Fulstow Brickworks

The 1841 census shows 24 year old Thomas Wright (Percy Staples' Uncle's Father in Law) living with his parents and younger brother in North Thoresby, a small village approx. 3 km Northwest of Fulstow. His occupation is listed as Bricklayer. It is quite likely that he either used bricks made at the Fulstow brickworks (they had a reputation for very high quality bricks) or that there may have also been a brickworks in North Thoresby itself.

The following is an excerpt from "Fulstow - A History of a Marsh Village" which describes in detail the brickworks in Fulstow.

"During the late 1700's bricks were brought up the canal and unloaded at Firebeacon and transported to the village. However, it was not long before a local Brickmaking industry sprang up in many of the surrounding villages to meet the increasing demand.

Fulstow was no exception and soon Brickmaking was established. By 1842 there were three Brick and Tile makers listed in the village. They were Susanna Blythe, Benjamin Smith and Robert Waller junior. In White's Directory of 1856 we find only William Blythe and Benjamin Smith recorded.

These brickworks were to the north of the village and the large ponds mark the sites where clay was extracted for the brickmaking. Clay was dug by hand and sieved to remove any objects such as stones. It was then taken to the brickmaker who forced the clay into moulds. The wet clay was removed and the green brick, as it was known then, laid to dry in the open. Straw was often spread over them to prevent rain from damaging the soft bricks.

After a period of drying the bricks were loaded into the kiln and the door sealed and the ovens fired allowing the hot gasses to circulate. Once the bricks had been fired the kiln was left to cool and the bricks unloaded ready for use on the local buildings.

A good brickmaker could produce around one thousand bricks a day. If he had the help of a boy this could be increased to two thousand a day. The kilns could fire between twenty thousand and fifty thousand a time. However the firing process took around fourteen days. Two days filling, three days curing, two days to bring to full temperature, a day at full heat and then three or four days to cool down and a further one or two days to empty.

The early bricks produced in Fulstow were, like other brickyards, of varying quality. The well-fired bricks came out a fine brown colour, however, there were bricks not fired enough and they would be a pink colour and not suitable for external purposes. This did not stop the bricklayers from using them on outside walls, as a look at some of Fulstow's older houses will show.

Bricks overfired would come out black or over burnt. These too were used in many of the houses in the village. Not all stones were removed and it is possible to spot these in the bricks.

The drying process also left its mark. Straw imprints are to be found as well as the marks where one green brick was laid over another and forced an impression into them. You might even be lucky enough to find the thumb or finger impression of a Fulstow brickmaker in a brick.

The Kilns used in Fulstow were the Down Draft type. The kiln was rectangular with a domed roof. The grates were either side and when lit the hot gasses were drawn up the sides and down from the roof through the hearth and out the chimney thus cooking the bricks.

Brick production was during the summer period. The fine clays were dug in the autumn and allowed to weather over the winter period and then the springtime saw brick production begin.

During the late nineteenth century brick production improved and we see a better quality brick with a smoother surface being introduced. These bricks are slightly larger than their predecessors and weather far better.

However, brick production in Fulstow was not to last. With the commercial production of bricks by larger concerns springing up all over the country in the early twentieth century the end for village brickworks was not far off. Fulstow's brickyards closed in the 1930's but their legacy can still be seen by the many older houses in the village."