Background
In 1884, the Haughton Park Brick Company bought land on the NE corner of Elgar and Canterbury
Rds, the site of the present-day Surrey Park.
The hinterland around the present-day area of the Surrey Dive and Surrey
Park was known as "Irishtown", due to the large number of Irish immigrants who undertook tree cutting in the 1840s.
An
Irishtown Progress Association existed in 1920,which revived memories of the former Irish woodcarters..
The brickworks opened in 1890, as the Box Hill Brick Company.
1889 was a year of peak brick production in Victoria
By 1890, there was overproduction, with a new plant having been established at Blackburn and Mitcham; in 1891 a brickworks
opened in Mont Albert, and another north of Whitehorse Rd in Elgar Rd.
Increased competition and falling profits resulted in operations being suspended in 1892.
In 1911 production restarted
and in 1913 became the Standard Brick and Tile Co. Ltd.
In 1921, a 1 km railway line was built from the works to the
sidings at Box Hill station, to carry bricks from the site. No trace of this line remains. This ran along what is now Surrey
Drive, then along Thurston St, to the sidings in Carrington Rd.
In 1938 it was taken over by the Cooperative Brick Co.,
but did not operate during the war years 1942-1946.
In 1952, the works were converted to electricity and in 1966 were taken over by Brick and Pipe Co., until closing in August
1988.
The Brickworks site has been declared by the State Government as a Heritage Place.
The original clay pit was filled in, and is now a large fenced paddock, overgrown with weeds, grass and debris. A
housing proposal for the site remains unresoived (2013) due to objections from local residents.
The factory and machinery remains much as it was in 1988.
The tall chimney is a local landmark.
The author recalls in the 1960s the loud whistles from the factory which sounded at the end of shifts, and heard
across most of Mont Albert and Box Hill!
Note: In
the years 1890-1892, bricks were transported by horse and dray from the site to the Box Hill sidings, The route was
westerly along what is now Mont Albert Rd Extension, then a 90 degree turn north into Elgar Rd, continuing to Carrington Rd,
then to the sidings. At that time, open drains ran across unsealed Mont Albert Rd, causing problems for the horses.
