During most of the 19th century there was a paired colliery and fireclay extraction site here. The site was operated from 1840 to 1894 to produce a range of ordinary common and firebricks, as well as roofing and drainage tiles. The products were locally used - other kiln sites are noted to have used the bricks stamped "PRUDHOE" in their later construction. The shaft shown on the first edition Ordnance Survey map was established specifically here to exploit the fireclays that had been first noted in the 1830s by William Johnson.