red bricks.

quercus

hi all i am just curious to know if anyone can give me a rough age of this red brick, i am assuming its very old as it does'nt seem to have any standard demensions, it looks as if it was made by hand and not in a mould. On one side you can just make out grass impressions on it as if it was shaped up and left on the grass when it was wet for to dry in the sun before firing .its also quite light for its size. i find alot of bits and peices of these red bricks throughout the feilds around here small fragments in boundry banks or sometimes in areas cattle might turn up the sod. im just interested to know if they can be aged, or was brick making common enough for it to be used for small scale dwellings?.
thanks

slowburner

quercus wrote: »

hi all i am just curious to know if anyone can give me a rough age of this red brick, i am assuming its very old as it does'nt seem to have any standard demensions, it looks as if it was made by hand and not in a mould. On one side you can just make out grass impressions on it as if it was shaped up and left on the grass when it was wet for to dry in the sun before firing .its also quite light for its size. i find alot of bits and peices of these red bricks throughout the feilds around here small fragments in boundry banks or sometimes in areas cattle might turn up the sod. im just interested to know if they can be aged, or was brick making common enough for it to be used for small scale dwellings?.
thanks

At a guess, the brick looks pre 1800 to me, but bricks can be difficult to date by appearance only. It is definitely not C19th or later. It is handmade and this would have been in a mould, despite the coarse appearance. It was probably laid out to dry on straw before firing.
Brick making would not have been an activity carried out during this period in everyone's back yard. The light weight may be due to overfiring (vitrification) - this may have been to make a brick capable of withstanding high temperatures for use in a kiln.
It would be worthwhile checking the OSI mapping to see what sort of structures were in the area and which might have been brick built. You might notice pits shown in the area, which could be an indicator of sand or clay extraction for brick manufacture. Kilns are often shown as a small circle without any label on the 1st edition map.
I hope this helps but am open to correction on a date.

bridgetown1

THAT'S MY SISTER'S BROWN BREAD!!!! I SWEAR!!!!

slowburner

bridgetown1 wrote: »

THAT'S MY SISTER'S BROWN BREAD!!!! I SWEAR!!!!

Wit is aways welcome.
This is not wit.

quercus

slowburner wrote: »

At a guess, the brick looks pre 1800 to me, but bricks can be difficult to date by appearance only. It is definitely not C19th or later. It is handmade and this would have been in a mould, despite the coarse appearance. It was probably laid out to dry on straw before firing.
Brick making would not have been an activity carried out during this period in everyone's back yard. The light weight may be due to overfiring (vitrification) - this may have been to make a brick capable of withstanding high temperatures for use in a kiln.
It would be worthwhile checking the OSI mapping to see what sort of structures were in the area and which might have been brick built. You might notice pits shown in the area, which could be an indicator of sand or clay extraction for brick manufacture. Kilns are often shown as a small circle without any label on the 1st edition map.
I hope this helps but am open to correction on a date.

thanks, i took a look at the historic 6inch(1829-41) on the osi website and there does appear to be 2 kilns in the area, and both have dissapeared before the historic 25inch(1897-1913) was drawn up. so i could assume that the brick is possibly connected to these. i love finding out little bits of local info like this and can physically hold a peice of it in my hand.

Aelfric

I love finding old bricks - there's a lot they can tell you if you know what to look for.

Bricks were most commonly fired in clamps, not kilns, until brick manufacture became something of a commercial viability (i.e. easy transport for large quantities).

I've come across several brick clamps in my time, the most recent one was down in a river valley near Cabinteely in Dublin. It was later excvated by a friend of mine - http://www.excavations.ie/Pages/Details.php?Year=&County=Dublin&id=12949

I found another near the Adamstown development, beside the railway in Lucan. Both were found in proximity to a source of good clean clay, and near to large buildings with significant requirements for bricks (chimneys, window opes, door jambs).

Your brick pics show one that would have been located close to the inside of the clamp, near one of the flues, and has thereby been a tad overcooked. Vitrification has occurred of ferrous particles in the core of the brick, giving the shiny spotting in the fabric. The shape is also a bit off (heat-buckled). Bricks such as these were often discarded, or if in decent shape, used to line the hearth area of the fireplace, as they could withstand much higher temperatures.

Look for a large, old building in the vicinity which has brick window surrounds, sills, door jambs and/or chimneys, and see if you can compare brick fabric with the bits and pieces you've found.

Hope this helps.

quercus

Aelfric wrote: »

I love finding old bricks - there's a lot they can tell you if you know what to look for.

Bricks were most commonly fired in clamps, not kilns, until brick manufacture became something of a commercial viability (i.e. easy transport for large quantities).

I've come across several brick clamps in my time, the most recent one was down in a river valley near Cabinteely in Dublin. It was later excvated by a friend of mine - http://www.excavations.ie/Pages/Details.php?Year=&County=Dublin&id=12949

I found another near the Adamstown development, beside the railway in Lucan. Both were found in proximity to a source of good clean clay, and near to large buildings with significant requirements for bricks (chimneys, window opes, door jambs).

Your brick pics show one that would have been located close to the inside of the clamp, near one of the flues, and has thereby been a tad overcooked. Vitrification has occurred of ferrous particles in the core of the brick, giving the shiny spotting in the fabric. The shape is also a bit off (heat-buckled). Bricks such as these were often discarded, or if in decent shape, used to line the hearth area of the fireplace, as they could withstand much higher temperatures.

Look for a large, old building in the vicinity which has brick window surrounds, sills, door jambs and/or chimneys, and see if you can compare brick fabric with the bits and pieces you've found.

Hope this helps.

Great link and the info aelfric,I would have always assumed bricks were fired in klins, clamps are a new concept to me.(googles brick clamps) no buildings around that area now, but there was a large building of some kind near the area where I find the brick peices on the 1841 osi not a trace remains now above ground anyway.

Donalde

I live on top of a site used for producing clay pipes for land drainage (in West Clare). The project was part of a model farm commenced in 1846 and there are still some remnants overground, and maybe a lot underground?. As best I understand, bricks were imported for the first lining of the three kilns, which were underground. Later they tried to make their own bricks, but I have found few samples of good produce (but I suppose that if the burn had been successful, the product would have been sold, and so I would not find it!) I do find huge amounts of debris from the clay pipes which warped or collapsed during the burning. The pipes were, typically 2" o. d. and are often found when land is excavated locally. I believe that the landlord, who lived in Sussex, was copying English model brick-yards when he set up this enterprise, but I have not had much success in finding plans. Neither have I had any success in finding the source of the raw material, which I think was yellow mud, often exposed along river banks, but I cannot identify any pits, where it might have been mined.

Coles

@Donalde, Here's a bit of information on the design of old clay land drains.

Donalde

Thanks Coles,
That pdf explains the D shape of many of the pieces I have, I thought they were just mis-shapen.