Ian Suddaby states: – Exploring the edge of the River Tay in Perth. There are lots of tongue & groove circle bricks made by the Glenboig Company in Glenboig, Lanarkshire. Interestingly, none of these are shown in their undated catalogue that I have so they might not have been made until later on, perhaps in the 1920s or 1930s. There is quite a variety here as can be seen. Different thicknesses and different degrees of curve. All say GLENBOIG on the upper surface which would be invisible once built but all have a code on the outer curved edge which might well have been visible once built. All seem to have F followed by a number between 1 and 55 so far. There is also a P on its own. I’d guess that the P is for the customer (Perth Gasworks) and the F1 / F10 / F55 etc shows the folk building it where each piece went in the structure.
I need to go back when I can and do some much more detailed recording and see if the lower numbers are thicker and maybe went near the base. F10 is certainly thicker by 1¼” than F15 but it needs a lot more measuring to be sure. It would be nice to make sense of codes like these as the knowledge has been lost unless some drawings remain in an archive somewhere. These have all survived some very high temperatures and, apart from demolition damage are in good condition.
These examples are not in my possession.
Glenboig Union Fireclay Company, Glenboig, Lanarkshire.
Alternative brickworks include:
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The following bricks were found in Suriname, South America by Marnix (John) Visser. Marnix states – I have found several bricks on an old Scottish plantation in Suriname South America with the name Waterloo and located in Nickerie at the border with Guyana. James Balfour was the plantation owner. . . Below – Hurlford –…
Many thanks to Bruce MacDonald for the following photographs which were taken at The Sunbury Plantation House, St Philip Parish Barbados. All the bricks present were fire bricks and included English manufacturers such as Ruffors of Stourbridge, Cowen of Newcastle and Duddell of Fenton. 90% of the bricks present appear to have been stamped ‘Glenboig’….
Found by Eddie Mclean in the Glasgow area. Glenboig Union Fireclay Company, Glenboig, Lanarkshire. Alternative brickworks include: Glenboig Star Fireclay Works, Glenboig, Lanarkshire. Glenboig Fireclay Works, (Old Works) Glenboig, Lanarkshire .
Found by Eddie McLean in the Glasgow area. Glenboig Union Fireclay Company, Glenboig, Lanarkshire. Alternative brickworks include: Glenboig Star Fireclay Works, Glenboig, Lanarkshire. Glenboig Fireclay Works, (Old Works) Glenboig, Lanarkshire .
The following Scottish bricks were found by Tracie Perrie on the shore at Borden, Prince Edward Island, Canada. Below – ‘Glenboig’. Glenboig Union Fireclay Company, Glenboig, Lanarkshire. Alternative brickworks include: Glenboig Star Fireclay Works, Glenboig, Lanarkshire. Glenboig Fireclay Works, (Old Works) Glenboig, Lanarkshire Below – ‘Gartcraig Scotland Gaskil’. Gartcraig Fire Clay Works, By Millerston, Glasgow….
Found by Ian Suddaby near Ravenscraig, Motherwell. This example is not in my possession. Glenboig Union Fireclay Company, Glenboig, Lanarkshire. Alternative brickworks include: Glenboig Star Fireclay Works, Glenboig, Lanarkshire. Glenboig Fireclay Works, (Old Works) Glenboig, Lanarkshire
03/11/1934 – Coatbridge Leader – Glenboig brick romance. Knocking about ocean bed for twenty years. A fireclay brick which was one of a consignment of 47,500, despatched twenty years ago by the Glenboig Union Fireclay Company made quite a romantic reappearance on Wednesday at the annual meeting of the Company held in Glasgow. Mr Robert…
04/10/1879 – West Lothian Courier – On Monday a somewhat alarming explosion of fire damp took place at the Star Pit, Glenboig but was fortunately unattended with serious results. Hitherto the regular fire clay workings have been entirely free from damp but some had been generated during the driving of a mine through an upthrow….
Found in the Ayrshire area by Jason Sutcliffe. This example is not in my possession. Glenboig Union Fireclay Company, Glenboig, Lanarkshire. Alternative brickworks include: Glenboig Star Fireclay Works, Glenboig, Lanarkshire. Glenboig Fireclay Works, (Old Works) Glenboig, Lanarkshire Note the possibility of a double edge around the name stamp which is unusual on a Glenboig fire…
Found in the Ayrshire area by Jason Sutcliffe. This example is not in my possession. Glenboig Union Fireclay Company, Glenboig, Lanarkshire. Alternative brickworks include: Glenboig Star Fireclay Works, Glenboig, Lanarkshire. Glenboig Fireclay Works, (Old Works) Glenboig, Lanarkshire
