The two printed metal signs are screwed to rusty rhomboidal steel plates attached to square steel posts that are splayed out. Each has historic photos printed on it. From the left-hand side is the following text:
Wallsend Brickworks Park
The Wallsend Brickworks Story
'The depth of clay and blue shale in this field varies from 17ft to 40ft, A seam of which, about 15ft in thickness being equal to the best English marl, and the whole bed suitable for making either the cherry-red brick or a double-pressed brick.'
'Newcastle Morning Herald', 1 June, 1891.
"Wallsend Brickworks was established on the border of Jesmond and Wallsend in 1891. Surprisingly this was on the eve of the 1890's Depression that saw the building industry collapse which consequently had a major impact on brickmaking. Nationally, many Brickworks were forced to close however Wallsend was to Defy this trend. It operated for 86 years, closing in March 1977.
"Brickmaking began in Newcastle in 1816 with five convicts led by John Baker making bricks for the construction of Christ Church Cathedral>
"The early brickworks used 'horse-driven pugging mills consisting of a circular pit in which clay was broken up and mixed with water using a fork like implement ... the pugged clay was taken to the moulding shed to be made into bricks'.
Carlin and Wells, Terracotta Australis, c.1980s.
"Many brickworks were built nationally in the 1860s driven by the building boom and expansion of the railways. A lot employed immigrant brickmakers whose handmoulding expertise was the backbone of the industry at the time.
"The establishment of the Wallsend Brickworks came amid a shift in brickmaking technology, from small yards using hand moulding to larger operations using extrusion and dry press machinery.
"Using steam powered machinery, the new brickworks was said to have orders for 350,000 bricks on opening."
Next sign to the right:
"Like many brickworks in the Newcastle district, Wallsend Brickworks was set up next to coal mining operations. The Newcastle Wallsend Coal Company founded in 1858, sunk their first pit (A Pit) in 1859. Bricks were first made on the site for the coal company's buildings and shaft linings.
"Until electricity replaced steam power, all the machinery was steam driven with the clay and rock blasted from the quarry south east of the New Tunnel Colliery (later known as Elermore Tunnel Colliery). Men worked with picks and shovels to fill the skips with clay which was then taken by conveyor belt to be crushed and fed into the brickmaking machines. Once formed, the bricks were conveyed along rolling boards to the kilns.
"Coal to fire the kilns was mined on site and when the kilns were full, each end was bricked up and covered with mud to block any holes. The kilns were steamed for days until the bricks were dry and then put onto full fire. When cooked, the walls at the back and front of the kilns were knocked down to allow for cooling.
"The Wallsend brickworks used the Great Northern Railway to transport its product however local deliveries were made by horse and cart. The Company employed carrier Charles Goodwin for many years:
'He would harness his horses in the mornings and they would find their own way from his home in Blue Gum Road to the brickyards where the driver (George Dennis) would be waiting.'
[Evelyn May Hoy, Histories of Lambton-Jesmond-New Lambton 1862-1989, Newcastle Region Library]
"Despite reports of regular cave-ins and fierce competition, the Wallsend Brickworks prospered throughout the early part of the 20th century. In particular demand were the face bricks known as 'reds' or 'red bellies'.
"The 1960s saw the emergencies of the environmental debate with the smoke billowing from the brickworks no longer a welcoming sign of industry and employment but a health and environmental concern for many. Environmental legislation and mounting pressure to clean up, led the brickworks to spend over $300,000 on environmental improvements over the next decade.
"Rising competition from Sydney and a new plant at East Maitland (PGH Industries Ltd - formerly the old Fieldsends Potteries), was driving Wallsend out of business. When the decision to close was made, orders for Wallsend bricks had dropped from 400,000 bricks a weeks to 100,000. The perception remained however, that it was because of 'the continued pressure to reduce the smoke'.
From former industrial site to community parkland
1980 Council purchased site for landfill
1986 Council declared it a park
1991 Management Plan adopted but not funded
1999 Wallsend East Residents Association made representation
for park to be developed
2001 New Plan of Management adopted by council, surplus
land sold to fund development
2002-2006 Park design & construction
2006 Park opens (9 April)
Visited: 0850, Sunday, 31 December, 2023