Mystery bricks

Curiosities and mysteries

Curiosities:

I found the above in a Welsh slate quarry. I understand it is an American brick made by the Robinson Sewer Pipe Company of New York, thanks to Fred Rieck for the information. How it ended up in North Wales is another matter.

David Kitching writes: Having never previously seen a Chinese brick with a name in the frog, I was surprised to find this example amidst demolished housing in the centre of Beipiao, Liaoning Province, North-east China. The spelling is an alternative pinyin version of the town name.

David Kitching writes: A visit to the former Hathern Station Brickworks in Leicestershire yielded a surprise in this brick which is a product of the Harry Brigham & Bros yard on the Hudson River at East Kingston, New York state. Brickmaking commenced here in 1904. How did it come to be in the UK? The answer is that there is still design undertaken here for terracotta restoration work and the brick was attached to the back of a piece that had been shipped over from a building in New York so that a replacement could be made by Shaws of Darwen who maintain a design section here after the demise of the Hathern operation when Ibstock closed the site.

An M.T.Strelin brick found in St Petersburg by Vladimir N Smirnov. This is a very famous brickyard est. 1875 and the whole Strelin's family (the father and later 2 sons) owned 3 different brick plants around St.Petersburg. Vladimir has a collection of over 800 Russian bricks found in the St Petersburg area. The bricks all pre date the 1917 Revolution after which the name stamping of bricks ended. His website may be viewed here, it is in the Russian language.

A London brick with a story

Steve Williams writes: I am attaching a brick photograph for your collection. It doesn't look very exciting and the writing's not too clear. It is in a wall in London behind Sadlers Wells Theatre in an alley way called Myddleton Passage. At the end of the 19th century this alley must have been a hang-out for scalliwags and thus a dangerous place to walk. Hence, a policeman was posted every night to guard its entrance. What a boring shift! To while away the night, the various night-shift Coppers carved their Number and Date on the face of the wall at about shoulder height. This part of the wall has quite a collection; but the lettering on most is hard to decipher. See if you can tell what this one says - I think it says "41C 1895". You won't see this in a Guide Book - so if you get to London, take the Number 19 bus to Sadlers Wells. Myddleton Passge runs from the bus stop, up by the southwest side of the Theatre into Myddleton Square.

'Handprints'

Lawrence Skuse writes: Given the nature of clay, I have always wanted to find a brick with imprints of the brick worker, and recently, I found one. The brick itself is unremarkable, a plain red brick I believe to be 19th Century and probably fly tipped by a builder; there are many hundreds lying around in Gwent and, obviously, many other, areas. This example however bears on one face, three finger prints and on the other the corresponding thumb print of the worker who has, apparently, carelessly handled the moulded brick; it still passed quality control however!

An Italian shipwreck brick

Vincenzo Agrillo is very interested in the story of this brick. He found it 55 metres down in the wreck on an old steamship off the coast of Italy! It is thought that the brick was made by Williamson-Cliffe and Company in Stamford, Lincolnshire.

French bricks

It seems the hobby is thriving in France as well, here are two examples submitted by Fabien:

Mysteries:

Any information on any of the following would be appreciated:

1870

A.N.B. & Co.

Found in a garden in Leeds, photo by Steve Kind

A.R.

Probably a Scottish brick, photo by Martin Briscoe

Arrow

Vicky spotted this strange brick in a wall in Oxford. The brick was vertical.

C.E.B. ?

Coronet

Found near Measham, Leicestershire, photo by Michael Raybould.

Diamond Jubilee

David Kitching saw this one at the Claymills Pumping Station at Burton-on-Trent, a Staffordshire Blue paving brick marked to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria. I think that Diamond might also be the trade name of the manufacturer as there was another brick nearby just marked with that word.

Fish impression