Editing Tilehurst (section)

== Economy ==
Until the late 19th century, the majority of working men in Tilehurst were employed in farming or similar agricultural work.<ref name="BFHS" /> The main industry associated with Tilehurst, however, was the manufacture of [[tile]]s. This industry was present in the district until recent times. The 1881 [[Census in the United Kingdom|UK census]] listed a number of men as being employed as brickmen in [[kiln]]s in the area.<ref name="BFHS" /> Written evidence of brickwork can be traced to the 1600s, but with the peak of production at around 1885. Kilns were established at Grovelands and [[Kentwood, Berkshire|Kentwood]]—both to the east of the settlement—with [[clay pit]]s being dug on [[Norcot]] Hill in an area now known as The Potteries.<ref name="BFHS" />

An overhead cable was used to transport the clay-filled buckets between the pits and the [[kiln]] across [[Norcot]] Road;<ref name="BFHS" /><ref name="WWIT">{{cite web|title=Points of Interest – McIlroy Park|url=http://www.walkontheweb.org.uk/mcilfrm.htm|publisher=Woodland Walks in Tilehurst|access-date=24 July 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010409220915/http://walkontheweb.org.uk/mcilfrm.htm|archive-date=9 April 2001}}</ref> this was shown on a 1942 map of the area as an "aerial cable" running from the [[clay pit]] in [[Kentwood, Berkshire|Kentwood]] to Grovelands works approximately {{convert|1.5|mi}} away.<ref name="1930s map">Pre-WWII – BERKSHIRE 1932–1936 (1:2,500)</ref> The cable was also included on the 1940s [[Ordnance Survey]] ''New Popular Edition'' maps, labelled as an "aerial ropeway".<ref name="OSNPE">OS NPO (Eng/Wales) 1945–1955 (1:50,000)</ref> An 1883 Ordnance Survey map of [[Berkshire]] shows a number of kilns in the Grovelands area (on the present-day Colliers Way estate)<ref name="BHO Grovelands">{{cite web|title=England – Berkshire: 037|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/mapsheet.aspx?compid=55107&sheetid=716&ox=2015&oy=216&zm=1&czm=1&x=117&y=248|work=Ordnance Survey 1:10,560 – Epoch 1 (1883)|publisher=British History Online|access-date=24 July 2012}}</ref> and one in Norcot near the present-day Lawrence Road.<ref name="BHO Norcot">{{cite web|title=England – Berkshire: 037|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/mapsheet.aspx?compid=55107&sheetid=716&ox=1687&oy=244&zm=1&czm=1&x=57&y=70|work=Ordnance Survey 1:10,560 – Epoch 1 (1883)|publisher=British History Online|access-date=24 July 2012}}</ref> The latter was more specifically named in the 1899 Pre-WWII 1:2,500 scale Berkshire map as "Norcot Kiln, Brick and Tile Works". By the 1920s, Tilehurst Potteries had been formally established at Kew Kiln on Kentwood Hill.<ref name="Geographia">{{citation|title=Map of Reading|publisher=Geographia Ltd|year=1977}}</ref><ref name="National Archives">{{cite web|title=Correspondence with Tilehurst Potteries (1922) Ltd, Kew Kiln, Tilehurst|url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a/records.aspx?cat=005-dex15011600&cid=84-7#84-7|publisher=National Archives|access-date=24 July 2012}}</ref> By the 1960s, clay business had waned and the pits were closed in 1967.<ref name="BFHS" /><ref name="WWIT" />