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The former Aldershot County High School playing field (about eight acres) that lies to the south–west of Brickfields Country Park has now been developed for housing, accessed from Boxalls Lane the site is known as Highfield Park.  The developer was required to landscape two acres on the east side of the site, as a general recreation area for public use, and so this new bit of parkland was created and has now become an integral part of Brickfields Country Park, an nett increase in the area that The Friends of Brickfields Country Park help to manage.

The old "Water Board"[1] site south of Boxalls Lane has now finally been built on leaving just a few of the original pump buildings from the site, this means that Brickfields Country Park is now completely surrounded by housing.

A Georgie Kemp's Red, click for a larger imageFollowing an appeal for information in the Farnham Herald in January 2003, we were contacted by Mr. Les Graham, a Brick Carver, who was volunteering with the Rural Life Museum at Tilford.  He had found in their second hand book stall at the Museum, a sales book for an auction sale in March 1881 at the "Aldershot Brick and Tile Works" (Company #7429, 1873)[2].  Mr. J. Alfred Eggar (an estate agent of Castle Street Farnham), under instruction by Mr. Fredrick Eggar (possible owner?) offered for sale the "Surplus Stock of The Aldershot Brick and Tile Works".  Listing all of the lots in the auction, the purchasers and amounts paid, the book lists nearly 600 lots totalling £109:2s, a very large sum for those days.  This book and a Gazetteer of brickworks in North Hampshire[3], have been passed onto us to add to our archives.

We have since found on the web, another auction sale document for May 1881 from a book entitled "Aldershot, a pictorial review" from the Aldershot Military Museum.  This document lists a sale of the "Lease, Goodwill, Plant & Machinery and 22 acres of Land", and was again offered for sale by auction by Mr. J. Alfred Eggar, with the sale to be held at the (Auction) Mart, Tokenhouse Road, London.  We have been in contact with the Military Museum to obtain a copy but it appears it no longer exists, so for now we have re–created the document and it can be seen from the links below along with a copy of the original.

So we have an auction sale of surplus stock in March, and then in May another auction of the site contents, 1881 was possibly not a good year in the history of the Aldershot Brick and Tile Works.

Cont....

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  1. From – www.hants.gov.uk/hampshiretreasures/vol03/page201.html -
    "Waterworks, Boxalls Lane.  Aldershot's first waterworks.  Bore holes sunk circa 1875, gave a capacity of 100,000 gallons a day.  Red brick house of 1900.  Pump house converted into offices.  Many bore–holes still in use, diesel operated.  Spacious park grounds with lines of Lombardy Poplars.  (Most of the "park grounds" has now been developed for housing). SU 863 493, Card 0102 12."
    Unfortunately Hampshire C.C. has taken down the "Hampshire Treasures" section of its website, so all the contents of this useful on–line resource about Hampshire's past has been lost. [back] [top]

  2. From the National National archives – Company No: 7429; Aldershot Brick and Tile Works Company Ltd.  Incorporated in 1873.  Dissolved before 1916. [back] [top]

  3. A Gazetteer of Brick and Tile Manufacturing sites in North East Hampshire, compiled by A. Wright 1980.  As of 2003 a new updated version of the Gazetteer is available from the North East Hampshire Historical & Archaeological Society, The Treasurer, 1 Longmead, Fleet, Hampshire GU52 7TR.  Cost £5.00 + £1.50 postage.  Cheques should be payable to "North East Hants Historical & Archaeological Society". [back] [top]

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