Britannia

Found in Glasgow by Eddie McLean.

I am now certain I believe this brick was manufactured by Alexander Frew at the Rawyards Brickworks, Rawyards, Airdrie, Lanarkshire.

Alternative brickworks include:

  • Drumbathie Brickworks, Rawyards, Airdrie, Lanarkshire.

My reasoning is as follows.

  1. This ‘Britannia’ fire brick was found alongside the ‘Rawyards’ brick below. They were in the same pile of demolished rubble in Glasgow.
  2. The firebricks are very similar in size and shape. The ‘Britannia’ measures 9″ x 4 1/2″ x 2 1/2″ and the ‘Rawflat Glasgow” measures 8 7/8″ x 4 3/8″ x 2 1/2″ – The very slight differences may be down to firing shrinkage and warping.
  3. The composition of the fire bricks looks similar with the clay containing the dark iron spots.
  4. In particular the rear of the fire bricks both show an unusual configuration of what appear to be 4 round features in the mould, possible rivet or screw impressions.
  5. The only other ‘Britannia’ fire brick I am aware of was found by Robert Runyard at an old freezer plant in Puerto Bories in southern Chile. It was found alongside ‘Rawyards Glasgow’ bricks as well as other Scottish bricks such as ‘Thistle’, ‘Bonnybridge’, ‘Garnkirk’, ‘Forth’ and ‘Hurll’.

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Below – The ‘Britannia’ brick found in South Chile.

Below – The ‘Rawyards Glasgow’ brick found in South Chile.

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