Scotland's Brick and Tile Manufacturing Industry

Found at Manuel Works, Whitecross by Ian Suddaby. This example is not in my possession The manufacturer of this checker is unknown although the find site would suggest it was made at the Manuel Works, Whitecross’ Scotland. Stein, Castlecary Fireclay Works, Castlecary, Stirlingshire. Stein, Manuel Firebrick and Refractory Works, Whitecross, Stirlingshire. Stein & Co, Anchor…

Found by Ian Suddaby at the old Bonnyside Brickworks, Bonnybridge. This was found in a pile of debris that contained large quantities of test samples that were marked for use in the brickworks laboratory. AL – 80 = 80% Alumina content. Höganäs Borgestad, brick manufacturers, Sweden. At Höganäs Borgestad, we started producing refractory bricks in 1825,…

Found at the old Bonnyside Brickworks, Bonnybridge. This was in a pile of ash and waste that contained many test samples from the Bonnyside Brickworks laboratory. The letters of the stamp are all raised. UCB = Union Chimique Belge S.A. Belref is a distributor in Mons (Saint-Ghislain). https://www.belref.com/ They are now specialized in preshaped products…

Canmore – Whaling Station, 1904 Gaunt remains of a long-defunct industry, with a lone, tapering red brick chimney rising from the foundations of the boiling house/desiccator. Little else but the carcass ramp survives. Founded by a Norwegian, Karl Herlofsen, the factory was acquired by Lever Bros in 1922 when the market was declining but was…

The following bricks were found by Jacob Serge at a demolished military camp at Leopoldsburg, Belgium. . . . . Below – Castlecary – Castlecary Fireclay & Lime Works, Castlecary, Stirlingshire. Below – Preston Grange – Prestongrange Brick, Tile and Fireclay Works, Prestonpans, East Lothian.  

These two bricks were found in the tidal muds at Grangemouth, Scotland and in the same location as a number of confirmed Russian stamped bricks. Their ‘yellow’ colour, size (narrow) and visual composition suggest they may be early Dutch bricks. One would appear to have the imprint of an anchor or perhaps it is a…

Found by Ian Suddaby. Ian states – Down and dirty at low tide in the bed of the River Carron at Grangemouth on the Firth of Forth. Even though I’m very close to the wharf where many Grangemouth bricks were shipped out in the years before WWI, I never expected to find three foreign bricks….

Found in Avonbridge by Joe Pason. Unidentified manufacturer. ‘RESCO’ or ‘RESGO’? The find location would suggest Scottish origins but … The stamp has the look of a Craigend Refractory, Falkirk stamp and it is of note it was found alongside a ‘Craigend Falcon’ fire brick.( Craigend Refractories also manufactured fire bricks stamped ‘Falcon A’. It…

This fire brick was found by Francis Caven on the Brassie Shore, north shore heading towards Irvine, Ayrshire. AP Green, Missouri, USA bought the Douglas Fire Brick Company, Ayrshire from the Morgan Crucible Group in 1970. (Note – SBH – So was this brick an import or was it made in Ayrshire after the takeover…

This brick was found on the site of the old Jenny Lind Brickworks, Near Motherwell, Lanarkshire adjacent to the old site of the Ravenscraig Steel Works. It is a dense heavy brick and is believed to have been manufactured by Harbison Walker, USA. History –  Harbison-Walker Refractories Company (Harbison) is the world’s leading supplier of refractory…