process was continuous and all men had to keep up the pace to ensure a smooth flow of work. Bill Chapman, George Record and Bill Watson were wagon fillers in the pit. Feeding in the clay on the top of the brickmaking machine was Bob Sargeant. At the bottom on brick cutting was Reg Matthews. There were three ‘runners away’, that is taking the clay bricks from the machine – Bill Goodman, Bert Oliver, and Bill Nickolls. At the top of the kiln were the brick burners Henry Allen and ]o Collins. ‘Runners-in’ to the kiln were Bill Nickolls and Ron West (Teddy’s son), and there were two ‘drawers’ jack Nickolls (Bill’s brother) and Bill Nightingale to take the fired bricks away.

The Brickworks and Bricklayers Arms in the 1930s

Note the clay pit between the chimneys just beyond the rooftops in the distance. You can also pick out an LMS railway wagon just to the left of the Bricklayers Arms.

Local buildings
Heyford bricks Were used in a number of local buildings. This included the four sets of four council houses in Furnace Lane built in the 1920s and the three pairs of semis lower down on the other side. All these Were built by Mr Denny. Other bricks went further afield. There was a contract with Pratts for half a million per year. These were taken by horse and cart and loaded onto a narrowboat for shipment down the canal to Watford. 3” bricks sold for 38s per thousand and 2 5/ 8” for 45s.

The closure
In 1938 some of the men agitated for an increase in wages but Henry Martins either wouldn’t or couldn’t pay.  He decided instead to close the brickworks and so brickmaking in Heyford came to an end. The site was sold to Mr Beck who owned Heyford Hills although he never developed it. It was used during the War by Weedon Barracks for sorting war goods returned from the front. Then some time after the war a cinder track was laid for holding bicycle races. In the late 1950s the pits were filled in with waste from the building of the M1. In 1965 some factory units were built on it and since then it has been used for light engineering and warehousing.

The same view in the 1990s

Instead of the clay pit you can now see the roof of the warehousing at Wickes.
The Bricklayers Arms has had its top storey removed and is now a private dwelling.

Stephen Ferneyhough

~~

Extract from “The Story of Heyford” – Local book series published in the late 1990’s

Volume 2 of 4 | Chapter 8 of 11 | Pages 19 to 21

Heyford’s Historical Heritage  |  How the books were created

Index  |  Covers

The Crawley dynasty and the struggle between the high church and protestantism.

Much of the information in this article came from the PhD thesis written by Alan Horsley in 1985 entitled ‘The Crawleys’. Alan Horsley had been Rector of Heyford and Stowe-Nine-Churches from 1971-1978. Other information was provided by local people.

For the entire nineteenth century the parish churches of Heyford and Stowe were run by the Crawley family. The Crawley dynasty began when Charles Crawley became Rector of Stowe in 1789. He was descended from Sir Francis Crawley of Luton, born in 1584, who had been a loyal supporter of Charles l in the struggle between monarchical high churchmanship and puritan parliamentarianism. Charles was one of the early members of the Oxford Movement, a clerical movement which developed the principles of High Church and which had a significant influence on religious thinking during the Victorian era.

The family settles in Heyford and Stowe

The family connection with Stowe began in the year 1717 when Charles Crawley’s great grandfather John Lloyd bought the advowson of Stowe lX Churches for £1,055. john Lloyd’s grandson, Rev John Lloyd became rector of Stowe IX Churches and Heyford until his death in 1788. In 1789 Charles Crawley (Rev John Lloyd’s nephew) became rector of Stowe IX churches and Henry Jephcott became rector of Heyford.

Charles Crawley remained rector of Stowe until his death in 1849 at the age of 95. He set high standards for his church with two services on Sundays, both with sermons. This was at a time when most churches had only one service, or even only once a fortnight, or not at all in bad weather.

In 1800 Henry Jephcott died and Charles’ nephew John Lloyd Crawley became rector of Heyford at the age of 25. He remained at Heyford until his death in 1850. Therefore both Stowe and Heyford were now being run by the Crawley family with their strong High Church principles.

Lord of the Manor

However this was at a time when Protestantism was gathering popularity in the area. Until 1759 the two manors of Upper and Lower Heyford were largely in Catholic hands. With Thomas Morgan the manor house at Upper Heyford was a Catholic centre from 1558 to 1604. Although the manor house at Upper Heyford fell into decay during the Commonwealth period the property remained in Catholic hands until 1758 when the estates were sold in lots by public auction.

The manor house at Lower Heyford was bought by Henry Jephcott and passed to John Lloyd Crawley on his death in 1800. So John Lloyd Crawley was both rector and Lord of the Manor. However his influence was limited because the manor house came with only 30 acres. Because the catholic estates had been broken up into small lots, there were several landlords in the area, each with power to exert religious and political views of their own.

Tensions between High Church and Non-Conformism

Throughout the 1700s and 1800s there was a growth of Protestantism. The Quaker movement had been established in 1649 and meeting houses were opened in Flore in 1678 and Bugbrooke in 1692. In the absence of any strong High Church landlords, non conformism was able to flourish. Towards the end of the 1700s Baptism and Methodism were developing. The Baptist chapel opened in Heyford in 1826 and the Methodist one in 1835. Therefore the Crawley family had come into an area saturated with Protestantism.

The Rectory

The Rectory was built in 1851 by the Crawley family. It was used as the Rectory until 1969 when it was sold, and the new Rectory built within its former garden.

In 1849 Charles Crawley died at the age of 95. He was succeeded by one of john Lloyd’s sons Henry who remained rector of Stowe until 1895. In 1850 john Lloyd died and was succeeded at Heyford by one of his other sons Thomas. So for a second generation, both churches continued to be run by the Crawleys.

The Rectory at Heyford was built in 1851 and Thomas lived there rather than at the manor house. Thomas, who was born in 1815, remained rector at Heyford until his death in 1897. He continued all the principles of high church that had for so long been a part of his own family values. However there remained tensions between the church and the growing number of non-conformists in the village. These tensions are well illustrated by the following story.

Under pressure from the non-conformists, an act of parliament in 1847 made provision for the establishment of cemeteries. However, in practice it was often many years before they were opened. Meanwhile only the parish churchyards were available. All Englishmen had the right to be buried there but only a Church of England clergyman could officiate. The prayer book of 1662 dictated that if the deceased person died upbaptised ‘the order for the burial of the dead’ should not be used. Therefore the Baptist tradition involving baptism in adulthood rather than at birth meant that those who died young, before baptism could take place, could not be considered Christians.

Frederick William Marsh was born in 1876, the third son of Alfred and Emma Marsh. They were a Baptist family. He died, aged 11 in 1887. The saying ‘the sun shines on the righteous’ ‘comes from the fact that the sun travels from east to west across the churchyard with the south side receiving most of the sun. ‘Good Christians’ were buried on the sunny side. Those considered less so were often buried on the North side where less sun reached. A grave was selected for Alfred Marsh on the very north-east edge of the graveyard, often thought of as the devil’s corner. The burial laws amendment act of 1880 allowed Baptist ministers to preside at such burials. However for reasons we don’t know, the service on this occasion was conducted by Thomas Crawley. ‘It is commonly asserted in the village that he conducted the service over the walls of the rectory garden next door’.

This same story was recounted to me by Bob Browning in 1996, only a year or so before he died. Bob was born in 1892 and was a grandson of Alfred Marsh. Frederick William was the uncle that he never knew. Quite why Frederick William was not buried in the newly established cemetery, we don’t know. The Lychgate was built in 1885, but perhaps the ground inside hadn’t been fully prepared. Bob told me that Alfred Marsh was so incensed by the treatment of his grandson that he took a leading role in getting the cemetery established.

The end of an era

Thomas Crawley died on 12th May 1897 and was buried in the Crawley vault in the graveyard. Bob Browning told me that there were seven coffins in the vault, three either side and one across the top. Access to it was down a few steps, and when the last coffin was placed inside it was bricked up. The vault is on the east side of the graveyard but is unmarked by a gravestone.

Thomas was succeeded at Heyford by Rev Henry Isham Longden. His brother Henry, who had been Rector of Stowe had died two years previously in 1895. The Bishop of Leicester, in a letter to Henry Isham Longden on his appointment at Heyford, wrote:

“Dear Mr Longden,

I am happy to hear you are coming again to the Northamptonshire Archdeaconry. I wish I could be present at Heyford at your institution, but I fear that will not be possible for me on Oct. 26th.

The Crawley brothers were very peculiar men – men of good connection and of high minded-principles and cf the old Churchmanship well known to them before the Oxford movement ever began! The Rector of Stowe 9 Churches upon a stout cob carried ‘the Tracts for the Times’ about the Country as they came out: with his own comments upon them to the less instructed clergy. Your predecessors son is now his uncle’s successor at Stowe, and will know much about Heyford of course. I have often been there, and I much admired both brothers, though their views were far behind the times for practical application.

With renewed good wishes,

Believe me, Very truly yours, F. H. Leicester”

So for the entire nineteenth century Heyford and Stowe churches had been run by the Crawley family. Although none of the succeeding rectors at Heyford have been Crawleys, the Crawley patronage of the church continues. In 1977 a festival and pilgrimage around the two parishes was organised in recognition of the family’s enormous contribution to the life of the Church of England, both at local and national level.

Stephen Ferneyhough, with very many thanks to Alan Horsley’s thesis

~~

Extract from “The Story of Heyford” – Local book series published in the late 1990’s

Volume 2 of 4 | Chapter 2 of 11 | Pages 3 to 5

Heyford’s Historical Heritage  |  How the books were created

Index  |  Covers

Do you remember . . . .
– Ben’s Orchard, and scrumping therein?
– The orchard on the Manor grounds, opposite Ben’s orchard (harder to get into for scrumping)?
– The dutch barn next to the orchard where the apples, having been scrumped, were eaten?
By the way, who was Ben?

~~

Extract from “The Story of Heyford” – Local book series published in the late 1990’s

Volume 1 of 4 | Chapter 13 of 13 | Page 32

Heyford’s Historical Heritage  |  How the books were created

Index  |  Covers