Littleborough from Cleggswood Hill
Pipe and Tile Works
Whilst some works concentrated on Bick Manufacture - see here, others also produced sanitary pies and chimney pots as well including Rake Brickworks and Hall and Rodgers. Whittaker Pottery had quite a large range of manufactured products from bricks, pipes to architectural items.
Starring and Tetlows were one that were known for their pipe making and developed to meet the growing world wide demand for Sanitary pipes - see below
Public Health and the growing requirement for Sanitary Pipes
Cholera first came to this country in 1832 , with 4 major out-brakes in the 19th Century killing around 120,000 people mainly women and children as menfolk tended to drink beer (brewing killed the bacteria). Cholera is typically a water-borne disease (established by John Snow in 1854) and was prevalent in urban areas where it spread due to high density, poor contaminated communal water supplies and inadequate sewerage systems.
The UK Public Health Acts of1848, 1872 and 1875 sought to deal with the squalor and disease by establishing a codes of sanitary laws to improve public health by tackling street cleaning, refuse collection, water supplies and sewage/drainage systems. Street paving and slum clearance began over this period. Under the 1872 Act each
local Authority had to appoint a Medical Officer of Health. The later 1875 Act consolidated previous Act and provided a comprehensive code for Public health leading to the building of sewers and sewage works in Littleborough the first sewers had been discussed for Hare Hill Rd in 1872 whilst the building of Littleborough's Sewage Works on Stubley Mill Lane its junction with New St was almost complete in 1889. Extensions happened over the years with a major works extension completed completed just before the start of WW2. In the late 1960s it was decided to link Littleborough's sewers into Rochdale's' Sewage works but the scheme took many years to complete such that the cleared site of the Littleborough's works was not put up for sale until 1991. The other positive act of the improvements to public health was the development of pipe works, some mentioned earlier with the main works detailed below.
Another aspect of the Acts was the requirement for each Local Authority's Medical Officer of Health sending an annual report to Central Government. LHAS has almost a full set of the produced by Littleborough's reports downloaded from the internet plus some original saved locally. together they show haw Water closets became much more popular and 'early in life' mortality rates (excluding the wars) reduced over time as the population's health improved.
Sanitary Pipes of various sizes at Starring Pottery (left)
Part of brochure published by Starring Pottery (right)
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Starring Pottery
Although actually located just outside of Littleborough being located just north of Birch Hill Hospital (previously the Union Workhouse of the late 20th Century. What was known as Starring Pottery was that opened by Ralph Ashwood in 1868, later becoming a limited company in 1872 in order to obtain extra capital to extend the works. Ralph Ashworth & Co Ltd went bankrupt in 1905 but was saved by the Dronsfield Family. They kept the Ralph Ashworth & Co name and through their leadership the company prospered with a successful export market, However, production ceased during WW2 and the works was finally demolished in the 1960s. 1961 OS maps (surveyed during 1959/1960). Still showed much of the works intact
The works had 5 to 7 kilns over its life with them clustered around the main production factory. As mentioned earlier, the works had an extensive tramway system taking products from factory to kiln and from kiln to the large stockyards. Coal and Clay came from the Company's own pit which was linked into the tramway.
The Company specialised in salt glazed stoneware pipes and fittings (see pictures above, right and below() but also manufactured bricks, tiles and boiler blocks etc
Whittaker Brickworks & Pottery
Although there are scant visible remains, underneath the grassy banks and level areas many important features do remain which the Society discovered through a number of seasons of excavation. However, much is still to be found! This page covers the works
History
The first mention of a brickworks was in 1755 when a John Stott released his Whittaker Farm to Isaac & Thomas Lees which also included Pottery Sheds etc. The works was located in a field known locally called “The Backside”, next the road from Rough to Whittaker Hamlet. The site included a coal pit and coke oven which is shown on the 1851 OS map just south of Salmon Well. Nearby were other collieries and the area around Whittaker was well known (at the time for goodly supplies of Clay and Water. The site today consists of a relatively flat area upon which the works was located. Part of the brickworks was situated on the land previously occupied by the Coke Ovens (partly cut into the hillside), others adjacent to a leat constructed to bring water to the site. Other sections of the works were located on a levelled tip.
