Mr George Boyd was a brick maker, who manufactured pipes, pottery and ornamental objects out of the clay on his site in the gully from 1855 until his retirement in 1885. He had tried unsuccessfully to patent the method of using scoria ash that made bricks robust. Other brick makers had objected to his attempt to create a monopoly on the use of scoria ash found at the Maungawhau (Mt Eden) quarry. It is highly likely that the drainage pipes needed in the gully were purchased from Mr Boyd. After his death, in 1888, the factory was dismantled. The Newton Central School now occupies this site, which was never included in the Karangahape district. Instead it formed Newton West and then Arch Hill.