Scotland's Brick and Tile Manufacturing Industry

Found by Ian Suddaby in the Nitshill area of Glasgow. This example is not in my possession. This example is salt-glazed to one stretcher. Darnley Fireclay Works, Nitshill, Glasgow (Allan Kirkwood). . .

Found by Ian Suddaby in the Nitshill area of Glasgow. This example is not in my possession. This example is salt-glazed to one stretcher. Darnley Fireclay Works, Nitshill, Glasgow (Allan Kirkwood). . .

Found at Oakvale, Livingston. Darnley Fireclay Works, Nitshill, Glasgow (Allan Kirkwood). This brick does not appear to have been manufactured from fireclay. It is entirely possible that the Darnley Fireclay Works were also manufacturing composite bricks from local shale or blaise waste. The following photographs attempt to show the composition of these bricks which show shale…

The following Scottish bricks were found by Denis O’Keefe on the south-west coast of Victoria, Australia. The Cumbernauld and Cardowan Patent were both found in the same pile of bricks on the shore. The pile is thought to be discarded ships ballast. . Below – Cardowan Patent – Cardowan Fire Clay Works, Stepps, Glasgow. Cumbernauld…

Found by Ian Suddaby in the Nitshill area of Glasgow. This example is not in my possession. Darnley Fireclay Works, Nitshill, Glasgow (Allan Kirkwood). . . . Below – The same stamp on a chimney found by Ian Suddaby in Greengairs, North Lanarkshire. Not the 2 holes drilled in the base which was presumably to…

Found by Eddie McLean in the Renfrewshire area. Darnley Fireclay Works, Nitshill, Glasgow (Allan Kirkwood). . . . . Below – The same stamp on a similar curved brick with a chamfered edge to the inner curve.  

These bricks were found by Guillaume Girard on the banks of the Ottawa River near to Parliament Hill, Ottawa, Canada. Other brickmarks found nearby were “T Carr” from the NE of England and a brick stamped “National” which may well have Canadian or American origins. Around the 1900s this area was heavily used in the…

The mine was owned by Alan Kirkwood Limited. 1896 – Upper Darnley Fireclay Mine had 5 workers underground and 1 above. 1903 – James Wilson, (35), Drawer, died at the Upper Darnley Fireclay Mine owned by Allan Kirkwood, as a result of a ” fall of roof on road”. 1918 – Upper Darnley Fireclay Mine…

Many thanks to Ibon Abuin, Alejandro Gandul and Jose Carlos Bernal for the information and photographs that follow. SS Canarias was a French nationality cargo ship. The Steam Ship ‘Canarias’ was built by Ateliers & Chantiers De La Loira in Nantes (France) in 1893. Length Over All: 104 Mts Beam: 12 Mts. Disp:  3.098 Tm. On…

The Kirkwood brick was found by Stephen Cann on the banks of the  Little Salmon River, New Brunswick Canada. There were several partial bricks in this area. At the turn of the last century, this area was used to load ships and barges with timber from the area. The bricks may have been ballast for vessels…