Index

• The Dark and Middle Ages
  • The Dark Ages
  • The Middle Ages
  • Bridgwater Castle
  • Town's Mediaeval Layout
  • St Mary's Church
  • St John's Hospital
  • Grey Friars
• Bridgwater's Fairs and Markets
  • The Earliest Fairs
  • St Matthew's Fair
  • Markets and Trade
• Bridgwater Carnival
  • Bridgwater Carnival
  • Historical Background
  • Cornhill Bonfire
  • The Final Bonfire
  • Squibbing
  • Early Disasters
  • The Evolution of Carnival
  • Carnival Concerts
• 17th Century
  • English Civil War
  • Admiral Blake
  • The Plague
  • Monmouth Rebellion
• River and Shipping
  • Earliest Records
  • Blossoming Trade
  • Shipbuilding
  • Docks
  • Bertha the Dredger
• 18th Century
  • Stage Coach Travel
  • The Iron Bridge and the Turnpike Trusts
  • The Architectural Legacy
  • Entertainment
• Bridgwater and Slavery
  • Somerset Rebels Sold into Slavery
  • Bridgwater’s Petition
  • A Slave Speaks Out in Bridgwater
• 19th Century
  • Political Corruption
  • Disenfranchised
  • Advent of the Railway
  • Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway
  • Utilities
  • Bridgwater’s Regiment
  • The Borough Constabulary 1834-1940
  • The Bridgwater Workhouses
  • The Brick and Tile Trade
  • The Brickyard Strike of 1896
  • Bath Brick
  • Wicker Products
• Early 20th Century
  • Introduction
  • Introduction of Electricity
  • The New Fire Stations
  • The Launch of the Irene
  • An Unwanted Suffragette
  • First World War
  • Changes in Transport
  • Between the Wars
• Second World War
  • Vernon Bartlett
  • The Day War Broke Out
  • Rationing and Restrictions
  • Prisoners of War
  • Women’s Land Army and the War Effort
  • Air Raids
  • Home Guard and Returning Heroes
  • VE Day
• Late 20th Century
  • Post War Bridgwater
• Around and About the Town
  • Admiral Blake Statue
  • Bridgwater Infirmary
  • Blake Gardens
  • The Cannon
  • Castle Street
  • The Cornhill
  • Friarn Street
  • King Square
  • The Old Vicarage
  • Penel Orlieu
  • Royal Clarence
  • Salmon Parade
  • Town Hall
• Lesser known Bridgwater Worthies
  • Captain George Lewis Browne, William Hubber and the Battle of Trafalgar
  • John Clark, Inventor of the Mackintosh
  • Denis Heron
  • Frances Barkley
  • Brother John Somer
  • Fanny Talbot
• Did You Know?
  • Did You Know?

History

Bath Brick

Despite its name, Bath Brick was a Bridgwater product.  Anywhere the British army went, the Bath Brick went likewise.  It started in 1820 when it was discovered that using silt from the river bank, bricks could be made which when scraped would produce a gritty substance suitable for scouring metal.  It was a predecessor to Vim and Ajax.  The river carries a heavy burden of silt.  This is deposited on each tide as a layer of slimy yellow matter.  Within a mile of either side of the town bridge, the particle size of the grit, and the algae content, is perfect for making the Bath Bricks.  Square pens were constructed on the river bank to trap the silt.  After two or three months, this would be ‘harvested’, ground by a horse-driven mechanism and shaped into bricks for kiln-firing.

The bricks, some two or three inches across, were patented in 1827 by John Browne and became a world-wide commodity.  They were given the name of Bath Brick since the colour after firing closely resembled that of Bath stone.  At its peak, 24,000,000 bricks per year were being produced by ten different Bridgwater companies, especially during First World War when they were part of the soldier’s standard kit issue.  By the start of First World War l, they had been replaced by those tall cans of kitchen scourers.

Text Copyright © 2008 Roger Evans