Bricks have no doubt been made in Market Lavington for a very long time. The gault clay at the north end of the parish made this a good site for such an enterprise and a brickworks was set up at Broadway which came to be close to the railway line. During much of the second half of the nineteenth century the brickworks was owned and run by members of the Box family but the local firm of Holloways took it on at the very end of the nineteenth century.
There is no obvious early connection between the George family, who were based in South London, and our parish of Market Lavington. Albert married his wife, Matilda, in 1905 at Wandsworth. They moved to Market Lavington between the birth of Frank (1907 in Clapham, South London) and Amy (1910, Lavington). By 1911 the family were all in Market Lavington and living at Broadway House which was where brickworks owners and, later, managers lived. Albert was the brickworks manager.
Four further children, Mary, John, Margaret and Thomas were born to the George family in Market Lavington.
But here we will consider the oldest of the children, Frank who married Amy Potter. Frank and Amy had two daughters, Barbara and Geraldine. It is the three ladies of that family who feature in today’s photo, which dates from around 1948. By then, the brickworks had closed.
It is a scene which would horrify health and safety buffs today, as the three people apparently ride a truck that was once used to transport clay from quarry to works.
A scene at Market Lavington brickworks in about 1948 - a photo at Market Lavington Museum
close up on Barbara, Amy and Geraldine George in the brickworks wagon
If you have tales to tell about the old brickworks or the George family we’d be delighted to hear from you.
Tags: brick, industry, Market Lavington, Museum
Market Lavington Museum 
March 18, 2015 at 7:42 am |
In 1951 my father Glyn Young took up a teaching post at Dauntseys School.
My parents rented No 1 Cornbury Farm Cottages, Gore Cross from Robert Hooper for a time whilst they looked for somewhere to buy. One house they looked at was the Brickworks House in The Broadway but its poor condition and the proximity of the clay pit (my safety I presume) caused them not to purchase. Eventually a plot was purchased in Pagnell Lane, Littleton Pannell and our family home was built there. The bricks for that were made by the London Brick Company Ltd and were very hard compared to the Market Lavington product which was unfortunately no longer made – fact bemoaned by HJ Sainsbury’s bricklayer Jack Crittle who built all the brickwork.
March 18, 2015 at 9:46 am |
Lovely memories John. Thanks for sharing them