Porth Wen Brickworks

Porth Wen Brickworks is a now disused Victorian brickworks which produced fire bricks, made from quartzite (silica) used to line steel-making furnaces. The substantial remains include a number of buildings and the remains of some of the machinery, but has some damage from sea erosion. The site is a scheduled monument.

Porth Wen Brickworks
Kilns and chimneys at the brickworks
TypeBrickworks
LocationAnglesey, Wales
Coordinates53.424°N 4.406°W / 53.424; -4.406
OS grid referenceSH 4019 9465
CommunityLlanbadrig
Principal areaAnglesey
Official name: Porth Wen Brickworks
Designated27 October 1986
Reference no.AN109
Location in Anglesey

Location

The brickworks is in a spectacular location on the western side of Porth Wen (English: White Bay) in the community of Llanbadrig in the north of Anglesey, and is about 2 km (1.2 miles) west of Porth Llechog and 3 km (1.9 miles) north-east of Cemaes.[1][2] The brickworks was established because of the readily available quartzite from the nearby quarries, a major component of fire bricks.[3]

As with much of coastline of Anglesey, the brickworks lies within the area of the Anglesey Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.[4]

Description

Porthwen Brickworks includes quarries, an incline tramroad to the works, and includes a crushing house, moulding shed, drying sheds, and kilns. The brickmaking operation was supported by storage hoppers, engine house, boiler house, chimneys, warehouse and a quay.[5]

Brickmaking started on the site in the mid 19th century, with the tramroad being added later, and the existing buildings being built in the early 20th century.[6] Although the brickworks ceased production in the first half of the 20th century (sources vary on the date; either 1924 or 1949),[1][6] the buildings and much of the equipment remain in situ, and the site shows:

...the visual scars of time and nature on its rural-industrial face as well as just the immense history built into the very bricks and stones

— Ian Banks[7]

Quarries and incline
Remains of winding house

The brickworks were supplied from two quarries to the north-west of the works.[8][9] A tramroad from one of the quarries leading to a winding house and incline was shown on the 1st edition OS map, 1889.[10]

The winding house includes two lateral walls of mortared walls of rubble masonry supporting a square drive shaft and bearings. The remains of the walls are splayed at the bases and roughly 4.5 m (10 feet) in length, 0.95 m (3 feet) wide up to a height of 3 m (10 feet).[10][11] The drive shaft supported three wheels each with eight spokes. One wheel is roughly 2 m (7 feet) in diameter and the other two are 1.5 m (5 feet) in diameter. The larger wheel was a banding-break and the other two were driving wheels for lowering and raising trucks on the incline. A wooden beam with a control mechanism remains in front the drive shaft. A second similar wooden beam lies nearby but is no longer in position.[10][11][12]

Near the winding house are the remains of a storage shed roughly 4 m (10 feet) by 5 m (20 feet) with walls that supported a gabled roof of profiled sheeting and is probably more recent than the winding house, built in a period of improvement in the early 20th century.[13]

The incline consisted of two tracks which have been removed but the track bed remains with retaining walls of random rubble masonry roughly 1 m (3 feet) deep. The incline was gravity powered.[12][14]

Brickmaking
Crushing house

The incline terminated at a crushing house where pieces of quartzite were broken up with a knapping machine. The pieces were passed down chutes to lower levels for further processing, resulting in a fine powder at the lowest stage. It is likely that the pieces of quartzite were reduced by hammer with the workers wearing iron covered gloves.[1][15][16]

The resulting powder was mixed with lime and water in a pan mill. The resulting paste was then moulded and pressed into bricks in the moulding shed, and then dried out in drying sheds.[1][17][18][19] Originally bricks were made using moulding and wire cutting, but were later made using a press.[16]

After drying, the bricks were then fired in one of the three circular down-draught kilns (also known as beehive or Newcastle kilns), made of brick with iron bands and domed roofs.[20][21][22][1][7]

The brickworks also includes the remains of a boiler house, which contained a Five-drum Stirling boiler, and a small engine house for a steam engine.[23][24]

Storage and distribution

After firing, the bricks were stored in the main building, an impressive two-storey brick building, with gabled ends.[25]

Bricks were then loaded onto ships, using a crane, moored at the loading quay.[26][27]

History

Porth Wen brickworks was designated as a scheduled monument by Cadw in 1986 and classified as a post-medieval industrial brickworks.[28]

See also

References
  1. "Silica Brick Works, Porth Wen". Historic Environment Record (HER). Gwynedd Archaeological Trust (GAT). GAT PRN 3562. Retrieved 18 June 2016 – via archwilio (online database of the four Welsh Archaeological Trusts).
  2. "Section 3: Cemaes to Amlwch Port" (PDF) (Map). www.anglesey.gov.uk. Isle of Anglesey Coastal Path Project. 2005. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
  3. Jones, S. (1997). Coastal Erosion Survey Anglesey (PDF) (Report). Gwynedd Archaeological Trust (GAT). p. 14. GAT Report No. 251. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
  4. Grant, Maria; Parker, Sally (April 2014). State of the AONB Report for Anglesey (PDF). Isle of Anglesey County Council (Report). Land Use Consultants. p. 11. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
  5. Gwyn, David (2006). Gwynedd: Inheriting a Revolution; the Archaeology of Industrialisation in North-West Wales. Phillimore & Company Limited. pp. 116–117. ISBN 978-1-86077-432-4.
  6. Hill, J. (1 March 2004). "Porthwen Brickworks; Porth Wen Silica Brickworks". National Monuments Record of Wales (NMRW). Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW). NPRN 40736. Retrieved 17 June 2016 – via coflein (online database of the NMRW).CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  7. Banks, Ian (20 December 2004). "Porth Wen Brickworks, Anglesey". Urban Realm. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  8. "Porthwen Brickworks: Silica Quarry". National Monuments Record of Wales (NMRW). Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW). NPRN 40737. Retrieved 17 June 2016 – via coflein (online database of the NMRW).
  9. "Porthwen Brickworks: Silica Quarry; Dinorben Quarry". National Monuments Record of Wales (NMRW). Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW). NPRN 528. Retrieved 17 June 2016 – via coflein (online database of the NMRW).
  10. "Winding House at Porth Wen, Bryn Llewelyn". heritagerecords.nationaltrust.org.uk. National Trust. MNA133966. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
  11. "Porthwen Brickworks: Winding Engine House". National Monuments Record of Wales (NMRW). Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW). NPRN 40740. Retrieved 17 June 2016 – via coflein (online database of the NMRW).
  12. "Porthwen Brickworks: Railway Incline". National Monuments Record of Wales (NMRW). Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW). NPRN 40738. Retrieved 17 June 2016 – via coflein (online database of the NMRW).
  13. "Storage shed at Porth Wen, Bryn Llewelyn". heritagerecords.nationaltrust.org.uk. National Trust. MNA133968. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
  14. "Incline at Porth Wen, Bryn Llewelyn". heritagerecords.nationaltrust.org.uk. National Trust. MNA133967. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
  15. "Porthwen Brickworks: Crusher House". National Monuments Record of Wales (NMRW). Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW). NPRN 40739. Retrieved 17 June 2016 – via coflein (online database of the NMRW).
  16. Jones, Wil. "Porth Wen Brickworks". www.anglesey-hidden-gem.com. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  17. "Porthwen Brickworks: Moulding Shed and Chimney". National Monuments Record of Wales (NMRW). Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW). NPRN 40747. Retrieved 17 June 2016 – via coflein (online database of the NMRW).
  18. "Porthwen Brickworks: Drying Sheds". National Monuments Record of Wales (NMRW). Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW). NPRN 40745. Retrieved 17 June 2016 – via coflein (online database of the NMRW).
  19. "Porthwen Brickworks: Chimney". National Monuments Record of Wales (NMRW). Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW). NPRN 40748. Retrieved 17 June 2016 – via coflein (online database of the NMRW).
  20. "Porthwen Brickworks: Kiln (1)". National Monuments Record of Wales (NMRW). Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW). NPRN 40742. Retrieved 17 June 2016 – via coflein (online database of the NMRW).
  21. "Porthwen Brickworks: Kiln (2)". National Monuments Record of Wales (NMRW). Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW). NPRN 40743. Retrieved 17 June 2016 – via coflein (online database of the NMRW).
  22. "Porthwen Brickworks: Kiln (3)". National Monuments Record of Wales (NMRW). Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW). NPRN 40744. Retrieved 17 June 2016 – via coflein (online database of the NMRW).
  23. "Porthwen Brickworks: Stirling Boiler House". National Monuments Record of Wales (NMRW). Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW). NPRN 40749. Retrieved 17 June 2016 – via coflein (online database of the NMRW).
  24. "Porthwen Brickworks: Engine House". National Monuments Record of Wales (NMRW). Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW). NPRN 40741. Retrieved 17 June 2016 – via coflein (online database of the NMRW).
  25. "Porthwen Brickworks: Building". National Monuments Record of Wales (NMRW). Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW). NPRN 40746. Retrieved 17 June 2016 – via coflein (online database of the NMRW).
  26. "Porthwen Brickworks: Crane". National Monuments Record of Wales (NMRW). Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW). NPRN 40751. Retrieved 17 June 2016 – via coflein (online database of the NMRW).
  27. "Porthwen Brickworks: Loading Quay". National Monuments Record of Wales (NMRW). Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW). NPRN 40750. Retrieved 17 June 2016 – via coflein (online database of the NMRW).
  28. Porth Wen Brickworks. National Monuments Record of Wales (NMRW) (Report). Cadw. 27 October 1986 [Scheduled 1986]. Cadw Id: AN109.

Further reading
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