Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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The Allen Brickworks in Halifax (often called Allen’s Fireclay Works) is an important but now largely forgotten part of Calderdale’s industrial past.

The site began as the Halifax Glazed Brick Works in the Walterclough Valley, between Brighouse and Hipperholme.

In 1905, it was taken over by industrialist Henry Victor Allen, who transformed it into a specialist brickworks. Allen shifted production to refractory bricks—highly heat-resistant bricks used to line:
furnaces
kilns
fireplaces
These were sold under the “Selfrac” brand and became internationally renowned for durability and quality.
The works were deeply integrated into local industry:
Bricks were transported via a narrow-gauge railway up the valley to Hipperholme station.
Earlier, horses were used, later replaced by mechanised systems (including a tramway installed around 1919).


At its height, the brickworks was a major regional employer and contributor to Yorkshire’s heavy industry.
In 1936, the works were taken over by G. R. Stein, a large Scottish refractory company.
Later ownership links include General Refractories (Sheffield).

However, like much of Britain’s heavy industry, the site declined in the mid-20th century:
Brick production appears to have ended around the 1960s (though some sources suggest activity into the 1970s–80s).
Later use (plastics factory)
After brickmaking ceased, the site was repurposed as a plastics factory in the 1960s.


The site’s final decline was marked by:
Suspicious fires
Financial collapse of the operators
By the late 20th century, it had been abandoned and left to decay.

The Allen Brickworks is now:
A derelict industrial ruin hidden in woodland
Known locally as an urbex (urban exploration) site
Covered in graffiti, with collapsing buildings and overgrown vegetation

It stands as a striking reminder of Halifax’s industrial heritage—particularly its role in specialist brickmaking and global refractory production.