Barton upon Humber dates to the pre-
Norman Conquest period, and was the location for a ferry crossing of the Humber from at least that period. The towns was once an important port, but declined after the establishment of
Kingston upon Hull (). The town remained an important port for north Lincolnshire, and in 1801 had a population of around 1,700, more than Grimsby. Due to the presence of suitable soil, brick and tile making was carried out in the Barton area; in the 1840s one tilery had been established for over a hundred years; chalk was also quarried in the area, from at least 1790. Other industries in 1840 included
whiting manufacture, rope making, tanning, plus trade in agricultural produce.
Clay and chalk based industries At Barton upon Humber clay had been extracted for tile making since at least the 18th century. Several brick and tile manufactures operated during the 19th century, with growth stimulated in part by the end of the
Brick tax in 1850. By 1892 works included
Ness End,
West Field,
Humber Brick and Tile,
Barton, ''Morris's
, Dinsdale-Ellis-Wilson
, Garside's
, Blyth's Ing
, Burton's
, Mackrill's (Briggs)
, Pioneer
, Hoe Hill
and Spencer's''. The works extended along most of the Humber bank from Barton Cliff around 1 mile west of barton Haven to
Barrow Haven. The works reduced in number during the first half of the 20th century. By the 1970 much of the foreshore had been extracted, and the majority of works were no longer active. Several of the works had industrial railways, generally connecting the workings to the works; in some cases clay was exported directly, such as that supplied to
G.T. Earle's cement works in
Wilmington, Kingston upon Hull from the Humber Brick & Tile works (). Many of the Barton brick and tile works closed in the 1950s. A site at
East Halton was used to supply G.T. Earle's cement works in
Stoneferry, whilst the same firm's Wilmington works was supplied with clay from pits near
North Killingholme Haven (1909–13), and later from pits between Barton and Barrow on Humber (1913–69). In the 1890s George Henry Skelsey used funds from a public listing of his company to build a cement plant,
Port Adamant Works, at Barton, west of the Haven, replacing a site he had acquired in 1885 at Morley Street,
Stoneferry, Hull in the 1880s. Clay and chalk for the process were sourced on site, with chalk brought from the
New Cliff chalk quarry, Adjacent west of the New Cliff quarry was
Barton Cliff Quarry, The two quarries supplied chalk, including to G.T. Earle's Stoneferry and Wilmington plants respectively. A modern tile manufacturer
Goxhill Tilieries (as of 2014 part of the
Wienerberger group via
Sandtoft) is located east of New Holland and north of
Goxhill (near the former
Quebec brickyard).
BritAg fertilizers A fertilizer works was established at Barton, near the river bank east of the Haven in 1874 by "The Farmers Company". In 1968 the owner A.C.C. (
Associated Chemical Companies) established new chemically based fertilizer production at the site, In 1965 A.C.C. became a full subsidiary of
Albright and Wilson, including the Barton plant. The fertilizer business of Albright and Wilson was acquired by
ICI in 1983, Loss of UK market share caused ICI to close the plant in the late 1980s, as well as other fertilizer production facilities. Subsequently, the site was sold to Glanford borough, and later redeveloped together with former brick yards as a park ''Water's Edge''.
Other In 1992
Kimberly-Clark established a large nappy mill outside Barton upon Humber, The plant was closed in 2013, due to the company ceasing most of its production of nappies in the European market. In August 2013
Wren Kitchens took over the site and began conversion of the factory space into head offices, plus manufacturing and warehousing. In April 2020, Wren began an extension project to its facility at the cost of £130 million. There are also private wharfs at Barton-upon-Humber (Waterside), Barrow Haven, and New Holland. ==Redevelopments==