During the eighteenth century in what is now Cumbria agriculture was in a depressed
state and little draining was being undertaken. What revolutionised land draining was
the ‘tile’ manufactured from clay, the very substance which was largely responsible
for the problem of waterlogged land. Introduced into Cumberland c.1819 by Sir James
Graham to drain the Netherby estate, the first clay agricultural drainage-tiles were
produced at what became known as Sandysike Brick & Tile Works. Tileries spread
throughout Cumberland reaching their peak in the 1850s when about 75 works were
producing tiles. A total of 113 tileries and brick & tile-works in Cumberland with nine
in Westmorland and possibly eight in Furness & Cartmel were in operation between
1821 and the early 1900s. However, as a major industry this was short lived as by the
1920s only nine works remained.
This book details the rise and decline of the tile industry in Cumbria and is based on
an extensive range of primary, as well as secondary, sources. In a sleeve inside the
back cover is a CD containing a 242-page Gazetteer of Sites and Manufacturers, which
records details of all located tile-works, with reference to sources, in what is now
Cumbria and adjacent counties.
This publication, written as a result of thirteen years work by two local historians,
will be of interest to agricultural, industrial and regional historians and also to
archaeologists. The Gazetteer of Sites & Manufacturers arranged by parish will prove
particularly useful to local historians, and family historians will find the many named
tile-workers a valuable source.

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