Brick Kiln at NGR ST 0316 4350

ST04SW 1/62

OLD CLEEVE CP BLUE ANCHOR Brick Kiln at NGR ST 0316 4350

II Updraught brick kiln, now garage. Early C19. Irregular red bricks, Flemish bond, corrugated iron monopitch roof. Rectangular in plan, about 4 x 8 metres.

Four segmental headed openings regularly spaced just above ground level on north side, one on south side with three others presumably obscured by lean-to addition, double doors west end. These openings probably eight in total and arranged opposite each other, are the firing holes or 'eyes' of the kiln. Access was front the side 'wicket', bricked up during firing, and the roof was of a temporary nature to allow the escape of gases. The Kiln is thought to have been in use from the 1830s until the 1870s when the large scale production of bricks in Bridgwater rendered small brickyards uneconomic.

There was little brickmakinq in West Somerset until the latter part of the C19 and this is the only example of an updraught brick kiln known to survive in the county.

(Information from B J Murless, 23 March 1983).

Listing NGR: ST0317943502