The study of bricks and brickwork in England since Nathaniel Lloyd 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. James W. P. Campbell 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 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.
Transcript
The study of bricks and brickwork in Englandsince Nathaniel Lloyd
The first person to write a serious history of Englishbrickwork was born in 1867 into a comfortablemidd]e-class family in Manchester. Nothing in
Nathaniel Lloyd's early career, which included a spelImanaging advertising and printing in a tea company,suggested that he had any interest in either
architecture or bricks. In 1893 he went jnto businessfor himself, running his own co]our printing firmoThis proved extraordinarily successful and by 1909,at the age of forty-two, he had made so much moneythat he was able to comfortably retire to exercise histwin passions: shooting and p]aying golf. That might
ha ve been the end of the matter had he not brought anelderly house ca]led Great Dixter in 1910. The house
was in a very poor state of repair and too sma]1 forLloyd's purposes so he set out to find an architect tohelp him restore and extend it. He chose EdwinLutygens (1869-1944) and thus began a successful
colIaboration which not only ]ed to the completion ofthe 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. Hewent on to design a number of buildings and publishfive books on aspects of architecture and gardening ofwhich the two most important were A History ofEnglish Brickwork (1925)' and A History of theEnglish House (1931). Lloyd died in 1933. His wifecontinued to live in the house he and Lutygens hadbuilt until her death in 1972 and it is now open to thepublic.
James W. P. Campbell
A History of English Brickwork was anextraordinary book being both scho]arly andprofusely-illustrated, a rare combination. Lloydbrought together for the first time, and quoted atlength, the most important writings on brick from the
seventeenth century onwards. He included detailedtables of brick measurements, exploding the mythonce and for alI that bricks could be dated from sizealone. Moreover to iJ]ustrate the book he took dozensof bIack and white photographs of buildingsthroughout England (some of which are now the on]yevidence for the appearance of structures which have
since been demolished) and included carefulmeasured drawings of key examples. Together theseform three-quarters of the book.
The book remains one ofthe most authoritative anduseful works on the subject today. Indeed Lloyd wasin so many ways a pioneer in the study of brickwork,that many still assume he has had the last word on thesubject. Even today A History ofEnglish Brickwork isoften the on]y work on bricks to appear on architect's
bookshelves and the one they are most likely to cite indiscussion. Yet a great deal of research into thehistory of brickwork in England has been done in thepast seventy-seven years since Lloyd's bookappeared in 1925. It is this research that forms thesubject of the current paper, the aim of which istwofold: firstly, by reviewing the literature available,to show how scholarship has developed since Lloydas a useful guide for those looking for more
information on the subject; and second, and more
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.
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 tothe history of brickwork. Modern textbooks on thesubject of bricklaying or brickmaking are excludedexcept where they might be of interest to the historianlooking at periods before Lloyd. Now that we are into
the twenty-first century, study of the twentiethcentury becomes ever more important and such
textbooks will no doubt become the historical sourcesof tomorrow, but this is a paper on historiographyrather than a survey of historical sources. Terracottaand tiles are excluded as not being strictl y brick.Geographically 1 have confined myself to research
done on English architecture chiefly because that wasthe subject of Lloyd's book, although 1 have extendedthe area to cover Scotland and Wales where thisseemed appropriate. British researchers have writtenon brickwork beyond their shores, most notably inreports on archaeological projects on ClassicaJ andancient civilisations in Europe and the near and FarEast, 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 booksseeking to set out the methods of buildingconstruction in various periods, the history ofbuilding construction before Lloyd was still a minor
area of interest compared to the extensive studiescarried out into architectural style. The field ofconstruction history was noticeably better deveJopedin 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 minorinterest in Britain for the first seventy-five years of
the twentieth century. The expertise existed, but itrarely found its way into print. Nevertheless a few
isolated general studies on the history of buildingconstruction did appear during this period and thesenormally included chapters on both brickwork andmortars. The introductory nature of these studiesnaturally meant that the amount of new researchcarried 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. Daveyfocused on building materials and contains aninteresting study of mortars while Briggs, whosework carne out in the same years as Lloyd's book,followed a craft based approach. Both are now out ofdate. Alec Clifton Taylor (1972) focused on entirelyon English building materials. It remains a valuableintroduction to the subject and a model of erudition,although it is great pity that, for a book on the colourand richness of materials, all the illustrations wereprinted in black and white. Clifton Taylor went on toproduce a number of titles on individual materials
including one with Ron Brunskill that focusedentirely on brick discussed below.
Very useful studies of individual periods of English
construction history have appeared which do anexcellent job of summarising previous scholarship.For the Medieval period Salzman (1952) remains aninvaluable survey of the terms used and costs involvedin Medieval building work compiled from anextensive search of building accounts. It remains themost important survey of the period in this respect.
Malcolm Airs (1995) provided a similar analysis ofthe state of the building world in the Tudor periodo Nocomparative survey exists for the seventeenthcentury. The eighteenth century has been well
researched starting with Dan Cruikshank and PeterWyld's beautifully illustrated London: the Art ofGeorgian Building (1975) and more recently JamesAyres Building the Georgian City (1998). Cruikshank
and Wyld (1975) provide invaluable drawings andphotographs of many buildings of the period whichhave since been lost, while Ayres (1998), as well asproviding an excellent overview, reprints in co10urmany 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 writinggeneral works on building construction for this periodalthough perhaps not surprisingly it has attracted
more interest in America. What has been writtentends to be in volumes devoted to particular material s,those on brick being noted below. A very usefulsurvey of building construction in the twentiethcentury is found in Yeomans (1997).
The study of bricks and brickwork in England since Nathaniel Lloyd 481
GENERAL BOOKS ON BRICKS AND BRICKWORK
There have been disappointingJy few books devotedentirely to tbe history of EngJish brickworks sinceLloyd. Of the general studies that have appeared tbe
most important is undoubtedly Professor RonBrunskill's Brick Building in Britain (1997) whichwas designed as a revision of and replacement for anearlier work, English Brickwork (1977), which he hadco-authored with Alec Clifton- Taylor. Brick Buildingcontains chapters on the history of brickmaking,bricklaying, an excel!ent glossary and sections on
brickwork of difIerent periods. It is a model ofresearch and cautious in its approach. Three shortappendices, one on brick tax, one on cavity walls and
one on brick in Scotland are model essays on theirsubjects. It still remains the best summary ofscholarship on the subject and essential reading for al!
those looking for an introduction and contains anexcellent bibliography.
Woodforde's Bricks to Build a House (1976) is anenjoyable introduction to the subject, but has a rather
cavalier attitude to historical facts. It was designedwith the interested layman in mind rather Ihan thescholar or conservation professional. Where it doeshave value is in its illustrations, particuJarly itscollection of useful nineteenth century engravings.More cautious in its approach is Hammond (1981)which provides an excellent introduction to allaspects of brickmaking, but at only thirty-two pageslong is too slim to go into any depth.
More recent]y Andrew Plumridge and WimMeulenkamp's Brickwork (1993) has provided anoverview of all aspects of brickwork across the globeilIustrated by lavish colour photographs and includingan excellent forty page section on construction andmaterials and a short history. Plumridge is EngJishwhile MeuJenkamp is Dutch. The book is thus anunusual example of international collaboration, whichis surely something that should be encouraged.Nevertheless some reviews of Ihe work have beenJess than complimentary about its scholarship(T. P. Smith 1994b).
AIso worth mentioning are Gerard Lynch'sBrickwork (1994), John Warren's Conservation (ifBrick (1999) and volume two of John and Nicola
Ashursts' Practical Building Conservation (1988), allbooks that are aimed at the conservation architect.These provide information on the technical side of
brickwork restoration, together with short histories ofbrickwork.
Lastly, two American books are worthy of note
because they have direct bearing on Englishbrickwork. The first is Karl Gurcke's Bricks andBrickmaking: a Handhook of Historical Archaeology(1987). Its primary focus is on the development of
brickwork in America, but it does pro vide insightsinto the mechanisation of brickwork in England andincludes an invaluable guide on distinguishing bricksmade using different factory methods. The second isJoseph 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 firstfour vo]umes to reprinting exclusively Englishsources from 1600-1850. Unfortunately the book wasprivately printed in runs of two hundred copies orless, 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 underbrick or brickmaking would be unlikely to yieldanything 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 adictionary exclusively devoted to brickwork, whichwould undoubtedly be useful, although probably nota bestseller. The closest 1 have come across isSearle's three volume An Encyclopaedia of theCeramic lndustries published in 1929, but thiscontains no information on the history of the brick.
DETAILED STUDIES OF BRICKS AND BRICKWORK
SINCE LLOYD
There is a growing cal! among architects, engineersand others working in the conservation world forbetter books on construction history. Professionals inthese fields have little time to visit libraries during theworking 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 academicpapers 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 offurther books on the subject. Scholarship has moved
on and this may be about to change. A group ofenthusiasts originally centred around LauranceS. Harley (1901-1983) have acted as a catalyst forencouraging research since 1972 and are leading
research into brickwork.'The British Brick Societv started with just four
members members: Laurance.S. Harley (who was anengineer by training but involved in archaeology),Geoffrey Hines (a humanities lecturer in AdultEducation), Ron J.Firman (a lecturer in geology atNottingham University) and a young archaeologist
from Sto John's College, Cambridge called Terence P.Smith. It was partly conceived as a specialist studygroup of the British Archaeological Association. but
from the outset it welcomed members from anybackground. Its constitution set out a number of aimsincluding: the study of bricks and brickwork from
Roman times to the present day; some investigationof the precursors of the baked blick; the study ofcontinental bricks and brickwork; the encouragement
of a multi-discipJinary approach includingarchaeological, architectural and scientific studies of
the material and its uses; the investigation ofgeological, physical and chemical ways of datingbricks; the preservation and conservation ofbrickwork; and the establishment of a system ofarchives and records on the subject which would bemade accessible to the publico
From the outset the group produced a regularnewsheet simply termed lnformation. Both the
newsheet (now a full-blown journal). lt is currentlyproduced three to tour times ayear and sent tosubscribing members and major libraries. has since itsconception been one of the most important outlets forresearch on the subject, intermixed with more generalqueries and observations. lt also contains regular
reviews of relevant literature. Many of the Society'smembers pubJish in other journals devoted toparticular subjecls and since 1973 publications onbrickwork have increased noticeably to the extent thatit is possible here only to summarise the exlent ofpresent knowledge and to review key ¡¡¡,ticles on
particular subjects which in turn provide funher
bibliographies which the interested scholar cantollow up on particular topics. The rest of the paperwill be devoted to tracing how these and other papershave advanced scholarship in various areas sinceLloyd, starting with brickmaking, then social and
economic studies, geological and scientific studiesand finally the study of bricklaying and architecturalbrickwork. The aim is to provide a clear overview of
the subject as it now stands in order to highlight thoseareas that could benefit from further research.
BRICKMAKING THROUGH THE AGES
The baking of bricks to use in building constructionhas a very long history but the story of brickmakingin Britain begins with the Romans. Lloyd pointed this
out. but as the full title of his book suggests, histreatment of Roman bricks was brief and even CliftonTaylor writing in 1972 could add little of substance.Since that time, however, the study of Roman brickshas advanced hugely. The Romans stamped some oftheir bricks with distinguishing marks which can beused for dating. Brick stamps have thus provedinvaluable in archaeology and there is a largeliterature on lhe subject. A series of excellent articlessummarising scholarship (including excavations ofmajor kiln sites) are collected in McWhirr (1979).
Roman brick production in Britain is reviewed inDarvill and McWhirr (1984) which also provides anextensive bibliography. A further summary of all thismaterial and a longer bibJiography can be found inGerald Brodribb's Roman Brick and Tile (1987)which despite its title is entirely devoted to bricksproduced in Britain under Roman occupalion. TheRoman legions appear to have been responsible forrunning 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 instancesis 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 havebeen used in Polstead Church in Sul'folk and LittleCoggeshall Abbey, Essex a few miles away (Lloyd
had mentioned Coggeshall in his book). A nearbybrick kiln is said lo have been excavated in the
The study of bricks and brickwork in England since Nathaniel Lloyd 483
nineteenth century and destroyed. The Coggeshallbrickwork is reviewed in J. S. Gardner (1955).Polstead is noted in Wight (1972) and reviewed inKennett (J 990).
Medieval brickmaking has been extensiveJystudied by T. P. Smith in his The Medieval Brick-making Industry in England 1400-1450 (1985b)
which has a good bibliography of both English andDutch secondary literature. Salzman (1956) providedan introduction to terms used in the period while theaccounts of the medieval kiJns in Hull are analysed inBrooks (1939). Excellent summaries of the medievalbrickmaking 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 thebricks were set out to dry before firing. Both themethods of stacking and moulding Jeave marks on thebricks which were discussed in Hammond (1986) andFirman (1986).
Medieval pottery and tile kiJns have survived,5 butno specific brick kilns from the period have beenexcavated to date. Clamps were also used for firingbricks in the Middle ages but by their nature theyleave little trace behind them.
Brickmaking in the late fifteenth and sixteenthcenturies is surveyed by Howard (1991). By theseventeenth century, brick was widespread and usedfor smaUer houses and churches ]eading to anincrease in production. The first printed references tobricklaying and brickmaking (some 01' which wereprinted by Lloyd), appear in England in this periodand are listed in Campbell & Saint (2002). SinceLloyd' s time three important manuscript sources havebeen published, namely the accounts associated withChristopher Wren published in the twenty volumes 01'
the Wren Society (1924--43) and the notebooks ofRoger Pratt (Gunther 1928) and Roger North (Colvinand Newman 1981).
The Great Fire of London in 1666 and thenumerous fires in other towns around the countryprompted increased ]egislation in favour of brick over
more-flammable timber-framing. Some 01' theLondon reguJations were reprinted in Lloyd, butT. P. Smith has since shown that they were rare]yfollowed (Smith 2000a). Brickmaking after the GreatFire is discussed in Cox (1989), (1997) and Yeomans(1987). Accounts for brick supplies for Hampton
Court are discussed in Musty (1991) and for the WestMidJands 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 Jackson(1995.179).)
One 01'the innovations in this period was the use ofash added to clay to make London «stocks». Theirmanufacture is discussed in Cox (1989) and (1997). Ageneral description 01' brickmaking in the Georgianperiod 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 compileregional gazetteers of brickmaking sites for theperiod c.1700-the present, with some earIier sitesbeing 10cated from other sources. Those gazetteers
that have already been completed are reviewed inKennett (1999) and (2000). They often providedetailed local histories of brickmaking and tend to bedone by county. The first to be compiJed wasHampshire (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). Aseparate study (Doug]as & Oglethorpe 1993) coversall of Scotland. Loca] studies 01' individua] districtsin Surrey, North-East Hampshire, Acton, Burton-on-Trent and around Ascot are also listed in Kennett(1999).
From 1784 until 1850 bricks were taxed inEngland. The tax had a number 01' important effects
on the industry. As the tax was imposed per brick itled to an increase in the size of bricks until this wascountered by further Jegislation (Exwood 1981 a).There have been a number of studies of the effect ofthe tax, most notably: Exwood (l981a) and (198Ib),Shannon (1934, J88-201), Smith (1992a), Smith(1993), and Smith (1994a). A summary is included in
Brunskil1 (1997, 192-93). The myth that the brick taxled to the introduction 01' so-called «mathematicaltiles» (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 ofbrickmakingended at the end of the Georgian periodo Of coursetoday the interests of many researchers begin whereLloyd left off. In the nineteenth century brickmakingbegan to mechanise. The shift was a slow process and
bricks were still being made by hand into thetwentieth century and in isolated instances they arestill made by hand today. The first treatise onbrickmaking to show mechanisation was written by
Edward Dobson in 1850 and was reprinted in fullwith a useful introduction and bibJiography in Celoria(1971). Because of the longevity of many techniques
some early twentieth century books for thecontemporary brickmaker also provide useful sources
for nineteenth century practice. This is certainly thecase with Alfred Searle' s Modern Brickmaking(which was first published in 1911 and went through
no fewer than four editions before 1956) and theentries found in building manuals by McKay andMitchell noted in Brunskill (1997, 199).
Kilns underwent great changes in the nineteenthcentury. 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 tonineteenth and twentieth century manufacturerspublished in the last thirty years in lnformation.
Histories of individual companies have also beenpubJished, 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 atCartwright'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-economicstudies
Despite the fact that much information in the form ofbuilding accounts survives from the Middle Ages
onwards to al10w a detailed picture of the economicstatus of the building craftsmen, there has beencomparatively ]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). Theeighteenth-century situation is discussed briet1y inShannon (1934), Smith (1984) and Ayres (1998). Atreatment of the changes in the economic structure ofthe industry in the period can be found in Clarke(1992) and for the nineteenth and twentieth centuries
in Powell (1980). The publication of specific buildingaccounts are mentioned under bricklaying below.
Guilds undoubtedly played an important part inregulating early medieval urban brickmaking andbricklaying. Guild records survive in many towns inBritain but virtually nothing has been written on thesubject. A list of the apprentices taken from the books
of the London Tylers' and Bricklayers' Company ispublished in Webb (1996) and is mainly intended forgenealogists. Bell (1938) provides a short history ofthe London Company. The rules and regulations ofthe 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, waskeen to see the development of better methodsrecording and analysis of bricks discovered duringarchaeological investigations. He set out his owndetailed method for recording bricks in The Journalof the British Archaeological Association in 1974 and
this remains the most detailed typology yet set out,a1though it is rarely followed in practice. A rareexample of the type of analysis Harley envisaged can
be found in Ryan and Andrews (1993) which isreprinted in Warren (1999, 59-68).
One of Harley's recommendations was that thetype of c1ay should be recorded. There has been
a great deal published on the selection of c1ays forthe modern brickmaking industry but comparativelylittle has been written on the analysis of c1ay fordetermining the origin of bricks. The foremost
advocates of this practice are husband and wife teamRon and Pat Firman who first called for this approach
The study of bricks and brickwork in England since Nathaniel Lloyd 485
in an article in Mercian Geologist in 1967.Subsequent articles on the same subject inc]udeSmalJey (1987), Firman and Firman (1989), Finnan(1994), and Firman (1998). Sadly geologica] analysis
of bricks has not been generalJy taken up althoughone fine examp]e of an investigation of this type isfound in Pavia et al (2000).
BRICKWORK
Nathaniel Lloyd's English Brickwork had includeddetai]ed drawings and photographs of survivingbui]dings from the period of the Middle Ages up to
circa ] 800. Lloyd undoubtedly saw his book as beingabout architecture and for architects and the sameattitude was taken by many of the books whichwe have already discussed. In such a scenariobrickmaking is important in relation to how bricks areused, 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 activecollectors of bricks as artefacts and it is perhapsinevitable that their interests lie primarily in thehistory of production rather than use. Architectural
historians meanwhile tend to come from an art historybackground and are both less interested in buildingtechno]ogy and more prone to focus on architecturalsty]e. Nevertheless studies of the use of bricks in
buildings do exist and are worth briefly reviewinghere.
On the Middle Ages Jane Wight (1972) provided auseful survey of the major buildings constructedbefore 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 Castlewere published in Barnes and Simpson (1952), andthose for Tatershal castIe, in Simpson (1960). Aportfolio of full size drawings of brick details wasproduced by Sma]] and Woodbridge (1931).
Regular bonding in English brickwork seems to
have been a relatively late development. An excellentanalysis of the types of bonding employed and theirdistribution can be found in Brian (1972) and (1980).On the use of Flemish bond (an eady 17th centuryinnovation) see Kennett (1984). Diaper patterns were
popular in the Tudor periodo Studies of diapering are
found in Smith (1985b) and (1992b). The subject ofbrick infill in timber buildings (nogging) which waswidespread in this period is discussed in McCann(1987).
The great innovations of the seventeenth centurywere the shaped gable, flemish bond, and rubbed andgauged brickwork. The foreign origin of shapedgables was discussed in Hitchcock (1978) and theirimportation to England in Kuyper (1980). For thegeneral Dutch influence on English brickwork seePerciva] (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 gaugedbrickwork is found in Lynch (1990). A detailed studyof this subject is overdue, aJthough a number ofexcelJent examples are recorded in Cruikshank andWyld (1975) and Small and Woodbridge (1931).
From the nineteenth century onwards theinvolvement of architects in the design andspecification of brickwork means that studies of thesubject 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 ofbuilding brick walls by the midd]e of the twentiethcentury. An excelJent account of its development andbibliography are provided in Brunski]] (1997193-]96). The best historica] accounts ofthe general
use of brickwork in Britain since 1900 have beenprovided 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 thehistory of bricks and brickwork in England a number
of clear gaps in the literature become immediate]yapparent. For the Middle Ages much has already been
done on manufacturing, but remains to be done on therecording and use of brick, on the types of clayemployed and on the intluence of the guilds. For the
later periods there are many gazetteers for countiesstill to be written. A proper historical study on thehistory 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 andtypes of brickmaking machinery that appeared in the
nineteenth century and how they were taken up.There has been no publication of English makersmarks lO parallel that for America in Gurcke (1987)des pite the fact that this would be invaluable fordating building fabrico The fascinating subject of
Patent bricks is worthy of a book in its own and hashardly been tOLlched upon.
Studies of brickwork are less common than thoseof brickmaking. There is much work still to be doneon bonding patterns and their distribution and on thedevelopment of pointing and mortar used. Brickwork
is rarely carefully recorded in contrast to timberframing, for instance, and there seem to be no
generally recognised guidelines on how suchrecording should be carried out. Lastly, but by no
means least, the chemical, geological and physicalanalysis of bricks is an area that still remains to bedeveloped.
Today the brick industry is struggling. lt hasenormous capacity but it is facing a decreasingdemand for its products. Some might say that this isself-imposed as the bricks the industry produces havebecome less appealing and the manufacturers lesst1exible in reacting to what architects want, butarchitects themselves are poorly informed of theadvantages and possibilities of brickwork and there
are fewer and fewer skilled bricklayers to carry thework out. The history of bricks and brickwork doesnot hold al! the answers to these problems, but abetter Llnderstanding of it is at least important inproviding 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 republishedlwice 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 lheAntique Collectors Club issued in 1983 is a complete
facsimile 01' the originaL
An exccllent French guide to papers on brickwork inMesopotamia has recently appeared inc1uding an
extensive bibliography (Sauvage, 1998). As far as 1
know such studies have yet to be written for China. SE
2.
3.
4.
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.
The history 01'the Society is taken from Kennett (1993).
Certain types 01'moulding lead lo «sunken margins» theorigin 01' which were discussed in a number 01' articles
1isted in and concluding with Betts (1996).
For an example see Drury and Pratt (1975).
See also Nail (1996).
5.
6.
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
