Hill Heads Brickworks

Richard Heckels Nesbit of Cramlington opened up his brickworks at the edge of Whitley Quarry (HER 1193) Hill Heads 1875. He had made his fortune working in the goldfields of Australia and New Zealand. Together with Alfred Styan, Nesbit built Albany Gardens, Clarence Crescent, Edwards Road, the Esplanade, Laburnum Avenue, Station Road and Mafeking Street (Fern Avenue). By 1889 the brickworks were exhausted. Nesbit landscaped the site to create an area called West Park. There was a row of four cottages at West Park. Nesbit and his wife Mary Jobling lived at No. 1. He died in 1911 and was buried at St Pauls Church, Whitley Bay. West Park was sold to George Steel, florist and nurseryman. He used the site as market gardens and moved into Nesbit's former cottage. The site was compulsory purchased by Whitley Urban District Council in 1924. The cottages were demolished and the adjacent quarry infilled and landscaped to become West Park cricket field.