Summary
Brick Kiln. Probably of late-C18 date and built by John Bodimeade. Upper part taken down in the mid-C20.
Reasons for Designation
The brick kiln to the south-east of The Kiln, a late-C18 brick kiln, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reason:
* Rarity; as the only known brick kiln of this type to survive in London and one of only around 30 nationally.
History
A map of 1612 by Benjamin Hare depicts a house labelled ‘Brick Kiln House’ on Harrow Weald Common, near the west side of the road from Hatch End to Watford, which approximates with the site of The Kiln. The freehold of this land belonged to the Rushout family of Northwick, Worcestershire. From the mid-C17 the site was associated with the Bodimeade family. In a will of 1671 John Bodimeade left his son, Matthew, his kiln at the Weald. A lease was granted in 1685 by Sir James Rushout, Baronet Northwick, to Matthew ‘Bodyman’, yeoman, for three roods of ground on Weald Common occupied by Bodyman, comprising a cottage or dwelling house, a kiln to burn brick, tile and lime, and various other buildings and structures.
By the mid-C18 the kilns were producing bricks in significant quantities. A 1767 inventory of the works, owned by William Bodimeade (d.1777) in partnership with his son, John, lists 380,000 burnt bricks, 20,000 moulded bricks, 150,000 moulded bricks standing in clamps, as well as 135,000 tiles and 25,000 paving bricks. Clay for the bricks came from a site just to the north, shown on the 1877 Ordnance Survey map as a brick field. In 1777 John Bodimeade set up 50 kilns to supply bricks for the mansion being built at Gorhambury, Hertfordshire for the Third Viscount Grimston.
On the death of John Bodimeade in 1790 the business passed via his daughter Mary Ann (1771-1862) to the Blackwell family through her marriage to Charles Blackwell (1769-1849). One of their ten children, Thomas (1804-1879), was the co-founder in 1829 of the firm of Crosse and Blackwell.
In 1899 the freehold of the house on the site, The Kiln, dating to the C17 but enlarged in the C18, was purchased by the Blackwell family from Lord Northwick and remained in the family until the 1930s. The brickworks eventually ceased production in 1912.
According to a report in the Greater London Industrial Archaeology Society newsletter No. 2 (June 1969), the kiln is the only survivor of three which were in operation between 1795 and 1895. They were coal-fired and probably built by John Bodimeade to replace an earlier wood-fired kiln. Historic map evidence and a painting by Frederick Goodall RA from c.1889 show that the kiln was surrounded by lean-to buildings which were probably removed soon after the kiln closed. It is estimated that the kiln would have had a capacity of around 13,500 bricks.
Details
Late C18 brick kiln.
MATERIALS: soft red brick set in lime mortar with an inner lining of bricks set in loam.
PLAN: square in plan and standing on a grassed mound.
DESCRIPTION: the walls survive to a height of 5.5m and were topped by a conical stack, taken down in the mid-C20, to give an original height of c.11m. The kiln is set on a high thick brick plinth which has relieving arches on the south-west and north-west sides. The corners are strengthened with angle buttresses. The walls of the kiln have brick relieving arches which supported the weight of the conical chimney and allowed for the necessary repair of the chamber walls. The arch on the north-west elevation has been opened up. On the north-east elevation is a narrow segmental-headed wicket entrance. The solid brick and tile floor is a later replacement. The original floor would have had slots to allow the flames from the below ground fire tunnels.
Evidence cited in a report by Hammond in 1983 suggests the presence of two fire tunnels and a stoking pit on the north-west side.
