Any additional information you may have on any Welsh bricks below is most welcome.
Also check the Buckley, Wrexham, Ruabon and North East Wales pages above where there are many more North Wales made bricks
Aberaman Ironworks was built in 1845 in the Cynon Valley by the great ironmaster Crawshaw Bailey, the brickworks forming part of the inventory. The ironworks closed in 1866, and in 1867 the entire concern, including the brick works, was bought by the Powell Duffryn Steam Coal Co, thanks to Lawrence Skuse for the info.
Photos by Frank Lawson.
Photo by Richard Paterson who adds: After nationalisation of the coal industry in 1946, many of the previous owners, such as Powell Dyffryn, restructured or diversified, often selling or closing activities ancillary to coal mining, like brickworks. However, the Aberaman Works was still operating in October 1964.
Photo by Gareth Thomas
Abernant Brickworks in the Neath Valley from Roy Bowen.
Photo by Cath Thomas.
Abersychan is near Pontypool in South Wales. There is an entry in Kelly's for 1906 listing 'J Gregory of Pentwyn, Abersychan (see Gregory J). In the same year he is also listed as manufacturing fire bricks. In 1926, Kelly's lists the 'Abersychan Brick Co of Pentwyn, Abersychan'. In 1948, the Industrial Directory for Wales and Monmouthshire (IDWM) names the 'Abersychan Brick & Slag Co', but in the 1960 IDWM, the 'Abersychan Slag Ballast Co' appears. The last record for this company is in the IDWM for 1964, thanks to Lawrence Skuse for the info.
Photo by Frank Lawson.
Photo by Ian Suddaby.
The variously spelt Allt-yr-yn works was previously operated by
Davies & Co and latterly part of the National Star Group. The
London Gazette records that the 'New Alteryn Company' was put into
voluntary liquidation in 1931, presumably as a result of the
acquisition of the works by the Star Group. This brick was
photographed at the Fourteen Locks Canal Centre near
Newport.
Photos and information by Richard Paterson.
Photo by John Elliott.
This colliery closed in 1976, read its history here. Photo by Phil Burgoyne.
Photo by Frank Lawson.
The Angle Brick Works in Pembrokeshire was established in the 1880s by the Angle Estate. At that time there were 3 kilns. It was still operating in 1926 as the Angle Brick & Concrete Stone Works. Photo by Nigel Brace.
Photo by Sam Burrows.
Beaufort is a small village near Ebbw Vale. Famous for very hard engineering bricks. The Empire State Building in New York is allegedly built on a foundation of these bricks. Thanks to Lawrence Skuse for the info. Photos by Phil Burgoyne.
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Photos by Richard Paterson
Photos by David Hernon.
The Biglis Brick Co was at Cadoxton, Barry by 1891. The works was disused by 1915. Photo by Joseph Nikolai Solowyk.
Blaendare brick works stood where Blaendare Road joins The Race, in Pontypool. This was an industrial site dating back to the early 18th century, with, at various times, an ironworks, coke ovens, a brick works and a drift colliery which operated until 1948. A house built for the site manager in 1810 from white bricks made at the works still stands overlooking where the brick works was located. Slater's Directory for 1868 lists 'The Blaendare Co Ltd, Pontypool. Kelly's of 1871 lists the 'Blaendare Colliery Co, The Race, Pontypool. The last reference to it is in Kelly's of 1906. 'Special Report on the Mineral Resources of Great Britain', HMSO, 1920, quotes The Blaendare Co as situated on Blaendare Slope, Upper Race,1 mile south west of Pontypool. Photo by Michael Kilner, info by Lawrence Skuse.
Photo by Lawrence Skuse.
Photo courtesy of Gareth Thomas.
Bovil Brickworks, Machen in the Rhymney Valley. Found by Ben Cottam who lives next to the brickworks site. Photo & info by Phil Jenkins.
Abraham Brain and Job Price, occupiers of the upper and lower Darren Brickworks, Risca, in 1843. By 1858 the 'Jones' family had taken over and started using all the permutations of 'Darran' and 'Jones' imprints
John Brewer (1811 - 1888) lived at Bovil Farm, in Machen, between Caerphilly and Newport, where, in 1851, he was agent of the Rumney Railway before it was taken over in 1863 by the Brecon and Merthyr railway. He acquired the nearby Bovil Colliery and developed its adjacent brickworks, which seems to have been a 3-kiln operation, the remnants of which were obliterated by post-war housing development. In 1877, John Brewer and his son Samuel sold out to their partners, the Beddoe family, after which his name was presumably discontinued from the bricks in favour of 'Machen'. Brewer bricks have the same design of frog as some earlier Machen ones. The colliery closed in 1894, so it is likely that the brickworks ceased to operate at around the same time. The brick was photographed near John Brewer's residence, the (now ruinous) Bovil Farm. Photo and information by Richard Paterson.
The Bridgend Dinas Brick Co was situated at the tiny hamlet of
Fountain near Aberkenfig in South Wales. The works was in
production for just a few years at the end of the 19th century and
into the early 20th. It was on a site on the opposite side of the
Duffryn Porthcawl railway line to the infamous Parc Slip Colliery
where so many miners lost their lives on August 26, 1892, when a
huge explosion shook the Parc Slip mine; 112 men and boys died
with just 39 survivors: some remained trapped underground for a
week before being rescued. Sixty women were widowed and 153
children left fatherless. The mine closed in 1904. A memorial to
the disaster still stands consisting of 112 stones - one for every
death.
Photos and info by Mike Stokes
Bridgend Dinas Fire Brick Company, found in Brisbane, Australia. Photo by Frank Hunt
Photo by Richard Paterson.
Photo by Phil Burgoyne.
The1881 Census lists John Burgoyne as a brick maker and the 1884, 1891 and 1895 Kelly's list John Burgoyne at the Little Mill brick kilns. He died in 1906, his estate going to Alfred Burgoyne and David John Lougher. The latter apparently took over the works as his name is listed against it in the 1906 Kelly's.
A brick works appears to have been in the Little Mill, Pontypool area since at least 1850. Some Burgoyne bricks are stamped "Est. 1850". The site was first referred to as the Little Mill Brick Co in the 1922 Kelly's Directory. Once possibly the most prolific of the Eastern Valley (Torfaen) works, it closed in the 1980s and is now a Go-Kart track. Thanks to Lawrence Skuse for the info.
Burgoyne P P, a later product of J Burgoyne's works at
Pontypool, photo by Phil Burgoyne.
Burgoyne plastic pressed, photo by Richard Paterson.
Burgoyne est. 1850 Plastic pressed. From the Lawrence Skuse
collection.
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Buttington Brickworks, Buttington, Welshpool. In 1944 the Buttington Brickworks was purchased by the Castle Firebrick Co Ltd. of Elm Works, Northop, Mold and before closure became part of the Butterley Group. Photo by Peter Prest.
Photo by Nigel Furniss.
Thanks to Richard Paterson for the photo.
Photo by David Kitching.
Photos by Frank Lawson.
Photo by Gareth Thomas
Photo by Richard Evans.
Photo by Phil Burgoyne.
Furnace Blwm brickworks, Caerphilly, Rhymney Valley, Monmouthshire. Photo by Deiniol Iago.
Thanks to Richard Paterson for the contribution.
Photo by Mike Stokes
Photo by courtesy of the Richard Symonds collection.
The Cemaes Bay brickworks on Anglesey was opened in 1907 by local landowner Lady Sarah Hughes-Hunter as the demand for bricks grew due to the growth in the tourist industry. It only operated until the beginning of the First Worl War. Photo by Paul Spencer.
More details and images of the kiln and chimney remains can be found here.
Clyne Valley Brick Co, Swansea. Photo by Phil Jenkins.
Photo supplied by Brotherglyn.
Photos by Claire Adams.
Photo by Lawrence Skuse.
Prior to Cwmbran becoming well known as a New Town, references to Cwmbran were always followed by Newport in order to establish where it was. The brick works was located in Oakfield near to Cwmbran Stadium but Kelly's of 1895 and 1906 also list the company as at Llantarnam Road, Cwmbran (this is also given as the location for the Star Brick and Tile Co Ltd). The company was, anecdotally, still operating in 1958 - thanks to Lawrence Skuse for the info.
Photo by Richard Paterson.
Photo by Logan Wilder.
Made by the Cwmgorse Brick Co in, what is now, West Glamorgan.
The Cyfarthfa Brickworks stood on the historic Cyfarthfa Ironworks
site in Merthyr Tydfil, photos by Richard Paterson.
Photo by Phil Burgoyne.
Cynghordy is a small village in Carmarthenshire.
Photo by Phil Burgoyne.