GWR standard brick?

[simonhaynes72]

Dear all,

An odd question, and I have searched but not found an answer though might not have used the right terms, but...

Did the GWR have a standard brick size?

Did they have selected brickworks who produced most of their bricks?

Recently I have measured several in Cornwall, all from 20th Century, and there are slight variations.

Many thanks for any info!

Simon

[Karhedron]

As far as I know the GWR tended to use local materials for most stations. While they had certain styles of building, that did not stretch to standardised building materials.

 

If you look along the GW mainline out of Paddington you can see this with yellow stock bricks (common in London) being used out about as far as the M25. The material then switches to red brick (often with Italianate style buildings). Further out still and you commonly see local stone (or even timber) being used as a building material.

 

The GWR may have loved standardisation but I don't think they got as far as applying the concept to bricks.

[Mike G]

As far as I know the GWR tended to use local materials for most stations. While they had certain styles of building, that did not stretch to standardised building materials.

 

Absolutely, I can confirm this as the bricks used on Little Mill Junction station were made in Little Mill brick works...I know, because I've got one!

I really should get out more!!

 

Mike

[Coombe Barton]

And Ashburton and Buckfastleigh buiuldings are from the Ashburton marble quarries with medium red brick for arches and windows, Staverton is mostly the same red brick, Totnes was wood. It burnt down. So local materials.

 

[Edit] Look at any OS map and you'll find plenty of references to 'Quarry'. Building materials were largely local, especially of vernacular builidings. Go to the nearest bit of rock and dig it up, set bits one atop the other and live in it. Ecclesiastical buildings are diffeent, they would use stone from far afield.

[Kris]

Some or all of the bricks that you measured in Cornwall may have had more to do with the Cornwall Railway than the GWR. The GWR took over many smaller railways so inherited lots of designs and building materials for similar buildings. The closest to a standard GWR building would be their signal boxes (which came in several types).

Cost would have had a lot to do with choosing the materials to build the station buildings from but they would also have had to consider transport, after all many of the stations were built at the same time as the line so until this was complete transport of materials would have been by roads, which at the time were poor. If you read reports from the time the railways often had to pay for repairs to these as it was claimed that their contractors had damaged them in the corse of transporting materials needed for the construction of the line.

[Coombe Barton]

... The closest to a standard GWR building would be their signal boxes (which came in several types). ...

But able to be more standardised because they were built after the main railway as the signalling requirement developed, and the material transport infrastructure was in place. (?)

[Kris]

But able to be more standardised because they were built after the main railway as the signalling requirement developed, and the material transport infrastructure was in place. (?)

 

 

Possible, but also likely to be down to developments in signalling technology as well.

 

 

[Guest dilbert]

The GWR took over many smaller railways so inherited lots of designs and building materials for similar buildings. The closest to a standard GWR building would be their signal boxes (which came in several types).

 

The GWR was very robust in the absorption and acquisition of smaller railways - to the extent that GWR even had shareholding or had initially sold loco / rolling stock to that entity that was to be acquired - often the loco and rolling stock (where this was fit for purpose) would get the GWR 'Swindonisation' (or equivalent) treatment.

 

Station buildings and signal boxes etc... would have received similar treatment, but over a much greater period of time.

 

I have to disagree that the GWR Signal Box was the closest to being a GWR standard building.

 

I would propose as an alternative the 'Pagoda' - they were all over the system and in various guises... dilbert

[Kris]

I would propose as an alternative the 'Pagoda' - they were all over the system and in various guises... dilbert

 

 

Forgot about those, I would agree that they were standard.

 

 

[Coombe Barton]

Forgot about those, I would agree that they were standard.

 

 

 

And easy to transport in kit form

[The Stationmaster]

And easy to transport in kit form

 

So were (timber) signalboxes as it happens (and equally easy to transport away many years later in order to re-erect them somewhere else, the biggest problem was trying to release nuts that had been tightened 50 years previously and had rusted onto the bolts).

From about 1900 onwards there was a greater degree of standardisation in GW buildings - especially some platform buildings - and of course signalboxes passed through a succession of standard designs with very few exceptions for the remainder of the company's (and the Western Region's) existence. But I think the most universal of GW structures were the various 'tin' sheds including the pagoda and the standard pattern of lamp hut as they appeared at stations of all sizes.

But interestingly even by the 1890s, and possibly earlier, some 'standard' bricks were in widespread use and can be found in building specifications and works orders with 'Staffordshire Blue Engineering bricks' probably being the most common (although it would be interesting to know if they all actually came from Staffordshire?).

[Coombe Barton]

But interestingly even by the 1890s, and possibly earlier, some 'standard' bricks were in widespread use and can be found in building specifications and works orders with 'Staffordshire Blue Engineering bricks' probably being the most common (although it would be interesting to know if they all actually came from Staffordshire?).

 

Depends from which pit the clay came. That determines the composition of the brick. The area around Brierley Hill, from memory, gave the clay for the blue bricks (rather than further north).

[Coombe Barton]

But interestingly even by the 1890s, and possibly earlier, some 'standard' bricks were in widespread use and can be found in building specifications and works orders with 'Staffordshire Blue Engineering bricks' probably being the most common (although it would be interesting to know if they all actually came from Staffordshire?).

 

Depends from which pit the clay came. That determines the composition of the brick. The area around Brierley Hill/Wolverhampton/, from memory, gave the clay for the blue bricks (rather than further north). As far as I can tell. this is the only supply area for the quantities needed. It's a lime rich clay, a marl, and needs high temperature firing, so close proximity to coal is also a requirement.

[Coombe Barton]

The Information page of the British Brick Society (honest) has a number of brick related sites. Any information could be built on from there.

 

Coat - gone.

[Kris]

The Information page of the British Brick Society (honest) has a number of brick related sites. Any information could be built on from there.

 

 

 

Looks like they would produce a publication worthy of the guest publication of Have I Got News For You.

 

 

[46444]

Bricks used for buildings on the Teign Valley Line were sourced from Candy and Co Ltd of Heathfield. These bricks were also yellow.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark

 

 

[The Evil Bus Driver]

Wasn't it the GCR who made their own bricks?

[The Stationmaster]

The Information page of the British Brick Society (honest) has a number of brick related sites. Any information could be built on from there.

 

Coat - gone.

 

 

 

You might joke - have you ever tried going on a shopping expedition for bricks (I don't mean for a bit of a wall in the garden, I mean trying to find the 'right ones' for a house building project - something like that would have been invaluable and would have saved an awful lot of shoe leather and fuel).

 

[Coombe Barton]

Pssst. Wanna pic of a brick?

 

http://www.penmorfa....ks/england.html

 

on Page 2 there's one called Durex

 

And most are from people's collections. Tell SWMBO that you're changing hobby to collecting bricks and models will suddenly appear not so bad.

 

[Edit]

 

Wasn't it the GCR who made their own bricks?

 

The GWR did - according the the pic at the bottom of the second page of the link I've just posted above

[bubbles2]

Heres a picture of my GWR brick,

 

 

it was lifted out of the mud at the side of the river Tiddy under St Germans viaduct on Cornwall's main line many years ago. I seam to remember reading somewhere that there was a brick works at Swindon works.

 

 

Clun Castle crossing St Germans Viaduct 6-9-85 during GWR150.

 

 

[Fat Controller]

Brickworks would have been established at the nearest suitable site to a major project (a viaduct or tunnel) to manufacture the bricks- the quantities involved would have been too great to transport any distance reliably. Likewise stone would have been quarried at the nearest suitable location. Looking along the route of railway on a sufficently detailed map will often throw up references to 'disused quarry' or 'disused marl-pit', or will simply show up the shape. Some latter-day brickworks look as though they might originally have been established in conjunction with the building of the railway- one that springs to mind is that near the western portal of the Up Patchway tunnel.

Specialist bricks, such as the patterned ones used for platform edgings, would, however, have been transported some distance- I believe these came from Staffordshire, as the majority seem to have been blue.

[simonhaynes72]

Many thanks to you all for the really useful replies.

Bubbles2, the photo is great.

Coombe Barton. Durex bricks for use in damp areas?

Best wishes,

Simon