Snowball brick works, Derwenthaugh/Swalwell

[ssnowball]

My search for my family history has now led me to the Snowball brickworks at Derwenthaugh, near Swalwell, where my second great grand uncle, James Snowball (1818-1879) started the manufacture of firebricks, which was continued by his sons George Harrison Snowball (1846-1911) and James Snowball (1850-1911).
The company established a thriving home trade in firebricks but they were also exported to Russia, France and Belgium. They were also exported to California, where they acted as ships ballast. The bricks were dumped on the shoreline and the boats refilled with Californian wheat, for the return trip home. I have just been sent one of the Snowball firebricks from a Californian brick expert!

I'm now after absolutely any information on the closed brickworks, that once occupied the Swalwell (Stourbridge)/Derwenthaugh site. If anyone has any local history, knowledge of the former brick factory site, when both export and production ceased or anything vaguely relevant, I'd be  gratefully appreciative.

Many thanks in anticipation.

Steve Snowball

[stanmapstone]

If you go to http://www.old-maps.co.uk/maps.html and put the coordinates 420335, 563000 in to search you can look at old maps of the area showing the fire brick works that were there. The 1898 map shows four works.

Stan

[mim]

In the publication "Northumberland and Durham An Industrial Miscellany" by N. McCord & D.T. Rowe there is an

illustration of Blaydon Brickworks (page 33) which may be one of the four brick works mentioned on Stan's map

reference.

mim

[ssnowball]

Many thanks for that input! A good start and the maps are particularly interesting.

Steve

[stanmapstone]

There are a number of photographs at http://isee.gateshead.gov.uk/info.php?s=brick+works&type=all&t=objects although none appear to be of of Snowball's

Stan

[ssnowball]

Thanks Stan.
It's a shame that the photos don't show Snowball's firebrick works but I have now been able to identify which yard belonged to the company. I managed to get a photocopy of a old hand drawn map, held in Gateshead Library, when I visited this summer, which showed the various brickworks around Gateshead. Comparing this to the 1898 map you directed me to, I now have now an accurate location of the old Derwenthaugh firebrick works, at least.

Steve

[Fortunet 1]

I stumbled across this quite by accident.   About 11 years ago I worked as a soils engineer, working on a new building in San Francisco. Workers had to dig 3 ft below the deepest proposed footing, in accordance to the soils report recomendation.   
  They exposed an old sewer/storm drain, that was made of bricks. Some were tapered to accomadate the curved radius of the line.   I saved many of those stamped bricks, knowing they were pre 1906 earthquake rubble.   In those bricks were some stamped "Snowball", "Carnegie", "Pluto", and others.
Someone posted a "Carnegie" brick on a motorcycle web site and I did a search on the others, finding your post here.  Isnt that a small world with just using your fingers. DSo I joined this site just to post this.

Additionally I found Chinese opium pipes, porcelin doll parts, glass artifacts, granite head sculptures and more.
As a side note, I viewed the map where Snowball bricks were located. Now I have history & contact with a relative of these bricks.. AMAZING !!

[Jon M]

If this is the brickworks I think it is it made hand made refactory bricks.  I visited it in around 1966.  I had been filming nearby and sadly by the time I got to the site at the end of the day I had used all my film stock filming other industrial sites in the area.  It went out of business in 1975, but before it was demolished a film was made of its working as it was using practices pre dating the industrial revolotion.  The film was made by Amber Films and called Last Shift.  The film, which shows the making of the bricks and the use of a horse worked internal narrow gauge railway system is available from Amber Films on a DVD called the Tyne DOcumantaries.  A terrific DVD.  I think at the end the brickworks might have been part of the Adamsez group.