Stewartby
Timeline
Places > Stewartby
1897: B.J. Forder and Son open two Fletton brickworks at Wootton Pillinge (later to be called Stewartby) and Elstow. B.J.Harfield Forder came from Buriton in Hampshire.
1900: B.J. Forder and Son becomes a limited company and Halley Stewart is appointed chairman. Other members of his family join the company and begin to build it up.
1923: B. J. Forder and Son merge with several other companies, the main one being the London Brick Company (which had been founded in 1889). The new company is known as London Brick Company and Forders Limited.
1926: First houses built by the Stewart family to house the labour force employed by the brickworks at Wootton Pillinge. This plan grew out of the strong religious and moral views held by the Stewart family. They built houses with piped water, electricity, drainage facilities, gardens, flush toilets and indoor bathrooms. Their ideas were very advanced for their time.
1928: Fifty houses completed in the new village
1929: Memorial Hall built in memory of those workers who gave their lives in the First World War. This was designed by E. Vincent Harris who was also responsible for the Social Club
1932: Stewartby Social Club officially opened on the 11th July
1933: General Store built in the centre of the village
1934: HRH Prince George visits the brickworks. At he time the Stewartby brickworks had a weekly output of 9,000,000 bricks
1934: Village fountain opened
1936: Stewartby recognised as the largest brickworks in the world employing 2,000 people to produce 500 million bricks a year
1936: London Brick Company and Forders Limited shortens its name to the London Brick Company
1936-37: Middle School on The Crescent opened. Designed by Oswald P. Milne
1937: The modern parish of Stewartby created from part of Wootton, chiefly Wootton Pillinge and Wootton Broadmead
1951: Stewartby United Church dedicated
1955-56: Sir Malcolm Stewart Trust created
1961: Parish of Stewartby population is 1,235
1971: Parish of Stewartby population is 1,084
1972: Stewartby Water Sports Club started
1981: Parish of Stewartby population is 970
1984: London Brick Company taken over by the Hanson Trust
1995: Work starts on Randalls Farm to transform it into an environmental education centre
Sources:
-
Stewartby parish plan, North Bedfordshire Borough Council
- Brickmaking, a history and gazetteer, Bedfordshire County Council
Page last updated: 4th February 2014