I've engaged in this hobby on and off for years, but it's been more off than on recently, I'm keen to get back out and put the exploring shoes back on! So of course, I've been looking through some old derps and this place really was one of my favorites, so wanted to get a report up, even if my visit was from three years back in September 2020. The chimneys were demolished the year after in September of 2021, so I'm glad I got around to this one when I did! It's been a while and this one is going to be picture-heavy, apologies! 
Stewartby was the largest Brickworks in terms of output in the world. In 2008, the site was closed down as the owners, Hanson, could not meet the required UK limits for sulphur dioxide omissions. The four chimneys that remained were intended to be demolished upon the site closure but were listed for preservation and it was decided they would remain. This eventually changed and they were eventually demolished on 26th September 2021. BJ Forder & Son opened its very first brickworks in Elstow in 1987 and then relocated to Wootton Pillinge in 1920, renaming the site to Stewartby in 1937 in recognition of the Stewart family who had key involvement in developing the brickworks. It was home to the world's biggest kiln and produced 18 million bricks at the height of its production. Stewartby was producing 20% of England's bricks in 1970. At the very height of the brickwork's successes, The London Brick Company had its own ambulance, fire service, and a horticultural and photographic department. It also had its own swimming pool inside of the factory and ran a number of sports clubs. Spending £1 million from 2005-2007 in an attempt to reduce its sulphur dioxide emissions, ultimately failing to do so and closing down in 2008.
I'm not sure if any work has taken place at Stewartby, as I've seen news articles about a phase one development called Hanson's Reach which would involve 750 homes but there are also plans to turn the former brickworks into a huge state-of-the-art film and television studio. There are also sketches and plans for a brand new settlement where chimneys are left standing and this area was to become its own little town, essentially. The last I can see is news from November 2022 about the land being purchased and waiting for planning permission to build the new film studio. So I'm unsure if it was just the chimneys that were demolished or if the whole site was flattened and unsure about accessibility. There's another report on here and someone mentioned it's still there but that was the latest news I could find and that was January this year! If I'm wrong then maybe I'm blind, stupid, or terrible with Google. I'm sure you'll let me know...
There was plenty of walking to be done due to the sheer size of this place. Mostly flat but the buildings that are here are huge and great fun to look around. Eventually after checking out a couple of chimneys and trying to get up higher on top of some of the tunnels and whatnot, we left it and continued on. Heading towards the other side of the site where the press shed was located, we started to hear weird noises as we approached the train crossing. Puzzled for a second we stopped just short of the crossing and fell dead silent trying to work out what it was, getting low and looking around. Turns out it was some other explorers, having a bloody good laugh at our expense, lmao. Met up with these dudes (not sure if they're on here, it's been three years since we saw them) who were local to the area and said they popped over when they were bored to look around a take pictures. Must've been nice having a site like this on your doorstep. So we joined up with these guys and had a good chat and it was a good explore all-in-all. Having most of this site under our belt anyway and not really knowing where to go next, this was great bumping into these guys because they knew it like the back of their hand and showed us around the place.
Some cool buildings, filled with quite a lot of old sh*te. BMX bikes, sofas, random blocks of wood, piles of metal, old books, etc. Finally, we headed towards our last building, the press shed. By this time it was getting dark, so unfortunately couldn't get too many pictures of the press sheds. Would have loved to have gone back but it isn't a quick trip for me and thought it wouldn't be standing still when I heard the chimneys were being torn down... We had a good mooch around in this part regardless and then called it a day and decided we wanted to get our 2-and-a-half-hour drive underway. We parted ways with these cool guys after they showed us how easy the access was and reminded us how stupid we were for traipsing through brambles in shorts when we didn't need to.
Stewartby is quite possibly one of the favourite derps I've got under my belt and I'm glad I managed to see it whilst the chimneys were still standing. It's a huge sight and I'm not 100% sure of how much is left but if it is just the chimneys that have been torn down then I would absolutely recommend a visit!
All of these were from inside a smaller building around the outskirts if I remember correctly. Offices, staff rooms, and storage it looks like??
The rest of the site...
THE HISTORY:
Stewartby was the largest Brickworks in terms of output in the world. In 2008, the site was closed down as the owners, Hanson, could not meet the required UK limits for sulphur dioxide omissions. The four chimneys that remained were intended to be demolished upon the site closure but were listed for preservation and it was decided they would remain. This eventually changed and they were eventually demolished on 26th September 2021. BJ Forder & Son opened its very first brickworks in Elstow in 1987 and then relocated to Wootton Pillinge in 1920, renaming the site to Stewartby in 1937 in recognition of the Stewart family who had key involvement in developing the brickworks. It was home to the world's biggest kiln and produced 18 million bricks at the height of its production. Stewartby was producing 20% of England's bricks in 1970. At the very height of the brickwork's successes, The London Brick Company had its own ambulance, fire service, and a horticultural and photographic department. It also had its own swimming pool inside of the factory and ran a number of sports clubs. Spending £1 million from 2005-2007 in an attempt to reduce its sulphur dioxide emissions, ultimately failing to do so and closing down in 2008.
I'm not sure if any work has taken place at Stewartby, as I've seen news articles about a phase one development called Hanson's Reach which would involve 750 homes but there are also plans to turn the former brickworks into a huge state-of-the-art film and television studio. There are also sketches and plans for a brand new settlement where chimneys are left standing and this area was to become its own little town, essentially. The last I can see is news from November 2022 about the land being purchased and waiting for planning permission to build the new film studio. So I'm unsure if it was just the chimneys that were demolished or if the whole site was flattened and unsure about accessibility. There's another report on here and someone mentioned it's still there but that was the latest news I could find and that was January this year! If I'm wrong then maybe I'm blind, stupid, or terrible with Google. I'm sure you'll let me know...
THE EXPLORE:
I didn't do much research for this one. Because if I did, I'd have realized you could walk right into this one from the main road as there was no fence or gate at a certain point allowing for a brisk stroll on-site. So, in my shorts, I decided I would go for the first place I could see which was traipsing through brambles and cutting my legs up, lovely stuff! Boy, was I gutted when I found the easy access after a good five-hour explore. Anyway, the two of us were in and very excited. Being such a huge site there was so much walking and exploring to be done and we didn't know where to begin. I do remember getting lucky with the beautiful weather on the day of the visit, which was a nice touch after a grim and rainy week up until this point. We spent the best part of about five hours here and I took so many pictures. We looked around and just had a very chilled-out explore, to be honest. After getting out of the brambles we headed for a small building (compared to the others) which looked like it was comprised of storage, offices, staff rooms, kitchens, etc. Even this little part of the exploration was cool and a great introduction to the site. Moving onto the main attractions, the chimneys! These were great to look at and I'm glad I got to see them before they were demolished!
There was plenty of walking to be done due to the sheer size of this place. Mostly flat but the buildings that are here are huge and great fun to look around. Eventually after checking out a couple of chimneys and trying to get up higher on top of some of the tunnels and whatnot, we left it and continued on. Heading towards the other side of the site where the press shed was located, we started to hear weird noises as we approached the train crossing. Puzzled for a second we stopped just short of the crossing and fell dead silent trying to work out what it was, getting low and looking around. Turns out it was some other explorers, having a bloody good laugh at our expense, lmao. Met up with these dudes (not sure if they're on here, it's been three years since we saw them) who were local to the area and said they popped over when they were bored to look around a take pictures. Must've been nice having a site like this on your doorstep. So we joined up with these guys and had a good chat and it was a good explore all-in-all. Having most of this site under our belt anyway and not really knowing where to go next, this was great bumping into these guys because they knew it like the back of their hand and showed us around the place.
Some cool buildings, filled with quite a lot of old sh*te. BMX bikes, sofas, random blocks of wood, piles of metal, old books, etc. Finally, we headed towards our last building, the press shed. By this time it was getting dark, so unfortunately couldn't get too many pictures of the press sheds. Would have loved to have gone back but it isn't a quick trip for me and thought it wouldn't be standing still when I heard the chimneys were being torn down... We had a good mooch around in this part regardless and then called it a day and decided we wanted to get our 2-and-a-half-hour drive underway. We parted ways with these cool guys after they showed us how easy the access was and reminded us how stupid we were for traipsing through brambles in shorts when we didn't need to.
Stewartby is quite possibly one of the favourite derps I've got under my belt and I'm glad I managed to see it whilst the chimneys were still standing. It's a huge sight and I'm not 100% sure of how much is left but if it is just the chimneys that have been torn down then I would absolutely recommend a visit!
The chimneys. What a lovely sight!
All of these were from inside a smaller building around the outskirts if I remember correctly. Offices, staff rooms, and storage it looks like??
The rest of the site...
This hallway was around where we crapped our pants bumping into a group of three explorers, lol...
Very cool to see a derp with trains still running through the middle of it!
The Press Shed!
Thanks for looking!
