My brick collection 

Over the years, I have accumulated many bricks, found in diverse places. If you think you can identify any that I haven't, then please contact me .

All pictures are to the same scale against a 1" grid. The sizes you see reflects the actual differences in size. The pictures are in several groups:

Wall bricks with makers mark

Brick makers often stamped the bricks with a distinctive mark, usually in the frog (depression on the top), but occasionally on the side. I have identified many makers from the marks, but a few are either illegible, or I can't find any reference to such a mark.

Click on the images to get a bigger picture (or pictures - see right hand column).

No	Maker	Inscription	Found	Notes	Approx size (mm)	Click image to enlarge	Pics
55	Accrington Brick & Tile Co, Huncote Accrington	ACRINGTON NORI	Wallsend, Northumberland	NORIs ar iron hard engineering bricks. (NORI is iron spelt backwards)	66x101x214		1
41	Binfield Brick & Tile Company, Binfield Berks [probable]	BB • TC	Wokingham, Berks	Marking not as local book	70x110x230		1
12	Eastwoods, North Kent [?]	EASTWOODS FLETTONS			63x105x217		1
47	JC Edwards of Ruabon	J . C . E	Nant Clwyd estate, Wales	Bull nose	77x105x225		1
1	Eldon brickworks, Bishop Auckland, Co Durham	ELDON	Old works near Collier Law, Co Durham	Black mortar	70x110x225		1
50	Freshfield Lane Brickworks, Danehill Sussex	FLB	Nuffield, Oxon	In timber building frame (French)	66x140x215		1
44	Furness Brick and Tile Co., Barrow-in-Furness	FURNESS BRICK CO LD BARROW	Copper mines valley, Coniston	Mould marks	78x111x233		2
37	Gadder Brick Company Limited, Glasgow	GADDER	Glasgow	Burn marks, coloration	86x108x230		2
2	Jones Bros. Pelaw, Co Durham	JONES BROS PELLAW			75x110x230		1
3	??	ROBSON	Old works near Collier Law, Co Durham		60x110x225		1
7	Ibstock Brick, Ltd, Ibstock, Leics	IBSTOCK	Wokingham, Berks	1976 (~ Desford)	64x100x215		3
40	Ibstock Brick, Ltd, Ibstock, Leics	IBSTOCK	Wokingham, Berks,1985	Note holes not in 1975 brick	60x92 x214		3
14	London Brick Company	LBC PHORPRES		Key grooves, plaster	65x115x217		1
15	London Brick Company	LB-01-90		Sand faced Fletton	60x100x210		2
16	London Brick Company	LONDON BRICK		Sand faced Fletton	62x100x210		2
5	NCB Desford, Leics	NCB DESFORD	Wokingham, Berks	1955 note note colour	63x103x220		3
56	Sussex and Dorking United Brick Company, Horsham	WARNHAM SAC	Wokingham, Berks		67x105x220		2
8	Thomas Lawrence, Bracknell, Berks	TLB	Broadmoor, Berks	Different shapes	70x113x202		1
9	Thomas Lawrence, Bracknell, Berks	TLB	Broadmoor, Berks	Different shape, size	64x102x218		1
21	Thomas Lawrence, Wokingham, Berks	* WK *	Wokingham, Berks	Machine made, Asymmetric frog on obverse	67x107x222		1
11	Sussex?	WEALDEN?		Burns & distortion	60x100x220		1
13	Ockley Brick Co Ltd, Smokejacks Brickworks,Wallis Wood, Nr. Dorking	<>-<>		Blisters, burning, kiss marks	62x95 x213		1
26	??	MWH			62x98 x212
53	Sussex?	WEALDEN	?	Distortion, heating	65x100x215		1

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  Wall bricks with no maker's stamp

Click on the images to get a bigger picture (or pictures - see right hand column).

No	Found	Notes	Dimensions	Click image to enlarge	Pics
10	Winnersh, Berks	Cracks & distortion	65x110x220		1
17	Cambridge	London 'white'	65x105x?		1
18	Send, Surrey	Pale, cement?	67x102x217		1
19	Old works, Lough Corrib, Ireland	Uneven, light	50x80 x200		1
25	Keele, Staffs	L shaped brick, 'blue'?	68x113x266		1
27	New Malden, Surrey	Shiny	62x100x212		2
32		Facing	64x100x215		2
35		Broken	65x110x230		1
39	Wokingham, Berks	Shaped brick	65x105x225		2
45	Cheshire	?Dark cheshire brick? Inclusions	75x112x225		1
49	Blea Moor, Yorks	Probably made at Batty Green	180x105x234		1

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Perforated wall bricks

  Modern bricks are often perforated. It reduces the weight and also reduces the energy needed to heat through the brick when firing it.

  Click on the images to get a bigger picture (or pictures - see right hand column).

No	Inscription	Maker	Found	Notes	Dimensions	Click image to enlarge	Pics
4			Old works near Collier Law, Co Durham	Sand faced	63x98 x215		1
28		??	Wokingham, Berks, Berks	Smudged edges	62x100x213		1
29		??		Pattern on rear	63x100x215		2
30		??	Wokingham, Berks	Chamfered corner	62x100x215		2
31		??	Arborfield, Berks	Slotted holes	62x100x215		2
58		?		Distortion caused by partial melting	65x100x225		1

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Paving bricks

  Paving bricks differ from wall bricks in several ways. They are normally much thinner and made of a harder material, to resist damage from damp. They have a hard wearing top surface, which is often patterned to help drainage and provide a better grip.

  You can click on the images to get a bigger picture (or pictures - see right hand column).

No	Maker	Inscription	Found	Notes	Dimensions	Click image to enlarge	Pics
48	Springfield Brick & Tile Works, Rowley Regis, Staffs	DOULTON	Wokingham, Berks	Diamond tessellated paving brick	50x120x244		2
52	Springfield Brick & Tile Works, Rowley Regis, Staffs	DOULTON	Near Frensham, Surrey	Plain paving brick	50x125x?		2
36	Hamblet's Blue Brick Co, Atlas brickworks, Walsall	HAMBLET	Grizedale Hall, Cumbria	Paving brick	72x105x220		1
20	North Staffordshire Brick & Tile Co. Chesterton, Newcastle-under-Lyme	VITROS	Keele, Staffs	Engineering 'blue'	40x115x230		2
46	Sussex and Dorking United Brick Co, Southwater, Sussex	SOUTHWATER EPSO	Godalming, Surrey	Text on side, smooth, hard	48x105x217		1
24	??		Wokingham, Berks	Concrete paving brick, spacing ridges	60x95 x195		1

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Odds and ends

  Gauge work – Most brickwork uses a generous thickness of mortar to absorb any irregularity in te size of individual bricks. With the advent bricks that could be made to close tolerances, it became possible to lay them with much thinner layers of mortar. This 'gauge work' became a status symbol, because it showed the owner could afford accurately made bricks. The joints were often pointed in white to emphasise the narrow joints. The example I have came from a demolished house that served as the offices for a local motor business. I suspect the line on it is where something, eg a post, was attached to the wall, because the white pointing does not go behind it.

  Internal colour – The colour of the finished brick develops during firing, and is normally different from the colour of the un-burnt clay. In most bricks, the whole body reaches more or less the same colour, but not always. I have some broken pieces of a modern brick that is red near the surface but grey in the middle, where the temperature was not so high for so long during firing.

Miniature brick – I found this very small brick (53x73 x145) next to a demolished wall that had been built with them. Miniature bricks of this size were sometimes made as fireplace brickettes by several stock brick makers.

Brick souvenir – I bought this tiny brick (28x40x80) at Avoncroft Museum . This one was obviously made to be sold as a souvenir, but very small bricks were also sometimes used by salesmen as samples. If you think about it, carrying round a box of full size bricks as samples would be hard work. I know from experience of taking my collection to show people after giving a talk on brickwork . I found a picture of an even smaller brick sample here.

Click on the images to enlarge.

Gauge work found: Wokingham - Berks

Internal colour variation found: Wokingham - Berks

Miniature brick: Wokingham - Berks

Brick souvenir: Avoncroft Museum - Bromsgrove - Worcs