Proceedings of the First International Congress on Construction History, Madrid, 20th-24th January 2003,

ed. S. Huerta, Madrid: I. Juan de Herrera, SEdHC, ETSAM, A. E. Benvenuto, COAM, F. Dragados, 2003.

The study of bricks and brickwork in England

since Nathaniel Lloyd

James W. P. Campbell

The first person to write a serious history of English
brickwork was born in 1867 into a comfortable
midd]e-class family in Manchester. Nothing in
Nathaniel Lloyd's early career, which included a spelI
managing advertising and printing in a tea company,
suggested that he had any interest in either
architecture or bricks. In 1893 he went jnto business
for himself, running his own co]our printing firmo
This proved extraordinarily successful and by 1909,
at the age of forty-two, he had made so much money
that he was able to comfortably retire to exercise his
twin passions: shooting and p]aying golf. That might
ha ve been the end of the matter had he not brought an
elderly house ca]led Great Dixter in 1910. The house
was in a very poor state of repair and too sma]1 for
Lloyd's purposes so he set out to find an architect to
help him restore and extend it. He chose Edwin
Lutygens (1869-1944) and thus began a successful
colIaboration which not only ]ed to the completion of
the house itself, but saw the middle-aged Lloyd,
encouraged by his friend and mentor, starting a whole
new career as an architect and architectural historian,
interests that were to dominate the rest of his life. He
went on to design a number of buildings and publish
five books on aspects of architecture and gardening of
which the two most important were A History of
English Brickwork (1925)' and A History of the
English House (1931). Lloyd died in 1933. His wife
continued to live in the house he and Lutygens had
built until her death in 1972 and it is now open to the
public.
A History of English Brickwork was an
extraordinary book being both scho]arly and
profusely-illustrated, a rare combination. Lloyd
brought together for the first time, and quoted at
length, the most important writings on brick from the
seventeenth century onwards. He included detailed
tables of brick measurements, exploding the myth
once and for alI that bricks could be dated from size
alone. Moreover to iJ]ustrate the book he took dozens
of bIack and white photographs of buildings
throughout England (some of which are now the on]y
evidence for the appearance of structures which have
since been demolished) and included careful
measured drawings of key examples. Together these
form three-quarters of the book.
The book remains one ofthe most authoritative and
useful works on the subject today. Indeed Lloyd was
in so many ways a pioneer in the study of brickwork,
that many still assume he has had the last word on the
subject. Even today A History ofEnglish Brickwork is
often the on]y work on bricks to appear on architect's
bookshelves and the one they are most likely to cite in
discussion. Yet a great deal of research into the
history of brickwork in England has been done in the
past seventy-seven years since Lloyd's book
appeared in 1925. It is this research that forms the
subject of the current paper, the aim of which is
twofold: firstly, by reviewing the literature available,
to show how scholarship has developed since Lloyd
as a useful guide for those looking for more
information on the subject; and second, and more
480 J. W. P. Campbell
importantly, to indicate those areas which seem to
have been ignored.
Before commencing on such an enterprise it is
worth noting that the scope of this article is limited to
the history of brickwork. Modern textbooks on the
subject of bricklaying or brickmaking are excluded
except where they might be of interest to the historian
looking at periods before Lloyd. Now that we are into
the twenty-first century, study of the twentieth
century becomes ever more important and such
textbooks will no doubt become the historical sources
of tomorrow, but this is a paper on historiography
rather than a survey of historical sources. Terracotta
and tiles are excluded as not being strictl y brick.
Geographically 1 have confined myself to research
done on English architecture chiefly because that was
the subject of Lloyd's book, although 1 have extended
the area to cover Scotland and Wales where this
seemed appropriate. British researchers have written
on brickwork beyond their shores, most notably in
reports on archaeological projects on ClassicaJ and
ancient civilisations in Europe and the near and Far
East, but this material has not been systematically
collated and remains fragmentary.2
BOOKS AND GENERAL WORKS ON THE HISTORY
OF BUILDING CONSTRUCTION
Although there had already been a number of books
seeking to set out the methods of building
construction in various periods, the history of
building construction before Lloyd was still a minor
area of interest compared to the extensive studies
carried out into architectural style. The field of
construction history was noticeably better deveJoped
in France, for instance, than it was in England. This
was one of the reasons Lloyd's work was exceptional.
Construction history was to remain a field of minor
interest in Britain for the first seventy-five years of
the twentieth century. The expertise existed, but it
rarely found its way into print. Nevertheless a few
isolated general studies on the history of building
construction did appear during this period and these
normally included chapters on both brickwork and
mortars. The introductory nature of these studies
naturally meant that the amount of new research
carried out into brickwork in particular was limited
and most relied on secondary sources (often for brick
by citing Lloyd) but they did play an important part in
setting brick in the context of the building industry as
a whole.
Briggs (1925) and Davey (1961) were two of the
broadest studies covering the whole world. Davey
focused on building materials and contains an
interesting study of mortars while Briggs, whose
work carne out in the same years as Lloyd's book,
followed a craft based approach. Both are now out of
date. Alec Clifton Taylor (1972) focused on entirely
on English building materials. It remains a valuable
introduction to the subject and a model of erudition,
although it is great pity that, for a book on the colour
and richness of materials, all the illustrations were
printed in black and white. Clifton Taylor went on to
produce a number of titles on individual materials
including one with Ron Brunskill that focused
entirely on brick discussed below.
Very useful studies of individual periods of English
construction history have appeared which do an
excellent job of summarising previous scholarship.
For the Medieval period Salzman (1952) remains an
invaluable survey of the terms used and costs involved
in Medieval building work compiled from an
extensive search of building accounts. It remains the
most important survey of the period in this respect.
Malcolm Airs (1995) provided a similar analysis of
the state of the building world in the Tudor periodo No
comparative survey exists for the seventeenth
century. The eighteenth century has been well
researched starting with Dan Cruikshank and Peter
Wyld's beautifully illustrated London: the Art of
Georgian Building (1975) and more recently James
Ayres Building the Georgian City (1998). Cruikshank
and Wyld (1975) provide invaluable drawings and
photographs of many buildings of the period which
have since been lost, while Ayres (1998), as well as
providing an excellent overview, reprints in co10ur
many contemporary illustrations from the period and
later providing a useful source for visual references.
The complexity of the nineteenth century seems to
have discouraged English scholars from writing
general works on building construction for this period
although perhaps not surprisingly it has attracted
more interest in America. What has been written
tends to be in volumes devoted to particular material s,
those on brick being noted below. A very useful
survey of building construction in the twentieth
century is found in Yeomans (1997).
 The study of bricks and brickwork in England since Nathaniel Lloyd
GENERAL BOOKS ON BRICKS AND BRICKWORK
There have been disappointingJy few books devoted
entirely to tbe history of EngJish brickworks since
Lloyd. Of the general studies that have appeared tbe
most important is undoubtedly Professor Ron
Brunskill's Brick Building in Britain (1997) which
was designed as a revision of and replacement for an
earlier work, English Brickwork (1977), which he had
co-authored with Alec Clifton- Taylor. Brick Building
contains chapters on the history of brickmaking,
bricklaying, an excel!ent glossary and sections on
brickwork of difIerent periods. It is a model of
research and cautious in its approach. Three short
appendices, one on brick tax, one on cavity walls and
one on brick in Scotland are model essays on their
subjects. It still remains the best summary of
scholarship on the subject and essential reading for al!
those looking for an introduction and contains an
excellent bibliography.
Woodforde's Bricks to Build a House (1976) is an
enjoyable introduction to the subject, but has a rather
cavalier attitude to historical facts. It was designed
with the interested layman in mind rather Ihan the
scholar or conservation professional. Where it does
have value is in its illustrations, particuJarly its
collection of useful nineteenth century engravings.
More cautious in its approach is Hammond (1981)
which provides an excellent introduction to all
aspects of brickmaking, but at only thirty-two pages
long is too slim to go into any depth.
More recent]y Andrew Plumridge and Wim
Meulenkamp's Brickwork (1993) has provided an
overview of all aspects of brickwork across the globe
ilIustrated by lavish colour photographs and including
an excellent forty page section on construction and
materials and a short history. Plumridge is EngJish
while MeuJenkamp is Dutch. The book is thus an
unusual example of international collaboration, which
is surely something that should be encouraged.
Nevertheless some reviews of Ihe work have been
Jess than complimentary about its scholarship
(T. P. Smith 1994b).
AIso worth mentioning are Gerard Lynch's
Brickwork (1994), John Warren's Conservation (if
Brick (1999) and volume two of John and Nicola
Ashursts' Practical Building Conservation (1988), all
books that are aimed at the conservation architect.
These provide information on the technical side of
481
brickwork restoration, together with short histories of
brickwork.
Lastly, two American books are worthy of note
because they have direct bearing on English
brickwork. The first is Karl Gurcke's Bricks and
Brickmaking: a Handhook of Historical Archaeology
(1987). Its primary focus is on the development of
brickwork in America, but it does pro vide insights
into the mechanisation of brickwork in England and
includes an invaluable guide on distinguishing bricks
made using different factory methods. The second is
Joseph Arnold Foster's Contrihutions to the Study of
Brickmaking in America printed in six volumes from
1962 to 1971 which, despite its title, de votes the first
four vo]umes to reprinting exclusively English
sources from 1600-1850. Unfortunately the book was
privately printed in runs of two hundred copies or
less, making it almost as hard to get hold of as most
of the sources it is reprinting.
Dictionaries and Enclyclopaedias
A survey of every entry in every dictionary under
brick or brickmaking would be unlikely to yield
anything of interest, but one entry that is worth
mentioning is the excellent section in the Grave
Dictionary of Art (Turner, 1996) under "brickwork»
which includes contributions on moulding, firing,
bonding, diapering, and sections on the history of
brick in various parts of the world.
As far as 1 know, no-one has thought to produce a
dictionary exclusively devoted to brickwork, which
would undoubtedly be useful, although probably not
a bestseller. The closest 1 have come across is
Searle's three volume An Encyclopaedia of the
Ceramic lndustries published in 1929, but this
contains no information on the history of the brick.
DETAILED STUDIES OF BRICKS AND BRICKWORK
SINCE LLOYD
There is a growing cal! among architects, engineers
and others working in the conservation world for
better books on construction history. Professionals in
these fields have little time to visit libraries during the
working day and frequently find scattered papers in
academic joumals toa difficult to find to make it
482 J. W. P. Campbell
worth their while. Lloyd's book was aimed atjust this
audience. Yet ironically it is in the area of academic
papers that Lloyd' s work has done the most to
encourage publication while the popularity of his
book has acted as an obstacle to the publication of
further books on the subject. Scholarship has moved
on and this may be about to change. A group of
enthusiasts originally centred around Laurance
S. Harley (1901-1983) have acted as a catalyst for
encouraging research since 1972 and are leading
research into brickwork.'
The British Brick Societv started with just four
members members: Laurance.S. Harley (who was an
engineer by training but involved in archaeology),
Geoffrey Hines (a humanities lecturer in Adult
Education), Ron J.Firman (a lecturer in geology at
Nottingham University) and a young archaeologist
from Sto John's College, Cambridge called Terence P.
Smith. It was partly conceived as a specialist study
group of the British Archaeological Association. but
from the outset it welcomed members from any
background. Its constitution set out a number of aims
including: the study of bricks and brickwork from
Roman times to the present day; some investigation
of the precursors of the baked blick; the study of
continental bricks and brickwork; the encouragement
of a multi-discipJinary approach including
archaeological, architectural and scientific studies of
the material and its uses; the investigation of
geological, physical and chemical ways of dating
bricks; the preservation and conservation of
brickwork; and the establishment of a system of
archives and records on the subject which would be
made accessible to the publico
From the outset the group produced a regular
newsheet simply termed lnformation. Both the
newsheet (now a full-blown journal). lt is currently
produced three to tour times ayear and sent to
subscribing members and major libraries. has since its
conception been one of the most important outlets for
research on the subject, intermixed with more general
queries and observations. lt also contains regular
reviews of relevant literature. Many of the Society's
members pubJish in other journals devoted to
particular subjecls and since 1973 publications on
brickwork have increased noticeably to the extent that
it is possible here only to summarise the exlent of
present knowledge and to review key ¡¡¡,ticles on
particular subjects which in turn provide funher
bibliographies which the interested scholar can
tollow up on particular topics. The rest of the paper
will be devoted to tracing how these and other papers
have advanced scholarship in various areas since
Lloyd, starting with brickmaking, then social and
economic studies, geological and scientific studies
and finally the study of bricklaying and architectural
brickwork. The aim is to provide a clear overview of
the subject as it now stands in order to highlight those
areas that could benefit from further research.
BRICKMAKING THROUGH THE AGES
The baking of bricks to use in building construction
has a very long history but the story of brickmaking
in Britain begins with the Romans. Lloyd pointed this
out. but as the full title of his book suggests, his
treatment of Roman bricks was brief and even Clifton
Taylor writing in 1972 could add little of substance.
Since that time, however, the study of Roman bricks
has advanced hugely. The Romans stamped some of
their bricks with distinguishing marks which can be
used for dating. Brick stamps have thus proved
invaluable in archaeology and there is a large
literature on lhe subject. A series of excellent articles
summarising scholarship (including excavations of
major kiln sites) are collected in McWhirr (1979).
Roman brick production in Britain is reviewed in
Darvill and McWhirr (1984) which also provides an
extensive bibliography. A further summary of all this
material and a longer bibJiography can be found in
Gerald Brodribb's Roman Brick and Tile (1987)
which despite its title is entirely devoted to bricks
produced in Britain under Roman occupalion. The
Roman legions appear to have been responsible for
running brickyards in Britain. so that when they left,
the craft of brickmaking went with them.
The Anglo-Saxons and Normans were content to
re-use scavcnged Roman bricks on various buildings
(for instance St Botolph's Priory, Colchester and St
Albans Abbey). A distribution map of such instances
is given in Smith (1996) and a discussion in Smith
(2001). Brickmaking was not revived until the end of
the twelfth century when new bricks appear to have
been used in Polstead Church in Sul'folk and Little
Coggeshall Abbey, Essex a few miles away (Lloyd
had mentioned Coggeshall in his book). A nearby
brick kiln is said lo have been excavated in the
 The study of bricks and brickwork in England since Nathaniel Lloyd
nineteenth century and destroyed. The Coggeshall
brickwork is reviewed in J. S. Gardner (1955).
Polstead is noted in Wight (1972) and reviewed in
Kennett (J 990).
Medieval brickmaking has been extensiveJy
studied by T. P. Smith in his The Medieval Brick-
making Industry in England 1400-1450 (1 985b)
which has a good bibliography of both English and
Dutch secondary literature. Salzman (1956) provided
an introduction to terms used in the period while the
accounts of the medieval kiJns in Hull are analysed in
Brooks (1939). Excellent summaries of the medieval
brickmaking industry are also found in Drury (1981)
and Moore (1991).
Although the brick earth was dug and mixed by
hand, the exact method of moulding is not recorded
and has been widely discussed.4 Once moulded the
bricks were set out to dry before firing. Both the
methods of stacking and moulding Jeave marks on the
bricks which were discussed in Hammond (1986) and
Firman (1986).
Medieval pottery and tile kiJns have survived,5 but
no specific brick kilns from the period have been
excavated to date. Clamps were also used for firing
bricks in the Middle ages but by their nature they
leave little trace behind them.
Brickmaking in the late fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries is surveyed by Howard (1991). By the
seventeenth century, brick was widespread and used
for smaUer houses and churches ]eading to an
increase in production. The first printed references to
bricklaying and brickmaking (some 01' which were
printed by Lloyd), appear in England in this period
and are listed in Campbell & Saint (2002). Since
Lloyd' s time three important manuscript sources have
been published, namely the accounts associated with
Christopher Wren published in the twenty volumes 01'
the Wren Society (1924--43) and the notebooks of
Roger Pratt (Gunther 1928) and Roger North (Colvin
and Newman 1981).
The Great Fire of London in 1666 and the
numerous fires in other towns around the country
prompted increased ]egislation in favour of brick over
more-flammable timber-framing. Some 01' the
London reguJations were reprinted in Lloyd, but
T. P. Smith has since shown that they were rare]y
followed (Smith 2000a). Brickmaking after the Great
Fire is discussed in Cox (1989), (1997) and Yeomans
(1987). Accounts for brick supplies for Hampton
483
Court are discussed in Musty (1991) and for the West
MidJands in Whitehead (1981). A seventeenth-
century contract for brickmaking is reprinted in
Kelsall (1983).
Ki]ns have be en excavated from the seventeenth
century and Iater (see Drury 1975) as have clamps
(see Wade (1980) and the photographs of a clamp
excavation in London in Ponsford and Jackson (1997,
316-317) and the notes in Ponsford and J ackson
(1995.179).)
One 01'the innovations in this period was the use of
ash added to clay to make London «stocks». Their
manufacture is discussed in Cox (1989) and (1997). A
general description 01' brickmaking in the Georgian
period together with illustrations can found in Ayres
(1998).
By the eighteenth century mapmaking had
progressed to the extent that brickmaking sites are
discernable. 1t has thus been possible to compile
regional gazetteers of brickmaking sites for the
period c.1700-the present, with some earIier sites
being 10cated from other sources. Those gazetteers
that have already been completed are reviewed in
Kennett (1999) and (2000). They often provide
detailed local histories of brickmaking and tend to be
done by county. The first to be compiJed was
Hampshire (White 1971), fol1owed by Bedfordshire
(Cox 1979), Buckinghamshire (Pike 1980),
Oxfordshire (Bond, Gosling & Rhodes 1980),
Suffolk (Pankhurst 1988), Somerset (Murless 1991),
Sussex (Beswick 1993), and Essex (Ryan 1999). A
separate study (Doug]as & Oglethorpe 1993) covers
all of Scotland. Loca] studies 01' individua] districts
in Surrey, North-East Hampshire, Acton, Burton-on-
Trent and around Ascot are also listed in Kennett
(1999).
From 1784 until 1850 bricks were taxed in
England. The tax had a number 01' important effects
on the industry. As the tax was imposed per brick it
led to an increase in the size of bricks until this was
countered by further Jegislation (Exwood 1981 a).
There have been a number of studies of the effect of
the tax, most notably: Exwood (l981a) and (198Ib),
Shannon (1934, J88-201), Smith (1 992a), Smith
(1993), and Smith (1994a). A summary is included in
Brunskil1 (1997, 192-93). The myth that the brick tax
led to the introduction 01' so-called «mathematical
tiles» (thin ti]es which look like bricks) has been
disproved by Smith (] 979) and (1985a); and Exwood,
484 J. W. P. Campbell
(1981 b), (1985a) and (1987V Kennett (2001) deals
with why the tax was abolished.
Lloyd's interest in the development ofbrickmaking
ended at the end of the Georgian periodo Of course
today the interests of many researchers begin where
Lloyd left off. In the nineteenth century brickmaking
began to mechanise. The shift was a slow process and
bricks were still being made by hand into the
twentieth century and in isolated instances they are
still made by hand today. The first treatise on
brickmaking to show mechanisation was written by
Edward Dobson in 1850 and was reprinted in full
with a useful introduction and bibJiography in Celoria
(1971). Because of the longevity of many techniques
some early twentieth century books for the
contemporary brickmaker also provide useful sources
for nineteenth century practice. This is certainly the
case with Alfred Searle' s Modern Brickmaking
(which was first published in 1911 and went through
no fewer than four editions before 1956) and the
entries found in building manuals by McKay and
Mitchell noted in Brunskill (1997, 199).
Kilns underwent great changes in the nineteenth
century. Details of types of kiln and c1amp can be
found in Celoria (1971), Hammond (1977, 198],
1984a, ] 984b, 1987 and 1988) and Searle (1911).
Hamer and Les]ie (1991) and Andrews (1986)
pro vide details of two very different types of works
and Ryan (2000) gives a list 01' references to
nineteenth and twentieth century manufacturers
published in the last thirty years in lnformation.
Histories of individual companies have also been
pubJished, most notab]y those by Hillier (1981),
Christian (1990) and Cassell (1990).
A great number of Patent bricks were invented in
the nineteenth century. Hammond (2000) looks at
Cartwright's «lnterlocking Bricks». Smith (2002)
provides a survey of the use of «Hiort Patent bricks»
and Storey (1970) ]ooks at «Hitch Patent Bricks».
Many others have been mentioned in passing in
various articles in BBS lnformation and listed in the
index (Ryan 2000)
BrickIayers and brickmakers: socio-economic
studies
Despite the fact that much information in the form of
building accounts survives from the Middle Ages
onwards to al10w a detailed picture of the economic
status of the building craftsmen, there has been
comparatively ]ittle analysis of this data. Medieval
accounts are reviewed in Salzman (1952), Smith
(1985b) and Moore (1991). The situation in post-
medieval northern Britain is discussed in Woodward
(1995) and in London for a similar period in
Summerson (1945) and McKellar (1997). The
eighteenth-century situation is discussed briet1y in
Shannon (1934), Smith (1984) and Ayres (1998). A
treatment of the changes in the economic structure of
the industry in the period can be found in Clarke
(1992) and for the nineteenth and twentieth centuries
in Powell (1980). The publication of specific building
accounts are mentioned under bricklaying below.
Guilds undoubtedly played an important part in
regulating early medieval urban brickmaking and
bricklaying. Guild records survive in many towns in
Britain but virtually nothing has been written on the
subject. A list of the apprentices taken from the books
of the London Tylers' and Bricklayers' Company is
published in Webb (1996) and is mainly intended for
genealogists. Bell (1938) provides a short history of
the London Company. The rules and regulations of
the guild in Hull had been reprinted before Lloyd in
Lambert (1891,272-282).
GEOLOGY ANO ANALYSIS OF BRICKS
L. S Harley, founder of the British Brick Society, was
keen to see the development of better methods
recording and analysis of bricks discovered during
archaeological investigations. He set out his own
detailed method for recording bricks in The Journal
of the British Archaeological Association in 1974 and
this remains the most detailed typology yet set out,
a1though it is rarely followed in practice. A rare
example of the type of analysis Harley envisaged can
be found in Ryan and Andrews (1993) which is
reprinted in Warren (1999, 59-68).
One of Harley's recommendations was that the
type of c1ay should be recorded. There has been
a great deal published on the selection of c1ays for
the modern brickmaking industry but comparatively
little has been written on the analysis of c1ay for
determining the origin of bricks. The foremost
advocates of this practice are husband and wife team
Ron and Pat Firman who first called for this approach
 The study of bricks and brickwork in England since Nathaniel Lloyd
in an article in Mercian Geologist in 1967.
Subsequent articles on the same subject inc]ude
SmalJey (1987), Firman and Firman (1989), Finnan
(1994), and Firman (1998). Sadly geologica] analysis
of bricks has not been generalJy taken up although
one fine examp]e of an investigation of this type is
found in Pavia et al (2000).
BRICKWORK
Nathaniel Lloyd's English Brickwork had included
detai]ed drawings and photographs of surviving
bui]dings from the period of the Middle Ages up to
circa ] 800. Lloyd undoubtedly saw his book as being
about architecture and for architects and the same
attitude was taken by many of the books which
we have already discussed. In such a scenario
brickmaking is important in relation to how bricks are
used, yet in the literature on brickmaking the focus is
on the brick as a product of an industrial process.
Many of the British Brick Society's members are or
have been involved in brickmaking or are active
collectors of bricks as artefacts and it is perhaps
inevitable that their interests lie primarily in the
history of production rather than use. Architectural
historians meanwhile tend to come from an art history
background and are both less interested in building
techno]ogy and more prone to focus on architectural
sty]e. Nevertheless studies of the use of bricks in
buildings do exist and are worth briefly reviewing
here.
On the Middle Ages Jane Wight (1972) provided a
useful survey of the major buildings constructed
before l550, updated for Eastern England by HarJey
(1975/76), and Kennett (1988 ). T. P. Smith's analysis
of the Rye House, Hertfordshire (Smith, 1975)
provides an excelJent examp]e of how recording
should be carried out. The accounts for Caister Castle
were published in Barnes and Simpson (1952), and
those for Tatershal castIe, in Simpson (1960). A
portfolio of full size drawings of brick details was
produced by Sma]] and Woodbridge (1931).
Regular bonding in English brickwork seems to
have been a relatively late development. An excellent
analysis of the types of bonding employed and their
distribution can be found in Brian (1972) and (1980).
On the use of Flemish bond (an eady 17th century
innovation) see Kennett (1984). Diaper patterns were
485
popular in the Tudor periodo Studies of diapering are
found in Smith (1985b) and (1992b). The subject of
brick infill in timber buildings (nogging) which was
widespread in this period is discussed in McCann
(1987).
The great innovations of the seventeenth century
were the shaped gable, flemish bond, and rubbed and
gauged brickwork. The foreign origin of shaped
gables was discussed in Hitchcock (1978) and their
importation to England in Kuyper (1980). For the
general Dutch influence on English brickwork see
Perciva] (1989). For afine example of analysis of a
surviving seventeenth-century bui]ding can be found
in Smith (2000b) and an analysis of bricklayers'
contracts from the period in CampbelJ (2002).
An explanation of the methods used in gauged
brickwork is found in Lynch (1990). A detailed study
of this subject is overdue, aJthough a number of
excelJent examples are recorded in Cruikshank and
Wyld (1975) and Small and Woodbridge (1931).
From the nineteenth century onwards the
involvement of architects in the design and
specification of brickwork means that studies of the
subject are usua]]y inc1uded in works on the architects
themselves. Studies ot'brickwork in isolation are rare.
One important innovation of this period was the
cavity wall which was to become the standard way of
building brick walls by the midd]e of the twentieth
century. An excelJent account of its development and
bibliography are provided in Brunski]] (1997
193-]96). The best historica] accounts ofthe general
use of brickwork in Britain since 1900 have been
provided in Yeomans (1997) and Kennett (2001 a,
2001 b, & 2002).
SUMMARV: GAPS IN THE LITERATURE
From this a]] too brief survey of the literature of the
history of bricks and brickwork in England a number
of clear gaps in the literature become immediate]y
apparent. For the Middle Ages much has already been
done on manufacturing, but remains to be done on the
recording and use of brick, on the types of clay
employed and on the intluence of the guilds. For the
later periods there are many gazetteers for counties
still to be written. A proper historical study on the
history of the brick kiln for not just England but
across the globe is overdue. 10 date, there has to been
486 J. W. P. Campbell
little written on the manufacturers, suppliers and
types of brickmaking machinery that appeared in the
nineteenth century and how they were taken up.
There has been no publication of English makers
marks lO parallel that for America in Gurcke (1987)
des pite the fact that this would be invaluable for
dating building fabrico The fascinating subject of
Patent bricks is worthy of a book in its own and has
hardly been tOLlched upon.
Studies of brickwork are less common than those
of brickmaking. There is much work still to be done
on bonding patterns and their distribution and on the
development of pointing and mortar used. Brickwork
is rarely carefully recorded in contrast to timber
framing, for instance, and there seem to be no
generally recognised guidelines on how such
recording should be carried out. Lastly, but by no
means least, the chemical, geological and physical
analysis of bricks is an area that still remains to be
developed.
Today the brick industry is struggling. lt has
enormous capacity but it is facing a decreasing
demand for its products. Some might say that this is
self-imposed as the bricks the industry produces have
become less appealing and the manufacturers less
t1exible in reacting to what architects want, but
architects themselves are poorly informed of the
advantages and possibilities of brickwork and there
are fewer and fewer skilled bricklayers to carry the
work out. The history of bricks and brickwork does
not hold al! the answers to these problems, but a
better Llnderstanding of it is at least important in
providing a framework for discLlssion.
NOTES
1. The tull title is A History 01' English Brickwork. with
Examples al1(l Notes 01' the Architectural Use and
Manipula/ion 01'Brick.fi'om Mediaeval Times to the end
of the Georgian Periodo The book has becn republished
lwice since. The first reprint abridged by Leslic
Mansfield in 1934 omitted piclurcs and reduced lhe
tex\. It is to be avoided. The second reprint by lhe
Antique Collectors Club issued in 1983 is a complete
facsimile 01' the originaL
2. An exccllent French guide to papers on brickwork in
Mesopotamia has recently appeared inc1uding an
extensive bibliography (Sauvage, 1998). As far as 1
know such studies have yet to be written for China. SE
Asia, and India. The British have noticeably lagged
behind in the study 01' European brickwork and with the
exception of artic1es on Dutch architecture I know of
little 01' substance in this field.
3. The history 01'the Society is taken from Kennett (1993).
4. Certain types 01' moulding lead lo «sunken margins» the
origin 01' which were discussed in a number 01' articles
1isted in and concluding with Betts (1996).
5. For an example see Drury and Pratt (1975).
6. See also Nail (1996).
REFERENCE LIST
Airs. Malcolm. 1995. The making of the English coul1try
hm/se. 1500-1640. London: Architectural Press.
Ashurst, J. and N. 1988. Practical Building Conservation
Volume 2. Aldershot: Gower Technical.
Ayres. James 1998. Building the Georgian City. London:
Yale.
Barnes, H. D. and W. D. Simpson. 1952. Building Accounts
01' Caister Castle, 1432-1435. NorfíJlk Archaeologv, 30.
178-88.
Bell, Walter. 1938. A Short HistOlY of fhe WorshipjÚI
Company ofTilers and Bricklayers o1'the Cif}' ofLondo/!.
London: H.G.Montgomery.
Beswick, M. 1986. Dual Occupations. BBS Infím/!atio/!, 34,
14-15.
Beswick, M. 1993. Brickmaki/!g i/! Sussex: a Historical
Gazetteer. Midhurst: Middleton.
Betts. L M. 1996. New Thoughts on Sunken Margins, BES
Information, 68, 6-10.
Bond, 1, S. Gosling and J. Rhodes. J980. The Clayworkers
of Oxfordshire: OxjÓrdslÚre Brickmakers. Woodstock:
Oxford Museum Service.
Brian, Anthea. 1972. A regional survey 01' brick bonding in
England and Wales. Vernacular Architecture. 3, 11-15.
Brian. Anthea. 1980. The distribution 01' brick bonds in
England up to 1800. Vemacular Archifecture, 11, 3-10.
Briggs, Martin S. 1925. A Short History of the Buildi/!g
Cra1'ts. Oxford; Clarendon.
Brodribb, G. 1987. Roman Brick al1(l Tile. Gloucester:
Sutton.
Brooks, F. W. 1939. A Medieval Brick- Y ard at Hull.
JOLlmal of fhe Brifish Archaeological AS.l'ociation, 3nl
series, 4, 151-74.
Brunskill, R. W. and Alee Clifton-Taylor. 1977. English
Brickwork. London: Ward Lock.
Brunskill, R. W. 1997. Brick Building in Britai/!, London:
Victor Gol1ancz
Campbell, J. W. P. 2002. Seventeenth-Century Bricklayers'
Contracts: Wren's City Churches. BBS lnjÓrmation. 87.
10-21.
 The study of bricks and brickwork in England since Nathaniel Lloyd 487

Campbell, J. W. P. and A. Saint. 2002. A Bibliography of Firman, R. J. 1986. Techniques for drying bricks -a
Works on Brick published in England before 1750. critical appraisal of the evidcnce. BBS Informalion. 39,
Conslruction Hislory, 17, 17-30. 8-13.
Cassell, Michael. 1990. Dif( 11,Bum 11, SeU It': the Storv of Friman, R. J. 1994. Thc Colour 01' Brick in Historie
Ibstoek Johnsen 1825-1990. London: Pencorp. Building. BRS InjÓrmalion. 61, 3-9.
Celoria, F. 1971. E.Dobson's A Rudimentary Treatise on the Firman, R. J. 1998. Gault: a geologist's caulionary
Manufacture 01' Bricks and Tiles, 1850. .Iournal of tale..RBS InfÓrmation, 74,4-13.
Ceramic Hislory. 5, 1971. Firman, R. J. and P. E. Firman.1967.A geologieal approach
Christian, Roy. 1990. Butterlev brick: 200 years in the to the stUdy 01' medieval bricks. Men'ian Geologist, 2 &
makinf(. London : Henry Melland, 1990. 3,299-318.
Clarke, L 1992. Bui/dinf( Craftsmen. London: Routledge. Firman, R. J. and P. E. Firman.1989. Loessic brickearth and
Clifton- Taylor, Alec. 1972. The Pattem ofEnf(/ish buildinf(. the location of early pre-Refonnation brick buildings in
London: Faber & Faber. England -an altcrnative interpretation. BBS
Colvin, H. and J. Newman. 1981. ()f Building' ROf(er InfÓrmation. 47,4-14.
North's Writin¡;s on Arehileeture. Oxford: Clarendon. Foster, Joseph A. 1962-71. Contriblltions to the Stlldy of
Cox, Alan. 1979. Survey of Redjárdshire: Briekmakin¡;: a Brickmaking in Ameriea. Claremont, USA: private.
History and Ga~etteer. London: Bedfordshire County Gardncr. J. S. 1955. Coggeshall Abbey and its Early
Counci!, RCHM. Brickwork. Joumal Rritish Archaeolofi.\' Assoeialion, 3'"
Cox, Alan. ] 989. Brick to Build a Capital. In Good and Series, 18, 19-32.
proper materials : Ihe jabrie of London sinee Ihe Great Gunther, R. T. ed. 1928. The Archilecture of Sir Roger
Fire, edited by H. Hobhouse and A. Saunders, 3-] 7. Pratt. Oxford, private.
London : The Royal Commission on the Historical Gureke, Kar1. 1987. Bricks a/1{I Brickmakilzf(: a Handbook
Monuments of England in association with the London jÓr Historical Archaeolog.". Moscow, Idaho, USA:
Topographical Society. University 01' Idaho Press.
Cox, A. 1997, A Vital Component: Stock Bricks in Hammond, Martin. ] 977. Brick kilns: an illustrated survey.
Georgian London, CrJ!1struclion Historv. 13, 57-66. Indllstrial Arehaeology Rel'iew, 1 & 2, 171-92.
Cruickshank, Dan and Peter Wyld. 1975. London: the Art of Hammond, Martin. 1981. Bricks and Brickmaking. Princes
Georf(ian Building London: Architectural Press. Risborough: Shire Publications.
Darvil, T. and A. McWhirr. 1984. Brick and tile production in Hammond, Martin. 1983. Scottish Bricks. RBS InfÓnnalion,
Roman Britain, World Archaeology. 15, no. 3, 239-261. 31. ]6-18.
Davey, N. 1961. A Hi,\'lory of Buildinf( Materials. London: Hammond, Martin. 1984a. Brick kilns -an illustrated
Phoenix House. survey- [] Clamps. BBS Informalion, 33. 3-6.
Douglas, G. and M. Oglethorpe. 1993. Rrids, Ti/es (/Izd Hamrnond, Martin. 1984b. Brick and Tiles Kiln, Stanmore,
FireelllY Industries in Seotland. Edinburgh: Royal Middlesex. RBS InjÓrmalion, 33,13-14.
Commission on Ancient and Historical Monumcnts of Hammond, Martin. 1986. Brick mou]ding and animal
Scotland. footprints, Stanmore, Middlesex. BBS InjÓnnalioil, 38,
Drury, P. J. 1975, Post-Medieval Brick and Ti]e Kilns at 17-18
Runsel] Grcen. Danbury. Essex. Post-Medieval Hamrnond, Martin. 1987. Bcech Hirst, Poole. RBS
Arehlleology. 9, 203-211. Information, 42, 4.
Drury, P. 1. 1981. Thc production of brick and tjJe in Hamrnond, Martin. 1988. More about kilns. BRS
medieval England. In Medieval Induslr\" CBA Report InfÓrmalion. 44, 13- 16.
No. 40, editcd by D.W. Crossley, London : Council for Hamrnond, Martin. 2000. Edmund Cartwright's
British Archacology, 126-42 Interlocking Bricks. RBS InjÓrmatioil. 79, 26.
Drury, P. J. and E. G. D. Pratt. 1975. A Late Harley, L. S. 1974. A typology 01' brick with numerical
13'" and Early
14'" Century Tile Factory at Danbury, Essex. Medieval coding 01' brick charactcristics. Joumal of the British
A rehaeolo¡;v. 19, 92-1 M. Arclweolof(ical Associalion. 38,63-87.
Exwood, Mauricc. 1981 a. The Brick Tax and Large Bricks. Harlcy, L. S. 1975/76. Bricks 01' eastern England to the cnd
BRS InfÓrmlllion, 24. 5-7. of the Middle Ages. Essex JOllmal. 10, 4, 131-41.
Exwood. Mauricc. 1981 b. Mathematical Tiles. Vemaclllllr Hanner, J. and K. Leslie. 1991. Brid and Tile-making at
Arehiteeture, 12, 48-53. Ashbllrnham, Sussex. Chichestcr: Weald and Downland
Exwood, Maurice. 1985. More on mathematical tiles. BRS Muscum.
Inj(mnlllioll, 37. 16-18. Hillicr, R. 1981. C/cn' thal bllms: (/ hislorv of the jlctton
Exwood, Maurice. 1987. Mathematical tiles-thc latest count. brid indllstry. London: London Brick Company.
BBS 1n,(ormatiol1. 4 \, \ \ - \ 3. Hitchcock. Hcnry-RusselL 1978. Netherlandish Scro//ed
488 1. W. P. Campbell

Gables of the Sixteenth and Early Seventeenth Centuries. Musty, J. 1991. Brick Kilns and Brick and Tile Suppliers
New York: New York University Press. to Hampton Court. Archaeological Joumal, 147,
Howard, Maurice. 1991. Brick Building in England: the State 411-19.
of present Research. Le Chantiers de la Renaissance, Nail, N. 1996. The Ewell Symposium on Mathematical Ti1es
edited by Jean Guillaume, 105-112. Paris: Picard.. of November 1981 Revisited and the Ewell Symposium
Kelsall, Frank. 1983. A brick-making agreement of 1693. PapeLBBS Information, 67,3-14.
Vemacular Architecture. 14.48-9. Pankhurst, C. 1. \988. Brick Kilns in Suffo1k. Supplement 10
Kennett, David H. 1984. Rat-trap bond and Flemish Bond. the Joumal of' the Suffolk Industrial Archaeological
BBS Information, 34, 18. Society.
Kennett. David H. 1988. Some early brick houses. BBS Pavia, J., J. Bolton, G. Walker, P. Maln, and T. Dunphy.
Information, 45, 4-5. 2000. The Brick in Portumna Cast1e, County Galway,
Kennett, David H. 1990. Polstead Church, Suffolk. BBS Ireland,BBS Information, 80,5-10.
InfÓrmation, 50, 9-16. Percival, A. 1989. Netherlandish Intluence on English
Kennett, David H. 1993. The Society Comes of Age. BBS Vernacular Architecture -Some Considerations. BBS
InfÓrmation, 59, 3-13. InfÓrmation, 47, 15-20.
Kennett, David H. 1999. The County Gazetteer: a Review Pike, A. 1980. Gazetteer of Buckinghamshire Brickyards.
Artide. BBS Information, 78,4-13. Ay1esbury: Buckinghamshire County Museum.
Kennett, David H. 2000. Brickmaking Gazetteers. BBS P1umridge, A. and W. Meu1enkamp. 1993. Brickwork:
Information, 79, 4--8. Architecture and Design. London: Studio Vista.
Kennett, David H. 200 la. Brick and Its Uses in the Ponsford, M. and R. Jackson. 1995, Post-medieval Britain
Twentieth Century Part One: The Public Sphere, and Ire1and 1994, Post-Medieval Archaeology, 29,
1895-1919. BBS Injormation, 83,4-24. 113-93.
Kennett, David H. 2001b. Brick and lts Uses in the Ponsford, M. and R. Jackson. 1997, Post-medieval Britain
Twentieth Century Part Two: The Private Sphere. BBS and lreland 1996, Post-Medieval Archaeol, 31,257-332.
Information, 84, 7-22. Powell, A. G. 1980. An Economic History of the British
Kennett, David H. 2002. Brick and Its Uses in the Twentieth Building Industry 18/5-1979. London: Architectural
Century Part 1: The Public Sphere, 1919-1939. BBS press.
Injormation, 88, 7-21. Ryan, P. 1999. Brick in Essex: The Clayworking Craftsmen
Kuyper, W. 1980. Dutch classicist architecture : a survey of and Gazetteer of Sites. Chelmsford: private.
Dutch architecture, gardens, and Anglo-Dutch Ryan, P. 2000. Index. BBS InfÓrmation (supplement).
architectural relations from 1625 to /700. Delft: Delft Ryan, P. and D. Andrews. 1993. A brick and tile typology
University Press. for Cressing Temple, in Cressing Temple: a Templar and
Lambert, J. M. 1891 Two Thousand Years ofGild Life Hull: Hospitaller Manor in Essex. Chelmsford: Essex County
Brown & sons. Council, 1993.
Lloyd, NathanieLl925 A History «f English Brickwork.. Sa1zman, L. F. 1952. Building in England Down 10 /540.
from Medieval Times to the end ofthe Georgian Periodo Oxford: Clarendon Press.
London: H.G.Montgomery. Sauvage, Martin. 1998. La Brique et sa mise en oeuvre en
Uoyd, Nathaniel. 1931. A History of the English House. Mésopotamie.Paris: Ministere des Affaires Étrangeres.
London: Architectural Press. Searle, A1fred B. 1911. Modern Brickmaking. London:
Lynch, Gerard. 1990. Gauged Brickwork. Aldershot: Gower Ernest Benn, 1956.
Technical. Searle, Alfred B. \929. An Encyclopaedia of the Ceramic
Lynch, Gerard. 1994. Brickwork. Vols. 1 & 2. London: Industries. London: Ernest Benn.
Donhead. Shannon, H. A. \934. Bricks -a Trade lndex 1785-1849,
McCann, J. 1987. Bricknogging in the fifteenth and Economica, I, 1934.
sixteenth centuries with examples drawn mainly from Simpson, W. D. \960. The Building Accounts of Tattershall
Essex. Transactions of the Ancient Monuments Society, Castle, 1432-1472. Lincolnshire Record Society, 55.
31,107-33. Small, T. and C. Woodbridge. 1931. English Brickwork
McKeller, E. 1997. The Birth of Modern London. Details 1450-1750. London: Architectural Press.
Manchester: Manchester University Press. Smalley, 1. 1987. The nature of «brick earth» and the
McWhirr, Alan. ed. 1979. Roman Brick and Tile. BAR 10cation of early brick buildings in Britain, BBS
International Series 68. London Information, 41, 4-11.
Murlees. Brian. 1991. Somerset Brick and Tile Makers: a Smith, T. P. 1975. Rye House, Hertfordshire and aspects of
Brief History and Gazetteer. Taunton: Somerset early brickwork in Eng\and, Archaeological Joumal,
Industrial Archaeologica1 Society 132, 111-50.
 The study of bricks and brickwork in England since Nathaniel Lloyd 489

Smith, T. P. 1984. Brick prices and the cost of living Smith, T. P. 200 l. Hiort Patent Bricks. BBS Information, 85,
1700-1828, BBS Information, 32, 3-4. 36-7.
Smith, T. P. 1985a. Briek-tiles (Mathematical tiles) in Story, R. A. 1970. Hitch Patent Bricks. BBS Information, 7,
eighteenth- and nineteenth-century England, Journal of no.3. 319-24.
the British A rchaeological Association, 138, 132-64. Sllmmerson, John. 1945. Georgian London. London:
Smith, T. P. 1985b. The Medieval Brick-making Industry in Pleaides.
England 1400-1450, BAR British Series 138. Turner, Jane. ed. 1996. Grove Dictionary of Art. London:
Smith, T. P. 1985c. Two-way Influence between England Grove/Macmillan.
and the Netherlands in the fifteenth century, BBS Wade, K. 1980, The Excavation of a Brick Clamp at
Information, 37, 13-16. Shotesham St Mary, Norfolk, 1969, Post-Medieval
Smith, T. P. 1987. Early Bond, BBS l11formation, 42,1-3. Archaeology, 14,187-189.
Smith, T. P. 1992a. The Brick Tax and its etIects, BBS Warren, John.1999. Conservation of Brick. Oxford:
Information, 57,4-11. B utterworth- Hei nemann.
Smith, T. P. 1992b. The Diaper Work at Queens' College, Webb. C. 1996. London Apprentices: Tylers' and
Cambridge, BBS lriformation, 55, 20-23. Bricklayers' Company. London: Society of Genealogists.
Smith, T. P. 1993. The Brick Tax and its effects Part II, BBS Whitehead, D. 1981. Brick and tile making in the woodlands
II1formation, 58, 14-19. of the West Midlands in the sixteenth and seventeenth
Smith, T. P. 1994a. The Brick Tax and its effects Part III, centuries, Vernacular Architecture, 12,42-7.
BBS Information, 63,4-13. Wight, Jane. 1972. Brick Building in England from the
Smith, T. P. I 994b. Review: Plumbridge and Meulenkamp, Middle Ages to 1550. London: J.Baker.
Brickwork. BBS Inj(JTmation, 62, 27-28. Woodforde, John. 1976. Bricks to Build a House London:
Smith, T. P. 1996. The Anglo-Saxon use of Roman Brick ROlltledge and Kegan Paul.
and Tile -A Distribution Map, BBS Information, 69, Woodward, D. 1995. Men at Work: Lahourers and Building
4-6. Craftsmen in the towns of Northern England 1450-1750.
Smith, T. P. 2000a. Brick Dating: Sizes & Regulations in Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Stuart London, London Middlesex Archaeological Wren Society, 1924-43, Wren Society, Oxford: Oxford
Society Newsletter, 99, 4-6. University Press.
Smith, T. P. 2000b. The Church of Saint Benet, Palll's Yeomans, David. 1987. The quality ofLondon Bricks in the
Wharf..and its Brickwork. BBS Information earIy eighteenth century. BBS Information, 42, 13-15.
Smith, T. P. 2001. Early Recycling: the Anglo-Saxon and Yeomans, David. 1997. Construction Since 1900:
Norman Re-use of Roman Bricks with Special Reference Materials. London: Batsford.
to Hertfordshire, BAA conference Transactions, 24,
1I 1-1 17.