Slockavullin Brick Works, Slockavullin, Argyll.
Kilmartin Glen – After the last Ice Age about 10,000 years ago, rising sea levels flooded Kilmartin Glen and covered it in impermeable marine clay. – In 1794, construction work on the Crinan Canal started. Once the canal was opened in 1801 this allowed for the import of coal from Glasgow reducing the local population’s reliance on peat cutting and enabled them to improve the land. Poltalloch Estate, owners of about 1200 ha of the bog, recognised that the clay base layer underneath the Moine Mhor was potentially good agricultural land. In 1795 they started reclaiming the bog by drainage and peat removal, and by 1801 they had enough reclaimed land to establish a new farm called “Experiment”, now Barsloisnoch. The expanding Estate needed food for the laird’s household and for the new village of Kilmartin, built to house Estate workers. The Estate set up a tileworks and used local clay to make bricks for buildings and pipes that were used to drain the bog. Parts of the bog were cut to fuel the tile works and the remains of the peat drying sheds can still be seen near the northern boundary of the Reserve. Our nature trail on the North Moss (near the former Tileworks Cottage) is appropriately named ‘Tileworks’ – as a very interesting link to the cultural heritage of the Moine Mhor.
Below – 1865 – Slockavullin Brickworks
By 1898 – The brickworks site was gone and replaced by a gasworks.
The following refractory castable test samples were found during ground works at the Manuel Brickworks, Whitecross by Ian Suddaby and myself. These laboratory test samples are cement-based and have been marked with a marker type pen. Below – The cut edge of each sample. Below – some close up photographs of the cut edge. ….
Found at the Alloa Tileworks, Forthbank. These roof tiles appear to have been pressed or moulded using a cement mix. Alloa Tileworks, Forthbank, Alloa, Stirlingshire. . . . .
Alloa Tileworks, Forthbank, Alloa, Stirlingshire. 1913 – Works not present on this map. Below – 1946 – Alloa Tileworks, Forthbank (At B.M. – 20.28) Below – 1951 – Alloa Tileworks, Forthbank. Below – 1967 – Alloa Tileworks, Forthbank. Below – An assemblage of ‘Alloa’ roof tiles found on site. These look as if they are…
Many thanks to Lindsay Smith and Ian Roy for assisting in the finding and recovery of this brick from the Newpark Estate in Bellsquarry, Livingston area. Shotts Sand-Lime Brickworks, Shotts, North Lanarkshire aka locally as the ‘White Brickworks’. 06/05/1924 – The Scotsman – Electrical engineer’s visit to Shotts Works – Members of the West of…
Found by Ian Suddaby in the Dumbarton area. This example is not in my possession. Scottish Dunbrik Ltd, Stannergate, Dundee. . . . .
Russell Roof Tiles Below – 20/09/1990 – Galloway News – Russell Roof Tiles Ltd wish to recruit an Assistant Production Manager for their production facility at Lochmaben Nr Lockerbie The Company which is a member of the Alexander Russell Group of Companies manufactures quality roof tiles slates together with accessories in a highly competitive market…
Russell Roof Tiles 11/06/1987 – Galloway News – The Annandale Tile Co (1986) Ltd manufacturers of quality concrete roof tiles is a recently acquired subsidiary of the Alexander Russell group of companies. Their plans for business development have created an opportunity for an additional sales executive to represent their product range throughout North Cumbria, Borders…
Found by Ian Suddaby. These examples are not in my possession. They are made from cement/concrete, not clay. Ian states – These roof tiles were made by Russell Roof Tiles, possibly at Lochmaben, Dumfriesshire. The company was started near Glasgow by Alexander Russell in 1892. They’re made of a type of concrete, not clay. Nice though, and…
In ‘The British Clay Worker’ magazine dated 15/12/1952 there is an article entitled ‘Recent patents. An improvement hollow building brick or block. Stanislaw Sulich, 35 Grampian Road, Torry, Aberdeen. No 682,010’. This invention relates to an improvement in or modification of the building brick or block claimed and described in Patent No 607,557. This invention…
(Note – SBH – I have added some mention of Siporex here as a matter of interest only. It was a purely cement-based brick – no clay of any description used). Below – 12/06/1959 – Wishaw Press – Costain Concrete Co Ltd will manufacture Siporex in Scotland from early 1960. Siporex is a lightweight autoclaved…
