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Swallow's Tiles (Cranleigh) Ltd.

In 1860, Raymond Swallow founded his brick and terra-cotta works in the woods to the east of Cranleigh, producing building products and clay pots which were transported by canal to London. The company soon expanded its product range to include roofing tiles at the request of a local building contractor, and later added small-bore clay drainage pipes as well.
Having outgrown its original site, the works moved to nearby Bookhurst Hill in 1894 where permanent brick buildings were built which survive to this day. From then on, little changed until closure: as late as the 1950s, clay was being dug by hand and brought to the works by tramway. Troughout its life the works remained primarily manual, with only the pugmill being mechanised, initially powered by steam engine. Everything else - moulding, drying and firing - was done by hand. After milling, the clay was delivered by hand-barrow to each maker’s workbench where the same wooden tools were employed to make the tiles that had been used for almost one and a half centuries. Following the moulding process, the finished 'green' tiles were dried in sheds for up to 13 weeks then fired in kilns powered by Welsh steam coal up to the early 1970s and then by natural gas.
By the 1970s, production was exclusively of tiles. The old-fashioned methods produced attractive red tiles much sought after for use in older buildings and in new-builds where traditional materials were required. Unfortunately these methods were also slow, wasteful of energy and expensive. In 2007 plans were made to improve matters by mechanising parts of production and speeding up the drying process. Unfortunately, before the plans could be realised a downturn in the housing market, combined with other factors forced the 148 year-old business to close on 30th April 2008.


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The works are currently (June 2010) up for sale. Proposals have been submitted to reopen the pits, the owners of the land seeking to extract 100,000 tonnes of clay a year (swallow's only extracted 2,000 tonnes p.a.), much to the concern of local residents.

Sources:
Anon, 'No Cranleigh Clay Trucks' [http://nocranleighclaytrucks.co.uk/]. Cranleigh, 2010.
Swallow's Tiles, 'The History of Swallow's Tiles' [http://www.sihg.org.uk/swallowsrooftiles/History.htm]. Cranleigh, 2007.

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 The Derelict Miscellany :: Swallow's Tiles Ltd.

T H E   D E R E L I C T   M I S C E L L A N Y

 R e f l e c t i o n s   o n   f o r g o t t e n   a n d   a b a n d o n e d   s p a c e s

{menu}     {about}     {contact}     {follow me on twitter}     {disclaimer}     {rusty old cars}     {miscellany}

Swallow's Tiles (Cranleigh) Ltd.

In 1860, Raymond Swallow founded his brick and terra-cotta works in the woods to the east of Cranleigh, producing building products and clay pots which were transported by canal to London. The company soon expanded its product range to include roofing tiles at the request of a local building contractor, and later added small-bore clay drainage pipes as well.
Having outgrown its original site, the works moved to nearby Bookhurst Hill in 1894 where permanent brick buildings were built which survive to this day. From then on, little changed until closure: as late as the 1950s, clay was being dug by hand and brought to the works by tramway. Troughout its life the works remained primarily manual, with only the pugmill being mechanised, initially powered by steam engine. Everything else - moulding, drying and firing - was done by hand. After milling, the clay was delivered by hand-barrow to each maker’s workbench where the same wooden tools were employed to make the tiles that had been used for almost one and a half centuries. Following the moulding process, the finished 'green' tiles were dried in sheds for up to 13 weeks then fired in kilns powered by Welsh steam coal up to the early 1970s and then by natural gas.
By the 1970s, production was exclusively of tiles. The old-fashioned methods produced attractive red tiles much sought after for use in older buildings and in new-builds where traditional materials were required. Unfortunately these methods were also slow, wasteful of energy and expensive. In 2007 plans were made to improve matters by mechanising parts of production and speeding up the drying process. Unfortunately, before the plans could be realised a downturn in the housing market, combined with other factors forced the 148 year-old business to close on 30th April 2008.


[Scroll Down]
SimpleViewer requires JavaScript and the Flash Player. Get Flash..

The works are currently (June 2010) up for sale. Proposals have been submitted to reopen the pits, the owners of the land seeking to extract 100,000 tonnes of clay a year (swallow's only extracted 2,000 tonnes p.a.), much to the concern of local residents.

Sources:
Anon, 'No Cranleigh Clay Trucks' [http://nocranleighclaytrucks.co.uk/]. Cranleigh, 2010.
Swallow's Tiles, 'The History of Swallow's Tiles' [http://www.sihg.org.uk/swallowsrooftiles/History.htm]. Cranleigh, 2007.

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Derelict Miscellany. Website & content Copyright D. A. Gregory 2005-Present unless stated to be otherwise.