Earls Court Living
Bricks
What is a brick?
Most bricks are rectangular in outline. They have a bedding face which goes face down on the row beneath. The long side is the stretcher face and the narrow side is the header face. Most bricks have a recess on the top side called the frog which fills up with mortar and the next brick is laid on top, to increase the strength of the wall. Sometimes bricks had a frog in the bedding face as well.
How bricks were made
Originally bricks were made by hand, one by one, in individual wooden moulds. They were made of clay mixed with water. The green bricks were then dried in straw. Once dry, they were fired in a kiln to produce a useable brick. During the 19th century, mechanisation improved production and pressed bricks were produced mechanically.
Firing bricks
Till the advent of modern methods, brick firing was a hit-and-miss affair. Bricks were stored in rows with wood, coal or coke laid in the gaps and then the whole thing was set alight. Bricks which were fired evenly were used for exterior walls. Poorly fired bricks were used inside, or covered with stucco. Over-burnt bricks were used for flue linings.
Wire cut bricks
Another method of production was to make wire cut bricks. A machine pushed out a long bar of clay which was then sliced into bricks using wires. But this type of brick did not have frogs.
Moulded bricks
Creating brick arches above doors or windows was a laborious affair, because the bricks had to be rubbed down into shape. But by Victorian times, factories were producing ready-shaped bricks, allowing a huge variety of moulded brick porches and panels.
Brick tax
A Brick Tax was imposed in 1784 to fund the fight against the Americans in the War of Independence. The tax was originally 2 shillings and 6 pence per 1,000 bricks (increased to 5 shillings in 1784). Builders responded by using larger bricks. The tax was also an encouragement to cover the front of a house in stucco, which became a regular feature of Georgian houses, because it concealed the bricks.
