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Summary

A brickyard was established here by the later 19th century.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses: none recorded

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• BRICKYARD (Unknown date)

Full description

Exeter Archaeology, 2001, Archaeological Assessment of Proposed Development at Cowley Moor, Tiverton, 5-6; Fig 5 (Report - Assessment). SDV350629.

The early history of the brickyard has not been fully determined. An 1840 directory lists James Sparkes as a brickmaker at Towns End . In 1841-2, one of the Cowley Moor fields was named 'Western Meadow & Clay Pit', a1though the field in which the brickworks came to be established was then said to be under arable cultivation, while the field in which Brickyard Cottages were built was an orchard. This suggests that, at this date, the clay was being moved to a site nearer the town for firing. However, the presence of two brick moulders at Cowley Moor in 1851 suggests that the kilns were present by that date. Confirmation of a brickyard on the site is provided by a plan and book of reference of 1874, deposited in connection with the railway extension up the Exe Valley, which record the presence of brick kilns and drying sheds.
One plan has been located that shows the actual buildings within the brickyard, this being the 1874 amended plan of the Tiverton to Morebath Junction railway. Plot No. 52 in Tiverton Parish was said to comprise 'Cartway, Allotment Gardens, Piggeries, Brick Kilns, Drying Sheds, Store rooms and waste lands', but because the buildings were not separately identified it is not possible to be certain of the function of each. The brickyard was by then owned by James Sparkes' trustees, including his widow. It appears to have had a limited life and is not shown on the 1842 Tithe Map, but in a directory published two years later James Sparkes was listed as a brick and tile maker, at Town's End . The buildings appear to have been removed by 1886-7, when the area was surveyed by the Ordnance Survey for the 1890 map. At the time of the walkover survey the field contained long grass and there were no obvious visible remains of the former brickyard.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV6073 - Walkover Survey at Cowley Moor, Tiverton

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