Brick Kiln South of Strettons

Brick Kiln South of Strettons

This is a Suffolk-type oblong brick kiln built around 1850 from red and grey brick, located on Whinwhistle Lane near Copythorne. The Suffolk kiln represents an evolved form of the medieval parallel-flue updraught kiln. Like its medieval predecessor, it featured flues running the length of the kiln from a stoke hole and a temporary roof covering that was removed after every firing. The Suffolk kiln differed from the similar Scotch kiln in that it was built into a bank for added insulation and ease of access to the firing chamber. At Whinwhistle Lane, the kiln was built into a bank, though very little of this earthwork remains visible.

The front of the kiln contains an access aperture for loading and unloading bricks. A stoke hole for the flues that ran under the kiln floor would have been located on the opposite side of the loading door, though neither the flues nor the stoke hole were visible at the time of inspection in May 2008. The walls are laid in English Garden bond, though this is difficult to discern due to heavy vegetation growth. The interior is featureless, and the top of the kiln is covered with corrugated tin.

From the 17th century onwards, brick manufacture was increasingly stimulated by industrialisation throughout Britain. During the 18th century, expansion of the brick industry was promoted by the unavailability of timber and the increasing expense of stone. By 1854, more than 2,000 million bricks were being produced annually in Britain. A breakthrough in industrial brick production came in 1857 when Austrian Friedrich Hoffman invented a kiln allowing for continuous firing without cooling between each firing. The first kiln of this type in Britain was erected at Roundwood Brickworks in West Yorkshire in 1862.

The kiln at Whinwhistle Lane, built circa 1850, followed the medieval tradition of intermittent clamp kilns, being cooled between each firing. At the mid-19th century, when this kiln was in operation, the brick industry stood at a turning point, shifting from small local production using old permanent intermittent kiln types to large commercial brickworks using permanent continuous kilns.

The kiln made use of clay from a pit approximately 20 to 30 metres to the south and remained in use until forced to close at the outbreak of World War II due to blackout regulations. It has been unused since 1939.

Very few Suffolk brick kilns are known to survive. The Step 2 report of the Monuments Protection Programme investigation of the clay industry identified this kiln as believed to be the only unmodified example remaining in the country. A few modified examples are known to exist, including a modified Suffolk kiln at South Cove Brickworks at Covebottom Wrentham near Beccles in Suffolk, and a hybrid version at Bursledon Brickworks in Hampshire. The unmodified example at Whinwhistle Lane is exceptionally rare.

The kiln is designated Grade II as a rare survival and one of only a few surviving examples of its type remaining in the country. Although in deteriorating condition, it retains special interest in its construction and represents a nationally important but localised industry.