In the late 1760s Pritchetts, who were a brickmaking family in the New Forest area, contracted to supply bricks and tiles for the building of the House of Industry at Parkhurst. The yard was set up a short distance from the site. (The remains of the old clay pit now form the duckpond at the back of St Mary's Hospital). After completion of the Workhouse in 1770, Pritchett set up another yard at Kitbridge to supply bricks and rebate tiles for the erection of Parkhurst Barracks.
The tiles that Pritchett made were sometimes known in the trade as mathematical or brick tiles. They had a 'face' that corresponded with that of a laid brick, and when hung and pointed looked exactly like them. These were no cheaper to buy than bricks and they were still subject to the 1784 Brick Tax. They were, however, easier to use than bricks which required skilled labour to lay.
In 1800 Pritchett and his young son George, who acted as his pug boy (clay boy), opened a yard at Bierley near Niton. Over the years there followed many more, at Newbridge, Wellow, Ningwood, Tapnell, Gurnard, Cowes, Northwood, Sandford, (near Godshill), Gunville and Rookley.
William Pritchett, who was the great grandson of the original Pritchett to settle on the Island, had a flourishing yard at Hillis near Cowes. In 1905 he produced an illustrated catalogue which offered over 130 artefacts for use in building. These included ridge tiles, key stones, arches, chimney pots, terra cotta 'enrichments' for the garden, gate posts and finials fashioned as dragons, lions and eagles. His sons, William, Francis and Harry helped in the running of the yard until they too set up on their own. Harry was artistic like his father and many of the artifacts were modelled by him.
In this century the two brothers, Francis and Harry, together with Francis' sons, continued to run yards at Northwood and Rookley. They eventually closed Northwood and concentrated entirely on Rookley. In the late 1940s it became a Limited Company and by 1951, when Francis died, the Pritchett family were no longer majority shareholders. The Company continued operating until 1974 when Rookley Brickworks, the last remaining yard on the Island, closed.
