Publications
Use of Clay at Ashburnham Brickworks, by Jack Harmer, published 1981 in Sussex Industrial History (No. 11, article, pp.14-21) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506525] Download PDF
Abstract:In article in the first volume of Sussex Industrial History, entitled "The Ashburnham Estate Brickworks 1840-1968" by K. C. Leslie described the brickmaking process at the yard. A report on the associated tile works was promised for a future issue and that is what the present article sets out to provide.
Review by C. F. Tebbutt in Wealden Iron Research Group: Bulletin 2, 1982:This latest volume from the Sussex Industrial Archaeology Society contains an interesting article 'The Use of Clay at Ashburnham Brickworks' by Jack Harmer. In brickmakers' terms the raw material for brick and tile making is in two distinct forms, clay and loam. Contrary to common belief, at Ashburnham at least, only loam is suitable for bricks and only clay for tiles. The Ashburnham brick loam had a high silica content, 75%, and shrank very little in burning; on the other hand the tile-making clay had little silica, less than 25%, and a high shrinkage rate. Clay was very sticky and difficult to handle.
An historical footnote to the above article has been added by W. R. and M. Beswick, based on research into the Ashburnham account books in ESRO. They record many thousands of bricks and tiles supplied by Ashburnham Brickworks to the furnace in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
The Beswicks write: In March 1760 the brickworks supplied the furnace with 300 tiles, 1600 double bricks, 3700 common bricks and also 3700 bricks mixed with clay. The inference which may be drawn is that it had become apparent that a high silica brick was unsuitable for blast furnace use, particularly where limestone was added to the furnace as a flux, and therefore a brick with a higher alumina content, was needed. Hence the admixture of clay in bricks for the inner lining of the furnace.
An historical footnote to the above article has been added by W. R. and M. Beswick, based on research into the Ashburnham account books in ESRO. They record many thousands of bricks and tiles supplied by Ashburnham Brickworks to the furnace in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
The Beswicks write: In March 1760 the brickworks supplied the furnace with 300 tiles, 1600 double bricks, 3700 common bricks and also 3700 bricks mixed with clay. The inference which may be drawn is that it had become apparent that a high silica brick was unsuitable for blast furnace use, particularly where limestone was added to the furnace as a flux, and therefore a brick with a higher alumina content, was needed. Hence the admixture of clay in bricks for the inner lining of the furnace.
Brick and Tile-Making at Ashburnham, Sussex, by Kim Leslie and Jack Harmer, published 1991 (32 pp + 6 plates, Weald & Downland Open Air Museum, ISBN-10: 090525919X & ISBN-13: 9780905259192) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries
Originally published in 'Sussex Industrial History' No. 1 (1970-1) and 'Sussex Industrial History' No. 11 (1981)
Our Parish: Tales of Offham, Hamsey and Cooksbridge, by Jack Harmer, published 1991 (Offham: St Peter's Church Restoration Fund) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/503469] & East Sussex Libraries
Our Parish: Tales of Offham, Hamsey and Cooksbridge, by Jack Harmer, published 1 May 1997 (2nd revised edition, 64 pp., S. Rowland, ISBN-10: 1898950067 & ISBN-13: 9781898950066)