Description and History of Site:-
Commondale Brickworks. Decorative pottery as well as bricks were made. Many of the houses in the village are built using the distinctive bricks. The brickworks closed in 1947 and site is now the Raven Gill Scout Camp. In the mid-1800s a printer from Stokesley, John Pratt, set up the Cleveland Firebrick & Pottery Co Ltd; the business prospered when the railway from Middlesbrough reached the village in 1865, and a branch was constructed into the site in 1867. The enterprise closed with the death of John Pratt in the same year, but was resurrected by John Crossley 15 years later as The Commondale Brick, Pipe & Pottery Co Ltd. Crossley provided a village hall, built from his bricks, but being a staunch Methodist he would not allow alcohol to be consumed there. In 1880 Crossley's son Alfred began producing fine pottery, using the high-quality clay available on the site. He even brought in craftsmen from Staffordshire, but in 1882 Alfred emigrated to the USA and his father sold out to Commercial Art Pottery. In the late 1880s Thomas Ness bought the site and traded as Commondale Pipe & Brick Works, manufacturing bricks, pipes, tiles and garden-ware. In 1893 Alfred Crossley came back to England to work as manager. He was so successful that he bought the whole village in 1927. Commondale brick was a high-quality product, resistant to being drilled, and can be recognised in properties over a wide area.
As well as the usual products of a brickworks, storage pots for mustard gas were made at Commondale and supplied to Skinningrove where experiments were made in World War I to produce this poison gas, since Skinningrove had a significant by-products plant and coke ovens. (Information from Simon Chapman).

Further Reading and References:-
[1] Goldring, D. 2006. Along the Esk. Pages 43-50.
[2] Goldring, D. 2006. Guided walk at Commondale, 9th July 2006. CIAS Newsletter No. 92.
[3] Riley, Caroline, article in Voice of the Moors magazine, summer 2021.

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Key Words :- brickworks

Viewing the Site :- The scouting centre is not publicly accessible, and the brickworks area is not easily visible due to tree growth

Address :- Commondale, Danby, North Yorkshire, YO21 2HL
Grid Ref :- NZ 6622 1061
Co-ordinates :- Lat 54.486521 , Long -0.979339
Local Authority :- Scarborough Borough Council
Pre 1974 County :- Yorkshire - North Riding
Site Status :- Site demolished or no longer extant
Site Condition :- Site cleared - no above ground remains visible
Site Dates :- pre 1853 - 1947
Record Date :- 15 October 2015

Copyright :- cc-by-nc-sa 4.0 © Charles Morris