Pilkingtons Tile factory, Manchester. March 2011

[urbexphotos]

The History.
In 1889 the Clifton and Kearsley Coal Company sank a pair of pit shafts with the intention of working the coal seams lying adjacent to the geological feature known as the Pendleton fault. However, the work became increasingly difficult due to the excessive quantity of water that was encountered. When it became clear that the work would not produce coal, the four Pilkington brothers decided to use the marl that had been encountered to make glazed bricks, however, the marl was found to be unsuitable for this purpose.

By chance, the secretary of the coal company knew William Burton, a chemist working for Josiah Wedgwood and Sons. Burton tested the marl and suggested that a more commercial venture would be to make tiles. Decorative tiles were at that time becoming quite fashionable and they were in high demand. The site of the proposed factory had many advantages—it was close to Clifton Junction railway station, it was adjacent to Fletcher's Canal and there was abundant coal nearby in the local Wet Earth Colliery, a short distance away along the same canal.

By 1903 the factory had developed an opalescent glaze called Lancastrian, named after the county of Lancashire where the factory was sited. It became popular in Pilkington's Lancastrian line of pottery. A later glaze took its name from Manchester, the Cunian glaze. Other famous glazes were used, e.g. sunstone, eggshell, fiery crystalline, aventurine, merged and curdled glazes. Glazes of different textures were also produced. These "fruit skin" glazes had surfaces like orange peel or apricot.

23rd June 2010 - Administrators from KPMG made 204 staff redundant at collapsed tile and flooring business, all 204 redundancies were from the Swinton factory which now has 139 employees remaining. I’m not sure when all the workers were laid off; there are still pallets of tiles dated 10.02.11!
This place is huge, so many photos, some great colours in here, mainly orange, yellows and blue, make some great shots. Sorry if pic heavy, couldn’t decide what of the 200 pics to show!































Enjoy.

[urbexphotos]

Inside that building was a mixer, huge thing, the shot above gives an idea of the size and they removed (possibly) the side to get the machine out.
The building is about 100ft high, the mixing chamber is about 70ft high!

[KingElvis]

Yep, some good stuff there, I like lots.

Is this the one you can see from the M60?

[Rebel]

Bloody hell, they are stripping this place at a rapid rate! I assume the administrators have sold all the machines. I wonder where the directors stored all the tiles they bought off the administrators? Did you take a look at the old part?

[judderman62]

Yep, some good stuff there, I like lots.

Is this the one you can see from the M60?

Yeah it is KE

[Nicola]

That looks fab