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Home > Economic History Social History Studies in Regional and Local History > Bricks of Victorian London
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Bricks of Victorian London

A social and economic history

Author: Peter Hounsell

Price: £18.99 (free postage)

"

“Bricks of Victorian London is a genuinely fascinating read for anyone interested in the social or economic history of the city as well as for architectural, social, and labour historians more generally. It will be the first port of call for scholars interested in the specifics of the industry of course – and it is really striking that this is the first full-scale study of the subject. And it is a book that will be enjoyed by anyone who wants to understand not only how London was transformed in the nineteenth century, but also the now long-lost people and places that made that change possible.”

-William Whyte,
The London Journal

About the book

“Hounsell draws on an impressive range of sources to inform and illustrate this thorough account of a once widespread industry which was fundamental to the growth of our capital city in the nineteenth century.” Ken Redmore, British Brick Society

“In common with other books in this series, this is a high-quality production and makes thorough use of documentary evidence.” Alice Harvey-Fishenden, Landscape History

“This book is one for the brick enthusiast but there is also much detailed evidence about the social position of the people involved. The economics and business organisation of a major nineteenth-century manufacturing industry is dealt with in great detail.” Michael Coles, The Local Historian

“[T]he definitive account of the capital's Victorian brick industry… this indefatigable work will be a source of reference for years.” Andrew Saint, London Topographical Society Newsletter

“I hope that this book will inspire other regional case studies on the brickmaking industry. In sum, this book will be of interest to anyone interested in the business, economic, transport, social, architectural, and cultural history of nineteenth-century England.” Joe Stanley, Labour History Review

“Beautifully produced and illustrated, [it] provide[s] a scholarly basis for a better understanding of the evolution of London and its suburbs.” Malcolm Airs, Context Magazine

Many of London’s Victorian buildings are built of coarse-textured yellow bricks. These are ‘London stocks’, produced in very large quantities all through the nineteenth century and notable for their ability to withstand the airborne pollutants of the Victorian city. Whether visible or, as is sometimes the case, hidden behind stonework or underground, they form a major part of the fabric of the capital. Until now, little has been written about how and where they were made and the people who made them.

Peter Hounsell has written a detailed history of the industry which supplied these bricks to the London market, offering a fresh perspective on the social and economic history of the city. In it he reveals the workings of a complex network of finance and labour. From landowners who saw an opportunity to profit from the clay on their land, to entrepreneurs who sought to build a business as brick manufacturers, to those who actually made the bricks, the book considers the process in detail, placing it in the context of the supply-and-demand factors that affected the numbers of bricks produced and the costs involved in equipping and running a brickworks.

  • More about the book

    Transport from the brickfields to the market was crucial and Dr Hounsell conducts a full survey of the different routes by which bricks were delivered to building sites - by road, by Thames barge or canal boat, and in the second half of the century by the new railways.

    The companies that made the bricks employed many thousands of men, women and children and their working lives, homes and culture are looked at here, as well as the journey towards better working conditions and wages.

    The decline of the handmade yellow stock was eventually brought about by the arrival of the machine-made Fletton brick that competed directly with it on price. Brickmaking in the vicinity of London finally disappeared after the Second World War. Although its demise has left little evidence in the landscape, this industry influenced the development of many parts of London and the home counties, and this book provides a valuable record of it in its heyday.

  • View the table of contents

    Contents


     List of illustrationsviii
     List of tablesx
     Acknowledgementsxi
     General Editor's prefacexiii
     Introduction1
     Part I: Brickfields 
    1A brick-built city: London brickmaking at the beginning of the nineteenth century7
    2From clay pit to clamp: manufacturing the London stock brick18
    3Finding the clay: landowners, brickmakers and the availability of land37
    4‘The rage for building’: meeting demand for bricks in Victorian London52
    5Brickfields in town and country72
     Part II: Brickmakers 
    6Builders, brickmasters and speculators: brickmaking businesses and their owners91
    7Land, machinery and labour: operating and financing the brickfield104
    8The market for bricks: brickmakers, builders' merchants and customers116
    9From brickfield to building site: delivering the bricks by road, rail and water127
     Part III: Brickies 
    10‘Hard and inappropriate labour’: the brickies at work151
    11‘The perfection of untidiness, dirt and disease’: the brickies at home167
    12‘Habits of intemperance’: the brickies and the beershop175
    13‘Profane workmen’: the brickies at prayer188
    14Pug boys and barrow loaders: the children of the brickfields195
    15‘The great struggle’: industrial disputes and trade unions in the brick industry213
     Part IV: An industry in decline 
    16‘The chief market is London’: the challenge of the Fletton brick237
    17Into the new century: stock brickmaking after 1900245
     Glossary255
     Bibliography259
     Index273

  • About the Author/s:

    Peter Hounsell

    Dr Peter Hounsell is the author of London’s Rubbish: Two centuries of dust, dirt and disease in the metropolis as well as several books about Ealing. He worked in public library services for nearly forty years and is a Fellow of the Historical Association.

ISBN: 978-1-912260-57-7 Format: Paperback, 304pp Published: Oct 2022

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Any questions

Contact us at UH Press if you have any queries or would like to find out more about this book.

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