Westmoreland Trust Community Interest Company info@westmorelandtrust.co.uk www.westmorelandtrust.co.uk 07585 446752

WESTMORELANDTRUST

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BRICKS BRICKMEN & BARGES

Presented by the Westmoreland Trust CIC

Editors: Clare Curling & Jason Friend

Westmoreland Trust Community Interest Company

info@westmorelandtrust.co.uk

www.westmorelandtrust.co.uk

07585 446752

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Westmoreland Trust CIC seeks to restore the Thamessailing barge Westmoreland as a training vessel and workingexhibit of the historic age when the brickfields and bargesof North Kent played a key role in the growth of VictorianLondon and ranked alongside Chatham Dockyard as theleading local employer. In particular the Trust focusses onWestmoreland’s link with Lower Halstow - for her entireworking life she was owned and operated by EastwoodsBrickmakers there. Westmoreland is the last remainingexample of a Kent brick barge.

Eastwoods Brickmakers were a large manufacturer of stock bricks in thearea although the firm was established in the early nineteenth century inLambeth. The founder, John Francis Eastwood, owned Wellington Wharf, 47Belvedere Road, Lambeth (London), now the site of Jubilee Gardens and theRoyal Festival Hall. Over the following decades the business grew andmerged with other companies - the resulting empire of brickworksmanufactured and delivered many millions of bricks across London, Essexand Kent and in North Kent Eastwoods had several brickfields includingOtterham, Lower Halstow, Funton and Conyer.

S.B. Westmoreland in full sail

S.B. Westmoreland in Lower Halstowdock, with motor barge Lastholme.PHOTO COURTESY OF RON HARKNETT

Eastwoods Limited Seal

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Sharing Heritage workshopsAt four SharingHeritage workshops in June 2014, the Trust hopedto learn more from members of the public aboutthe brickmaking industry of North Kent and itssocial impact. Visitors brought along variousphotos and artefacts concerning the brickindustry and several oral histories were recorded.This booklet summarises this information, sokindly shared by those who contributed to ourworkshops. As the content of this bookletcomprises personal recollections andobservations it may well contain inaccuracies or

embellishments - this is all part of telling the story: we are sharing the informationas it has been passed to us.

Local expert Richard-Hugh Perks kindly wrote an essay titled ‘A Brief Historyof Brickmaking in North Kent’ which gives an insight into the evolution of theindustry, up to living memory. We have included extracts here. Material from ourworkshops supplements this with insights from the pre-mechanised era to the lastgeneration of brickworkers. Workshop contributors provided material about theEastwoods brickworks and also recalled other firms' sites in the locality.

A brick clamp PHOTO COURTESY OF THE PETER KENNETT COLLECTION

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Traces of North Kent’s brickmaking heritage exist throughout the Swale landscape.There are remains of early 20th century brickworks in both Faversham andSittingbourne, and brickfields are quite easy to find in the surrounding countryside,characterised by sudden steep slopes that interrupt the otherwise rolling contoursof the land and rectilinear forms that are clearly of human origin even though theiredges are becoming increasingly eroded with time.

Large areas of both Faversham and Sittingbourne which are now urban were, in thelate 19th century semi-industrial landscapes. The Kingsfield brickfield in Faversham,whose boundaries are still clearly visible, stretched all the way from the A2 down tothe back of the Cottage Hospital. Large areas of Sittingbourne and Milton Regis,especially around Milton Creek, are built on former brickfieldswhose limits are now invisible as the result of further economicdevelopment during the 20th century. Thanks to the support ofthe Heritage Lottery Fund, much anecdotal and unpublishedinformation has been gathered on the locations of those lostbrickfields, particularly in the Faversham area but more researchis necessary (including inspection of contemporary maps) inorder to identify former brickfields and related sites elsewherein the region. It is impossible today to distinguish, for example,between fields that were exploited for their brickearth (clay)and those that were used to supplement the supply of chalkfrom the many quarries that dotted the landscape.

Barges unloading bricks at Putney 1882PHOTO COURTESY OF HUGH PERKS

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Brickmaking in North Kent goes back at least 2,000 yearsand re-used Roman brick tiles can be found in the church of StMargaret of Antioch at Lower Halstow.

The end of the war with France in 1815 precipitated what wasto become a phenomenal demand for bricks. London grew fastas England became more prosperous, and North Kent, with itsvast supplies of brickearth was the place to which Londonturned for its construction materials. The yellow Kent stockbricks that were carried from the brickfields into London byWestmoreland and other barges like her were composed of

64% clay and mud, 11% chalk and 25% ash and cinders. They were extremely strongand fairly impervious to water.

To meet this huge demand, larger quantities had to be made. Instead of thetraditional kiln, the bricks were laid out in the open air in clamps. These clampswere fired on brushwood and when the temperature reached around 300 degreescentigrade the ashes within the bricks ignited raising the temperature to around1,000 degrees centigrade. The best quality yellows counted as semi-engineeringbricks and proved ideal for constructing not only houses but bridge buttresses andrailway tunnels, docks and warehouses. A major boost to North Kent’s brick

Eastwoods Dock, Lower Halstow PHOTO COURTESY OF ALAN SWIFT

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industry came with the passing of the Railways Act in 1824. Nine years later theGreenwich Railway Act received Royal Assent. To avoid the problem of the manyroads in the path of the railway, Colonel Landmann devised a continuous viaduct of878 brick arches requiring around 40 million bricks which were sourced from theSwale and Medway areas. For ten years after there was a national shortage ofbricks. By the end of the 1890’s the Thames Estuary brickfields were producing atotal of 400 million bricks a year.

The brickmaking process began with digging the clay (brickearth). Initially claywas dug from fields surrounding the works but when these became exhausted newfields were opened further away. For example on the outskirts of Sittingbourne clayslurry was piped underground from the brickfields to the various brickworks. Inother locations clay was brought to the works along horse tramways. As many ofthe new fields were orchards, the apple and cherry trees were carefully dug up andtheir roots packed with sacking to allow replanting. Topsoil was removed andstacked before clay digging commenced. All was hand working. Generally clay wasdug to a depth of around three feet - when an area of field was worked out, topsoilwas replaced and the fruit trees replanted. An expression was ‘from crop to crop intwo years’.

Chalk was dug from quarries or from chalk beds further inland, being sieved toseparate flints which were marketed for road-making or sea walls. Smooth flints,known as ‘washmill pebbles’ were saved and ground down to become the abrasiveingredient in toothpowder - much of which was exported to America.

Top: Eastwoods burrs set intoretaining wall on the A2PHOTO COURTESY OF MATTHEW HATCHWELL

Below: Chalk digging PHOTO. A. BRAY - DON SATTIN COLLECTION

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Ash and cinders were sieved by hand out of therubbish (rough stuff) brought back to Kent fromLondon by the brick barges. In Lower Halstow,rubbish remnants that could not be burnt, suchas glass and pottery, were dumped on GlassBottle Beach.

Mud was dug from the Swale and Medwayoriginally shovelled by hand into barges, using a long thin spade or ‘fly tool’. The claywas collected in washbacks - (compounds within earth rampart walls, fitted withsluice gates) and ashes were then spread on top. The winter frosts would break upthe material ready for the soil to be ‘tempered’ - ashes and clay mixed together anddug out. This was done by men known as temperers who dug and mixed the soilwith cuckles. A good temperer could dig around 15 tons a day.

George Peters described how clay was dug from the fields adjacent to Breach Lanenear the A2. It was mixed into a slurry and pumped underground to thebrickworks. The pipe came out of the ground opposite the Three Tuns pub where itpumped out into a series of troughs raised up on stilts. The slurry then ran down aseries of chutes with shutters which were pushed into place to divert the flow tothe desired washback. Each washback was filled in sequence and left to drain. Once

GEORGE PETERSHaving started hisapprenticeship with a localbuilder George’s first job wasbuilding the brick drying worksat Eastwoods in Lower Halstowin 1954. He recalls the men whodug the mud were known as‘muddies’ and a smallcommunity of them lived inLower Stoke. People said theyhad webbed hands and therewas some truth in this -spending so much shovelling inthe mud, their fingers becameso calloused they would fusetogether, giving the impressionof webbed fingers. It was saidthat a gang of 8 muddies couldfill two barges between tides.

Right: Clay digging at Murston PHOTO COURTESY HUGH PERKS

Loading mud into S. B. Durham 1954PHOTO COURTESY OF RAY RUSH

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drained, the clay was dug out of thewashbacks and moved in side-tippingtrucks to the mixing area at a placenow known as ‘The Lookout’ - theremains of these washbacks can still beseen today.

Before the introduction of steampower, the chalk and clay were mixed

in a horse driven mill into ‘pug’ ready for moulding. A brickmaking gang was knownas a stool and normally comprised five or six people, usually of the same family. A stool could mould half a million bricks in a season (bricks were usually madebetween April and September) and, on rare occasions, a million bricks - enough tofill the Westmoreland 25 times over!

If a stool made such a quantity a small ceremony took place. A flag was run up, thenthe moulder broke the bowl of his pipe and pressed it into the mould of themillionth ‘green’ (freshly moulded) brick. A millionth brick was never made in theafternoon - rather first thing in the morning as the men were then given the rest ofthe day off. Around 50 years ago a builder named Jack Monk picked up a brick,snapped it in half to reveal the bowl of a pipe. One stool at Wythe’s Favershamworks moulded 105,000 bricks in a fortnight. The rate at Wythe’s in 1861 was 4/6d

Otterham Quay Lane, 1935,temperers digging with cuckles

PHOTO COURTESY OF WWW.UPCHURCH-VILLAGE.CO.UK

A stool of brick workers PHOTO COURTESY OF ALAN SWIFT

GEOFF GRANSDENAt around 9 years old, he andhis friends would climb the seawall and clamber onto S.B.Durham. Later she was brokenup but her barge boards andsome planking were used torepair the dock at LowerHalstow, identifiable by thetrenails. After the brickworksclosed in 1966 they used to runround pushing the trolleysthrough the kilns.

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Harry Hayes using a striker removingsurplus pug from the mould 1981PHOTO COURTESY HUGH PERKS

JOHN LEWINAs a schoolboy of 12, John livedin Upchurch and had a viewacross the marshes. When hespied that Durham had set hermizzen ready to come in on thenext tide he would say goodbyeto his mother as though hewere going off to school, butinstead ran out to sail back inwith Durham. The skipper, ErnClements (also calledRubberneck) would ask if heshould be at school, but Johnwould make an excuse. Once hetried to help the skipper loadthe barge with mud using a flytool, but as he threw up themud the shovel went too! If thewind dropped they would polethe barge back into the dockfor a gang to unload the mud byhand. Trolleys carrying clayfrom the washbacks weremanoeuvred on turntables, andJohn and his mates found theycould lift up these turntables topinch the ball bearings formarbles!

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ALAN SWIFTAlan's father, Les Swift, wasfrom a family of 14, allbrickmakers. Les sailed a fewmonths on the barges thenmoved to work on the handberths of the brickfield, makingbricks one at a time - Alan hashis 40 year service watch. Heremembers running with hisfather to cover up the dryingbricks on the hacks withwooden caps when the callwent up to say rain was coming.As the hacks were built higher,they were protected from theelements by wattle gates. Therewere 2 brick making machinesat Lower Halstow. Duringschool holidays Alan played in awilderness area at the edge ofthe brickworks where 3 bargeslay derelict, including S.B.O.L.Sand S. B. Surrey. When the gang made 1,000,000bricks they were given a newpair of boots from Eastwoods.As bricks were usually madefrom March to October, mendug brickearth in the winter.The brickworks closed for theduration of WWII.

per 1,000 bricks. In that year the “East Kent Gazette” reported moulders were onstrike for an extra 9 pence.

For moulding bricks, the wooden mould was placed on top of a stock board whichwas well sanded to prevent the clay from sticking. The moulder pressed clay intothe mould, slid out the stock board, released the ‘green’ bricks which were loadedonto a hack barrow carrying 18 bricks at a time to hacks for drying. Brick hackswere timber structures with louvres to allow air-drying.

After mechanisation the green bricks were stacked on trolleys and passed through adrier to remove as much moisture as possible before firing. When dried, brickswere stacked into huge clamps, ‘scintled’ (spaced) to allow the fire to pass evenlythrough the clamp during the burning process.

Once the clamp had been firedand dismantled, the bricks weretaken by horse tramway to theloading wharves to be transportedby sailing barge to London, or tobeaches along the Thames Estuarycoast.

Otterham Quay Lane, 1935, laying outthe bricks with gaps (scintling) to dry,in hacksPHOTO COURTESY OF WWW.UPCHURCH-VILLAGE.CO.UK

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GEOFFREY NEEVESIn October 1927 Geoffrey’suncle Ernest Maybourne, 23years, was mate on board theThames sailing barge, Bexhill.She was owned by Messrs. G.Gransden & Sons Ltd. ofSittingbourne and was ladenwith 40,000 bricks proceedingup the Thames to Vauxhall.Passing Millwall Docks in thickfog, Captain Port decided thatthey should row the Bexhill upriver. As captain and matewere rowing the barge theyspotted a steamer approachingin the fog, and then anotherfrom the opposite direction.Seeing that a collision wasinevitable the captain shoutedfor them to make for thebarge’s boat, but before theboat could be lowered the SSTregarthen of St Ives had runover the Bexhill cutting herstern clean off. The loadedbarge sank instantly and bothmen were thrown into thewater. Captain Port wasrescuedbut sadly Mr Neeves’ uncle,Ernest Maybourne, drowned.

The bricks were graded and low-qualitybricks (burrs, badgers or grizzles) were heldback and used locally (for example to buildretaining walls along the increasingly busyLondon Road, now the A2)

Every brickmaker had a fleet of Thamessailing barges - the larger barges could loadbetween 40,000 and 45,000 bricks, sufficient to build a pair of semi-detachedhouses. The smaller barges which worked to West London through the Regent’sCanal loaded between 30,000 and 35,000 bricks. Charlie Frake, who went as mateof Eastwoods’ small barge E.F.Q. recalled sometimes the bricks were still hot fromburning that a barge had to race back to port as it had caught fire. One bargeactually sank when its bottom burnt out.

The method of loading a brick barge was simplicity itself. A clutch of five bricks heldfast together would be gathered off the barrow or truck and thrown across thedecks of the barge to the ganger, who in turn threw them to the stacker in thehold, each man wearing leather cotts over his thumbs to prevent injury.

After discharging its cargo of bricks a barge would proceed to a vestry wharf toload ‘rough stuff ’ - a most unpleasant cargo as it might contain all sorts of detritus

Stockpiles of bricks at Otterham WharfPHOTO COURTESY OF WWW.UPCHURCH-VILLAGE.CO.UK)

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DEBRA HIGHAMDebra recalls searching throughthe unused ‘rough stuff' thatwas dumped on Glass BottleBeach and her favourite thingsto find were jet buttons. Shealso remembers her father(Frank Willmott, author of‘Bricks and Brickies’) findingpretty dolls' heads.

amongst the ashes required for brickmaking. On arrival back at its home port the‘rough stuff ’ was unloaded at the rubbish wharves to be riddled through.Glass-ware was discarded and at Lower Halstow was dumped on the foreshore atwhat became Glass Bottle Beach. While sifting the rubbish sometimes exceptionalfinds were made including jewellery, and on one occasion at Faversham an envelopecontaining three five-pound notes.

The E.F.Q. was a small barge of 32 registered tons, built narrow to a width of 14 feet6 inches to enable her to enter the locks on the Regent’s Canal. When CharlieFrake joined her as mate just after the Great War he was ignorant as to canalpractice and when the barge entered the first lock he threw out a fender. As these‘cut’ barges were designed to exactly fit the locks, the fender wedged the bargetight in the lock. It took several hours to cut out the fender. When coming backlight after discharging their bricks at Kilburn or other places, a high-headed bargemight jam under the tunnel roofs. To prevent this the barge boat would be placedup for’ard and filled with water to get the barge’s head down. One day they stuck inthe mouth of the tunnel. Charlie recalled with glee that it was his skipper’s fault forforgetting to fill up the barge boat with water.

Making up to 25 round trips to London with bricks up and ashes down a bargewould be expected to carry the best part of a million bricks in a year. A brick bargehad to make fast passages. As Charlie Frake recalled ‘we sailed wet or dry’! The one

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DEREK PARRISHDerek lived at Deerton Street,some 2 miles from thebrickfields at Conyer, and couldhear the hooter that wassounded to mark lunchtimeevery day. He and his cousinwould go round the brickfieldsat weekends, collectinglemonade bottles to get thedeposits back from the shop.He recalled the burning bricksin the clamp had a verydistinctive smell. Hisgrandfather, Percy Parrish,spent all his working life withEastwoods, retiring at 70. Derekhas the programme for theceremony when his grandfatherwas presented with his 40 yearslong service award in 1961.Percy lived in Conyer at 5Coastguard Cottages, onlyleaving his home to serve inWWI. He was a horseman forEastwoods, tending to thefeeding and welfare of thehorses seven days a week. Derek’s uncle, Ron Silcock,managed the shutdown of theEastwoods brickfield at Conyerand was caretaker of the siteuntil its demolition.

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thing skippers could not contend with was pea-soup fog. When Charlie Frakebecame master of a brick barge he left Wapping one Wednesday night and,expecting a fast passage, all the food he and his mate had on board was a bloaterand half a loaf of bread. But being near Christmas he had bought a bag of walnuts.Shortly afterwards the fog came down. Four days later when the barge arrived off

Gravesend Charlie and his mate were starvingand the tealeaves had been boiled until theywere colourless.

This photo of the Westmoreland was takenby Captain Charlie Kirby from aboard E.F.Qand is used courtesy of Hugh Perks whosaid, ‘I have one photograph ofWestmoreland sailing in trade deep-laden. I

once asked an old bargeman if he had any old barge photos.He told me he had taken one of Westmoreland on an old camera he found in acargo of ashes loaded at one of London's vestry wharves. He said he couldn't affordto have the film developed in those days, but thought the camera was still in hisshed. It was. I took it to Ilfords who developed it and gave me the photograph. Iasked if I could have the negative, but they said the rest of the photos were so rudehouse rules said the film had to be destroyed.’

JOHN HOUSEJohn used to play around thebrickfields at Murston. Hebrought along a transcript of aninterview with his grandfather,Captain HaroldFarrington-House (1900 - 1977)who lived in Sittingbourne andwas a barge skipper. Theinterview recalls how hisgrandfather and each of 6 of hisuncles sailed on S.B. Monday toFrance. On return to dock,Captain Farrington-Housewould go ashore the worse forwear, confounding the customsmen who inspected the barge(even unstowed the sails) - theMonday had a hollow mastheadtop to smuggle alcohol back

from the continent.

Percy Parrish in his kitchen at 5 Coastguard Cottages, Conyer PHOTO COURTESY OF DEREK PARRISH

Top left: Eastwoods workers with long service medals Left: Eastwoods employees on butterfly wharf c1928PHOTOS COURTESY OF DEREK PARRISH

Right: Captain HaroldFarrington-House PHOTO COURTESY JOHN HOUSE

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By the outbreak of WWI many of the smallerThames Estuary brickmakers had closed theirfields and were stockpiling their bricks. Onlythe larger firms such as Eastwoods, SmeedDean at Murston and Cremer’s at Favershamcould survive. The inter-war period saw a further reduction inthe price of bricks. Charlie Frake recalled beingpleased to accept 80 tons of ‘rough stuff ’ payingsix pence a ton (old money).

In 1963 Eastwoods sold the local brickworks toRedlands, but not long after in 1966, Redlandsannounced the closure of the brickworks at LowerHalstow. This was a devastating event for the village asthe brick industry was by far the main local employer –the dynamic of the village was completely changed.

As the years have passed the undeveloped areas of thebrickfields have become wildernesses, havens for wildlifeand walkers, but increasing land values and pressure forhousing is likely to see such spaces changed in some way, forexample the proposed developments at Conyer and FourGun Field at Otterham.

RON HARKNETTRon’s father, Alf Harknett, startedwork for Eastwoods at LowerHalstow aged 13 in 1914. Specialpermission was given for him toleave school. At 19 years of age hebecame skipper of the S.B. Surrey,which was eventually hulked offGlass Bottle Beach. After S.B. Westmoreland cameout of trade in 1955, she wasmaintained purely for racing andEastwoods retained Alf to be herskipper.

FRANK MARSH:As a boy before WWII, FrankMarsh sailed as mate on the bargeCharles Burley, owned andoperated by Charles BurleyBrickmakers and Barge Repairs inSittingbourne. He recalled sailingto and from London with variouscargoes, but only once did theyload rough stuff - after that onetrip the skipper said 'never nomore!' and stuck to woodpulp andtimber cargoes. Frank was paid£2.2s.6d to sail to London, load acargo and sail back and the skippergot double.

Extracts from the freight book of AlfHarknett when skipper of S.B. SurreyCOURTESY OF RON HARKNETT

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JANE GRANSDENJane's father, Bill Davis, was themanager for Eastwoods atLower Halstow, Funton andOtterham. Her family homewas opposite the washbacks atLower Halstow, and sheremembers the sound of thebrickworks horn throughoutthe day, sounded at specifictimes to call the men in or sendthem off to lunch etc. On aSaturday morning Jane wouldgo with her father to thebrickfields and while he workedshe would be paid 6d tosharpen all the pencils in theoffice. She had a little metalshovel and would go with herfather to the top of the kilns tofeed in coal through a smallopening.

Alf Harknett, skipper of S.B. Westmoreland, with

racing trophiesPHOTO COURTESY OF RON HARKNETT

The workshops havehighlighted how muchinformation is yet to begathered and a great dealof work is to be done,for example mappingwork to includetransport infrastructure(tramways, pipelines, etc.)that were part of thebrickmaking fabric ofNorth Kent, and widerpublicity to bring morememories to light.

The brickmaking industryof North Kent has all but

disappeared - these memories, artefacts and photographs help to preserve theunderstanding of working life in several parts of the industry. The Westmoreland Trust hopes they are the basis for a heritage collection to bedeveloped as part of the wider Westmoreland restoration project in due course.

Above: S.B. Westmoreland in Eastwoods Dock,Lower Halstow 1961, flying her winner'spennants for both the Thames and Medwaymatches - skippered to victory by Alf HarknettPHOTO COURTESY OF RON HARKNETT

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Thames sailing barge match 1960, from left to rightArrow, Millie, Maid of Connaught, Venta,Dreadnought and Ethel Ada with Westmorelandleading, going on to win PHOTO COURTESY OF RAY RUSH

AcknowledgementsWestmoreland Trust C.I.C would very muchlike to thank those people and organisationsthat have supported this Sharing Heritageproject. The time, effort and contributions ofthese people have resulted in a body of materialthat captures the essence of the brickmakingheritage of North Kent. The Trust hopes it willhelp to educate local people for years to comeabout a major industry that has been all but lostto the area.

Further ReadingBricks and Brickies F.G.WillmottJust off the Swale Don SattinThe Story of Lower Halstow Pauline StevensUpchurch in Old Picture Postcards Mike GunnillOtterham, Your Heritage Mike Gunnill (Available from December 2014)Stock Bricks of Swale Sydney James TwistSailing Barge Compendium Society for SailingBarge ResearchGeorge Bargebrick Esquire Richard-Hugh Perks

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We would especially like tothank:

The Heritage Lottery FundMatthew HatchwellEmma YeungEsme ReevesClarissa Le Neindre-HubbardRachel SykesBob SmithRichard-Hugh PerksRon HarknettRichard WalshSociety for Sailing Barge ResearchThames Sailing Barge TrustAlan SwiftGeorge PetersRay RushJohn LewinDerek ParrishDebra HighamsJohn HousePeter MaylumFrank MarshCaroline EaglesMike Gunnillwww.upchurch-village .co.ukGeoffrey NeevesAdrian WhitePeter KennettMarion Wash

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