History of Brickfields Country Park

History of Brickfields Country Park Start >>>

The history of Brickfields Country Park 1175 to the present day.
Over the years The Friends of Brickfields Country Park (FBCP) have managed to collect snippets of information and various items about the history of Aldershot that directly relates to Brickfields Country Park and to the Aldershot Brick and Tile Works[1] that previously flourished on the derelict site that became Brickfields Country Park in 1985. Council reports, maps, anecdotes, emails, letters, photographs, a gazetteer of Hampshire brickworks, even a book from an 1881 listing the lots, buyers and prices from an auction at the brickworks. The following articles, notes, pictures, Etc. have been received from various sources and they constitutes our history, hopefully the beginning of our quest. If you can help in any way we would be most grateful. We are already indebted to the many kind folk who have helped us so far.

Most of what is now Brickfields Country Park was clay pits, and much of what is now the Brickfields Housing Estate was the site of the kilns and other buildings associated with the then Aldershot Brick and Tile Works. Sometime later there was a concrete manufacturing undertaking on the site and it is possible that this company took over buildings from the Brick and Tile Works when they closed down, until shortly before the Brickfields Housing Estate was built. We also believe there was a wholesale greengrocer operating from one (or perhaps some) of the buildings vacated by the Concrete company. We think the wholesale greengrocer was Waddleton & Company or a somewhat similar name.

Given all of the information presented in the following pages we are still on the lookout for more, so if you have any information relating to the park, anecdotes (a lot of local residents used to play in the old brick diggings in their younger days), photographs, press cuttings Etc, then please let us know. Original photos and other documents will be returned if required.

Use the links below to view on–line extracts of the documents we have available -
(All pages open in a new window.)

E-mail or telephone Mike at the number on the E-mail page.

We would like to hear from you.

Brief summary	Brickfields Country Park history in brief.
A History	Currently at 12 pages this is the full on–line copy of our historical documentation.
RBC proposal	The proposal report presented to Rushmoor Borough Council for the construction works to create Brickfields Country Park.
Comments	Comments on the construction works by Alan Harding the Project Officer.
Mr. G. Kemp	Article from the Aldershot News of 1st March 1907 about Mr G. Kemp and his building firm. The company operated from 1876 to 1989 as George Kemp, Stroud & Co Ltd, builders and contractors (Hampshire Record Office reference 66A01, NRA 43577). From 1998 to 2004 they were known as Kemp Stroud Limited (#3663067). They appear to still be listed as George Kemp Stroud And Company Limited (#08211379).
Letters	Letters and emails from members of the public who lived locally and their recollections on the area.
Names and Places	A list of People, names and places we are currently researching in connection with Brickfields Country Park.

We are indebted to the people below who have helped with information, stories and anecdotes –

Alan Harding	project officer for the park.
Bill Cook	of Rushmoor Borough Council who provided the original proposal report #64/83.
Peggy Stroud	and,
Roy Masters	directors of Kemp Stroud, builders in Aldershot.
Tim Childerhouse	our well known local historian of Aldershot and the surrounding areas.
David Medhurst	who lived in the area and used to have "war games" in Brickfields with the Army Cadets.
David Dance	who played in the area, went fishing in the pond and visited the concrete works.

From the National Archives – Company No: 7429; Aldershot Brick and Tile Works Company Ltd. Incorporated in 1873. Dissolved before 1916. [top]