1869

1898-1979
The main brickyard of Blythe and Sons, established by J C Blythe in 1898. During the 1950s the yard produced an average 200,000 bricks per week, mostly facing bricks. They were burned in 17 Newcastle kilns.

A two-storey red brick terrace. Built in phases flanking Town End Farm (HER 8606). Nos. 7 to 10 were built by 1898. Nos 1 to 6 and Nos. 16 to 18 are slightly later. The later houses have bay windows. There used to be a uniform boundary wall with railings, now replaced by an adhoc mixture of boundaries. The houses have generous offshots to the rear. Only three properties have added rooflights. Porches survive, painted white. Nearly all the sash windows have been replaced. Attractive open setting to the south.

Victorian suburban street. A late 19th century terrace of Sunderland Cottages which gently step down to the junction with Mundles Lane. Rooms have been created in the roofspace of Nos. 1 to 7 and dormers added. This decreases their intrinsic historic interest. Nos. 8 to 12 have no dormers but a few have rooflights. All windows and a few roofs have been replaced. Some window openings have been enlarged.

A late Victorian terrace of shops and houses. Somewhat spoilt by masonry paint, replacement windows and reduced chimneys. No. 7 has an original shopfront.

A late Victorian terrace of Sunderland Cottages. They have large sloping dormers (probably original) and are richly detailed with shaped chimneys, bay windows and deeply bracketed eaves over the front doors. They step down the slope in pairs and are raised up behind steps and small gardens with original walls but no railings. No. 29 has original windows.

Raised up behind the boundary wall of South Farm (HER 8572) this is a small 20th century old men's recreation rooms. Brick with a large swept slate roof. Converted into a furniture sales room.

1925-1963
St Bede’s brickworks stood about 1/3 mile south of Station Lane and operated from 1925-1963. It made field drainage pipes and special bricks such as bullnoses and half-round bricks for wall tops. The yard had nine Newcastle kilns. The drying flats were steam-heated.

1858-1978, T Blythe and Sons
The firm of Blythe and Sons originated in 1858 at Birtley Station under Thomas Blythe, and one of the first machines there was a horse-driven pug mill. Steam power was introduced by his son J C Blythe. The Old Yard had 12 large Newcastle kilns, each capable of holding 24,000 bricks. Brick production stopped in 1978 and the site is now a builders merchants. Pugged clay was extruded through a Fawcett brick machine, and then cut into ten bricks on a steel pallet and cutting bench. In the 1930s, the Old Yard had a drying area heated by steam pipes, and an additional area was heated by open fires beneath a floor covered in iron plates. The Fawcett machine was replaced in 1948 by a De-airing extrusion brick machine. By the late 1950s, the drying flats became disused having been replaced by drying chambers.

1906-1986