The earliest reference that I can find to the brickyard is a map of 1810 which shows a kiln in the general area, and the outline of the brickyard is visible in the field markings. The enclosure map of 1844 shows just the topmost end of the brickyard with a lane called Brick Kiln Close approximately where
Orchard Estate is now, and the land was owned by Mary Martin, the widow of William Martin. In the 1851 census Mary lived at Horse Pond Hill, which was then the name of the green where the village sign is. There are many bricklayers in the parish records throughout the years and a few brickmakers. The first brickmaker to appear is Edward Veal when his daughter Susanna was baptised in 1816. In 1851 there were two brickmakers recorded in the census. Thomas Woolston from Bedfordshire, who married a Little Downham girl and lived in West Fen. Nathanial Thurston was a journeyman brickmaker from Norwich living in Lawn Lane. In 1864 George Frost, brickmaker, married Mary Cornwell. George’s father, Henry, was also a brickmaker. The brickworks is shown on the 1900 Ordnance Survey map but by 1925 it is no longer marked as a brickyard. There are suggestions that this site may be developed for housing. Its future remains to be seen. Robin Pearl
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