Brick kiln south of Strettons

Details

SU 31 NW
2/1

COPYTHORNE
WHINWHISTLE LANE
Brick kiln south of Strettons

1.8.86

GV
II

A 'Suffolk' type oblong brick Kiln built about 1850 of red and grey brick. the 'Suffolk' kiln is an evolved form of a medieval parallel-flue updraught kiln. Both had flues running the length of the kiln from a stoke hole and a temporary roof covering which was removed after every firing. The 'Suffolk' kiln differed from the similar 'Scotch; kiln in that the former was built into a bank for added insulation and ease of access to the firing chamber. The 'Suffolk' type kiln at Whinwhistle Lane was built into a bank, very little of which remains. The front of the kiln has an access aperture for loading and unloading the bricks. A Stoking hole for the flues which ran under the floor of the kiln would have been located on the opposite side of the loading door, but neither the flues nor the stoke hole could have been seen at the time of inspection May 2008. The English Garden bond walls of the kiln are difficult to discern because of heavy vegetation growth. The interior is featureless and the top of the kiln has a covering of corrugated tin.

HISTORY: From the C17 onwards brick manufacture was increasingly stimulated by the wider process of industrialisation throughout the country, and during the C18 the expansion of the brick industry was promoted by the unavailability of timber and the increasing expense of stone, such that by 1854 more than 2000 million bricks were being produced per annum in Britain. A breakthrough in the industrial productions of bricks was made in 1857 by the Austrian Friedrich Hoffman, which allowed for a continuous process to take place without the need for cooling between each firing. The first kiln of this type in Britain was at the Roundwood Brickworks in West Yorkshire in 1862. Kilns of the Whinwhistle Lane type, built circa 1850, where in medieval tradition of intermittent clamp kilns, being cooled between each firing. At the mid-C19, when this kiln was in operation, the brick industry was on the cusp of change from small local production of bricks, using the old permanent intermittent kiln type, to large commercial brickworks using permanent continuous kilns.

The kiln at Whinwhistle Lane made use of clay from a pit about 20m or 30m to the south of the kiln and was in use until forced to close down at the outbreak of World War II because of blackout regulations. Since 1939 it has been unused. Very few Suffolk brick kilns are known to survive. The Step 2 report of the Monuments Protection Programme investigation of the clay industry quoted this brick kiln at Whiswhistle Lane as being thought to be the only one left in the country. There are, however, a very few modified examples known to exist. There currently exists a modified Suffolk kiln at the South Cove Brickworks at Covebottom Wrentham near Beccles in Suffolk, and a hybrid version at the Bursledon Brickworks in Hampshire. But the brick kiln ay Whinwistle Road, and unmodified example, is exceedingly rare.

REASON FOR DESIGNATION:

The brick kiln is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

*The 'Suffolk' brick kiln is a rare survival and one of only surviving examples of its type remaining in the country

*The brick kiln, although in a deteriorating condition, retains special interest in its construction.

*The brick kiln represents a nationally important but localised industry.

Listing NGR: SU3061014677

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

143374

Legacy System:

LBS

End of official list entry

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