Echoes of Brickfields: A Reflection on Victorian London’s Brickmaking Legacy

A review of the recently published Bricks of Victorian London: A social and economic history by Peter Hounsell.

We were entranced by the enlightening historical journey through the grime and grit of 19th-century London’s brickmaking industry. This narrative carries a particular significance for me, as a 20-year veteran in architecture, deeply immersed in a world of contemporary designs and sustainable approaches and with many of our designs incorporating reclaimed London stock bricks.

The book takes readers back to the days when London’s residential streets were being forged from thousands of handmade bricks. Their distinctive yellow hue, an enduring architectural hallmark of the city, was a byproduct of an era teeming with hard work, social change, and industrial revolution.

Though often overlooked in historical accounts, the brickmaking industry had an enormous influence over the London we know today. As an architect, I am intrigued to imagine that the bricks making up London’s signature townhouses and rows could have been manually shaped and fired by small family units in rudimentary kilns.

The Tapestry of Time

To comprehend the narrative of Victorian brickmaking, one must first delve into its historical tapestry. Following the retreat of the Romans, brickmaking saw a decline, only to re-emerge during the Middle Ages. The resurgence of English brickwork in the 15th and 16th centuries was propelled, in part, by governmental edicts encouraging construction with brick or stone.

Remarkably, the industry was initially slow to embrace the full breadth of industrialisation. Until the late 19th century, a large proportion of London’s bricks were still being hand-crafted from ‘brickearth’ clay found in layers typically four feet deep along the alluvial terraces of the Thames. This clay, further strengthened by the addition of chalk in the mid-19th century, formed the basis of a brick recipe that also included ash and sand.

Labour and Legacy

As an architect committed to sustainability, I appreciate the organic roots of Victorian brickmaking. While the process might appear antiquated to the modern eye, it had an astonishingly low carbon footprint. It relied heavily on manual labour and a finely tuned knowledge of the seasons.

During the colder months of autumn, clay was excavated and left to mature until spring. It was then shaped by hand and baked in open kilns through the summer. London’s burgeoning growth, meanwhile, was marked by the proliferation of brickfields in its outskirts and beyond, shaping the very heart of London and its prestigious garden squares.

The Social Fabric of Brickmaking

However, the brickmaking industry was not just about the bricks themselves; it was about the people who made them. These brickmakers, often from humble backgrounds, comprised families that included women and children working long hours, from dawn to dusk.

Their lives were interwoven with the rhythm of the seasons, and their existence was marked by pragmatism and resilience. To cope with the seasonal ebb and flow of work, these brickmakers often turned to alternative forms of sustenance, such as growing vegetables or raising pigs, colloquially known as ‘brickies banks’. Despite the hardships, these family gangs persisted, labouring in conditions that were often hazardous, and even sometimes exploitative.

The brickfields themselves, with their constant heat and open-air kilns, became magnets for the homeless and wayward, and intoxication was commonplace. Stories of workers being paid in beer or at the public houses owned by the brickmakers paint a picture of an industry both bound by tradition and ripe for change.

The Changing Tides of Industry

The end of the 19th century saw the industry beginning to grapple with social and economic changes. Wage disputes, restrictions on child labour, and emerging technological advances threatened to disrupt the traditional brickmaking model.

The advent of the Fletton brick, originating from Peterborough and produced by mechanised means, provided a more economical, robust alternative to the handmade London stock. Initially used for internal structures and non-street-facing exteriors, Fletton bricks gradually eclipsed their handmade counterparts, triggering a decline in the number of traditional brickyards from 3,500 in 1900 to 350 in the mid-1970s.

Reflections and Reverberations

Today, the clamour of London’s brickfields has been replaced by the soft hum of reclaimed brick trading and the pervading echoes of a bygone era. As an architect, I am reminded of the importance of sustainable practices, the human element in construction, and the historical continuity within our industry.

The tale of London’s brickfields underscores the fluidity of our work – the intimate connection between people, place, and the materials we choose to build our world. This narrative enriches our appreciation of the built environment, reminding us that every brick tells a story, a testament to the people and processes behind its creation.

Some Questions + Answers from topics in the book:

How were Victorian bricks made?

A. Bricks during the Victorian era were mostly handmade. Workers extracted ‘brickearth’ clay from the ground, usually about four feet deep. This clay was then left to mature over the winter, shaped into bricks in the spring, and baked in open kilns over the summer.

Why were Victorian bricks yellow?

A. The distinctive yellow hue of Victorian bricks came from the addition of chalk to the clay mixture in the mid-19th century. This not only added the distinctive color but also enhanced the durability of the bricks.

What caused the decline of traditional brickmaking in London?

A. The biggest threat to the traditional London brick industry came with the emergence of the Fletton brick from Peterborough. These bricks, produced through mechanised means, were cheaper and stronger, offering stiff competition to the handmade London stock.

What is a ‘brickies bank’?

A’. Brickies banks’ was a term used to describe the pigs that brickmaking families raised as an alternative source of income during the off-season when brick production was not possible.

What is the relevance of this historical account to modern architecture?

A. Understanding the history of construction materials like bricks provides a deeper appreciation for the buildings we see today and the efforts that went into their creation. This knowledge also underscores the importance of sustainability and the human element in construction, which are vital considerations in contemporary architectural design.

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