Historical building and construction museums?

[ericmark]

I worked on the making of concrete brick replacement for baked bricks used in storage radiators, it was a failure, as when heated there was a chemical change which released water, but there must be loads of kilns, but not the old bottle shape.

 

[teaboyjim]

The kilns are probably very modern - I think there's still a market for hand made bricks as I was thinking of having some hand made as I've got unusual sized bricks in my property

 

[JohnD]

the clay for some english bricks, especially flettons, contain some shale oil, which causes the burn to fuel itself once you get them hot enough. Some other European countries do not have this, so they need more fuel and the firing costs more. Italian clay bricks for example are generally hollow and orange.

you can also do it by mixing coal or coke dust into the clay while milling. This is done in my area with replica buff bricks. The clay is hydraulically pressed with great pressure to a precise shape that does not have weak arrises. You may have seen old LBC "Phorpres" bricks, the name comes because they were each pressed four times. Hand thown bricks are generally weak and crumble on the corners and edges. They are made with wetter clay, shrink when drying, and then again when fired.

The temperature of a brick kiln is much hotter than "baking," they are burned. Traditonal kilns generally had some spoiled bricks due to being underfired or overburned, and these were discarded or used for internal jobs or whimsical garden builds. Modern kilns fire to an accurate regulated temperature so the product is consistent with little waste.

 

[JohnD]

Do you know if we've got a fairly large brick making industry here in the UK?

Hanson bought up a lot of the regional makers in times of periodic depression in the building trade, when they tend to go bust.

 

[teaboyjim]

the clay for some english bricks, especially flettons, contain some shale oil, which causes the burn to fuel itself once you get them hot enough. Some other European countries do not have this, so they need more fuel and the firing costs more. Italian clay bricks for example are generally hollow and orange.

That's very interesting so probably because of this extra internal heat they became harder and were amongst the best type of bricks? Is that similar to bricks in Spain because they seem to look an orangey colour as well

You may have seen old LBC "Phorpres" bricks, the name comes because they were each pressed four times.

I've seen some hard yellowish brick with LBC stamped on them as I've seen this type around before in some of the reclamation yards.

you can also do it by mixing coal or coke dust into the clay while milling. This is done in my area with replica buff bricks. The clay is hydraulically pressed with great pressure to a precise shape that does not have weak arrises. Hand thown bricks are generally weak and crumble on the corners and edges. They are made with wetter clay, shrink when drying, and then again when fired.

So that would possibly mean the softer bricks such as the Suffolk red and similar are usually from a more hand made origin unless the softness is more to do with the clay than the style of making

 

[JohnD]

That's very interesting so probably because of this extra internal heat they became harder and were amongst the best type of bricks?

flettons are very hard, but also rather ugly when patchy salmon pink, and have poor frost resistance. Colour and appearance varies. They are often treated with sand or texturing on the face to make them less ugly.

 

[teaboyjim]

Most of the bricks around East Anglia tend to be soft bricks

 

[OwainDIYer]

https://www.engineshed.scot/

The Engine Shed is Scotland’s dedicated building conservation centre. Part of Historic Environment Scotland, it serves as a central hub for building and conservation professionals and the general public.

Free admission in normal times.

 

[teaboyjim]

https://www.engineshed.scot/ The Engine Shed is Scotland’s dedicated building conservation centre. Part of Historic Environment Scotland, it serves as a central hub for building and conservation professionals and the general public. Free admission in normal times.

Thanks, Owain, that looks like somewhere

 

[ericmark]

Ruabon (Rhiwabon) was famous for bricks it says in Wikipedia

At Afongoch there were three clay companies very close together:

1. "Monk & Newell" was situated on the east side of the Ruabon–Wrexham road. It closed in the 1920s and the site was later used for housing (Newell Drive) and the adjacent flooded claypit (Monk's Pool) is now used by a local angling club.
2. The “Ruabon Brick & Terra Cotta Ltd." or "Jenks' Terracotta Works" (or "Gwaith Jinks") was situated on the west side of the Ruabon–Wrexham road (off Tatham Road) but with its original clay pit to the east of the Ruabon–Wrexham road, separated from the Monk & Newell clay pit by the Afon Goch. Founded by the Hague family of the Gardden in about 1883 and managed by Henry Jenks, it produced bricks, chimney pots, finials, cornices and encaustic tiles. It was taken over by Dennis' in the 1960s but closed in the mid-1970s. The works site is now an industrial estate as is the original clay pit.
3. The "Tatham Brick & Tile Works" or "Afongoch & Tatham Tileries" was at Afongoch, on the west side of the Ruabon–Wrexham road, off Tatham Road. Opened about 1860 by Henry Richard Bowers & Co. of Penbedw, Acrefair, it produced bricks, pipes and chimney pots. It closed about 1910 when the clay pit was taken over by Jenks' Terracotta Works. The clay pit is now used for landfill.

At Hafod, the Cornish engineer Henry Dennis founded a clay works next to the Hafod Colliery. The Dennis Company became world-famous for its tiles and still operates today.

At Cinders, the "Wynnstay Brickworks" was to the right of the Ruabon–Overton road near Cinders Farm. It produced bricks, tiles and drainage pipes for the Wynnstay estate.

Other large brickworks existed at Pant, Rhos, Acrefair, Trefor and Newbridge.

What we called Ruabon brick was a very hard bluish brick and in Tywyn in mid Wales you can see the bricks used in the sea defences clearly been there for decades and have survived the pounding of the waves.

From the colour I wonder if the slag from the steel works at Brymbo was used?

 

[teaboyjim]

It seems most of the clay pits have stopped production through one reason or another.