Book: Coal, cotton and chemicals: the industrial archaeology of Clayton

Clayton has attracted surprisingly little attention from historians, and yet this historic manor has a fascinating heritage.  The medieval heart of the are was focused on Clayton Hall, a moated manor house that originated in the 12th century.  This was set in a sparsely populated rural landscape beyond the eastern fringe of Manchester until the mid 19th century, when Clayton was transfomed into an important industrial area, and developed a reputation as a key centre for the production of chemicals, essential to numerous other industries.  This booklet recounts the rich history of Clayton, and summarises the archaeological excavations carried out in 2010-12 at two of the principal chemical works, together with a textile mill, a colliery and a suite of workers' housing.

 

This booklet has a lot of details about Clayton's Fire Brick Works and is number 9 in the Greater Manchester's Past Revealed series.  The booklet costs £5.00 and the ISBN is 9781907686146.  A search on the Web brought up no details as to how to get hold of the publication, but it was published by Oxford Archaeology North.

Further information can be found about the Fire Brick Works on the Old Bricks: England website.  Click here, and then scroll down to Williams, Bradford, Manchester.