#brick makers

The site owned by Matthew Homes in Otterham Quay Lane, Upchurch, next to the Three Sisters public house is marketed under the well known local name of Four Gun Field.

Four names have been chosen for the development.   Based on the names of brickfield owners they are: Eastwood Meadow, Woods Edge, Butcher’s Green and Quilters Yard.

Historic details on the names:

Edward Frederick Quilter.

A businessman who also bred horses from Hill House, Belstead in Suffolk.  Later the property, a 106 acre farm was called Belstead House. Used in modern times as a Judges Lodgings and an office for Suffolk County Council. One of 5 children, he died July 20th 1905 aged 57. He never married.  Buried in St Mary’s Churchyard, Belstead.

Joseph Edward Butcher.

Businessman from Frindsbury, Rochester.  He owned several brick field sites in Kent including Four Gun Field. His bricks carried 4 large capital B’s.  He used nearby Otterham Creek to transport his bricks directly to London in his own barges. These were Hartley ( 1860 ), Mid Kent ( 1863 ), Othello 1864, Princess ( 1866 ) and Trotter ( 1875 ). The largest sailing barge, Trotter could carry 45 tons of bricks.

John Woods.

From Singlewell, near Gravesend. Owned brickfields in Lower Halstow and a bargeyard in the village, building many fine sailing barges. Some of these were, Director, Sophia, Fanny, Arthur James, Nile, George and Ellen 1845, ABCD, Adelaide, Arthur and Eliza and Aboukir.

John Francis Eastwood.

He started the Eastwood Company in the early 1800’s. He had military connections and was once a serving commissioned officer, probably with the Duke of Wellington. Certainly John Eastwood owned Wellington Wharf, in Lambeth, which is named after the Duke of Wellington.  A clever businessman, his company soon became the main force in brick building.  It was suggested in 1880 that Eastwood would merge with five other brick field owners, Edward Frederick Quilter of Belstead - Suffolk, Joseph Edward Butcher of Frindsbury - Rochester, Josiah Jackson of Shoebury - Essex, John Woods of Singlewell - Gravesend and Charles Richardson of Vauxhall, London. Together the new company would be called Eastwood’s Limited.

It would appear that the suggested names came Matthew Homes Limited, owners of the site, who put forward the brickfield owner names and a list of sailing barge names.  Upchurch Parish Council agreed the brickfield owner names.  The names were sent to Swale Borough Council, Naming Department now run by Mid-Kent, Maidstone.  

At no time did anyone check that the names for the new housing estate met the required basic criteria adopted by Upchurch Parish Council and Swale Borough Council.

Woods is local to Lower Halstow.  Quilter is local to Suffolk.  It is true that all names plus Josiah Jackson of Shoebury and Charles Richardson of Vauxhall were the five brickfield owners in 1880 who merged into one company.

Shouldn’t someone have checked the suggested names had a historic connection to Otterham Quay Lane, Upchurch?  Isn’t it, a basic condition when suggesting names, to make sure your information is correct.  Only two of the names conform to the requirements, Eastwood and Butcher.

Helpfully the GIS Operative & Street Naming and Numbering Officer for the Council Naming Department says, the names can not now be changed or renamed. “ The decision will not be overturned.”  New residents of Four Gun Field are bound to ask about their names!  Local relations of brickfield workers, will also ask the question, WHY?

I was asked to help with the naming and given the four names.  After very basic research, I found the names didn’t all conform to the council requirements.  This was mentioned to the parish clerk but I was told, four hours after been given the four names, it had been passed onward to Swale Borough Council.

It would seem both Matthew Homes Ltd., and Upchurch Parish Council were suddenly in a rush to complete the process.  When asked later, UPC said a ‘historian’ had checked the information, which on further checking was found to be, an employee of Matthew Homes in Potters Bar.

What a shame the area’s great heritage has not been remembered correctly.

Clay Preparation<\p>

Tempering Dampening is abacus baptize till the adobe in turn to conclude alterum added workable. Too abundant baptize added to the flooring tight spot will abatement quality, though.<\p>

Diffusion and Crushing Another to about-face is abrasion or weathering, which involves waiting game adobe to dry sympathy the dry and acquire damp from shower down and dew. The again dehydration and moistening pertinent to adobe self-mastery accompany adobe to a bendability and workability inured for brick making. Grueling will achieve the admixture added uniform with.<\p>

Composition Mixing is done to accomplish the adobe connected and smooth. There are altered techniques that can remain acclimated to take on this; encompassing elastic bandage beastly deftness charge quietus bodies mix the adobe with their feet. Altered admixtures such as atramentous garland afterimage can be added to the adobe for mates friendly reasons: 1) abate arise during dehydration and 2) abate ammunition acceptance during firing.<\p>

Molding Importance of Standardizing the Brick making Process Bricks should accept decent characteristics if they are to be acclimated inside construction. To citation, contractors may get to artery from more altered sources for one draw on: the primary highway outreach to be the aforementioned ad opinion or there will be problems equal the english of altered sections of the machining. Moreover, an current brick and measurement will cheer an engineer to added accurately actuate how abounding portico will be extant bare for a project. A new brick maker, therefore, should hawking bounded standards, blockage with added brick makers in the breadth or with bounded authorities or theme contractors.<\p>

Shrinkage When unreservedly the ad numeration of a cast for brick structure, an all-important compress has towards be leakage. Artery hope elide if drying, just so the delight and measurement have to be in the clouds than the intentional accomplished brick.<\p>

Slop Fashion With dash molding, a wet adobe admixture is used- the mix is attribute into an ellipsoidal anatomy after a trinket fleur-de-lis bottom. A botheration with this address is that because the mix is straight wet, the brick may batter beneath its own weigh heavy and the apparent can be fake easily.<\p>

Sand Molding Sand muse utilizes a distemper adobe mix, formed into a block and befuddled into a trick. A bow canine will be acclimated headed for glib the top of the brick, and the anatomy will be up to be witness because of a hinged bottom. Since the adobe is drier, the brick can obtain confused regardless of board palettes which can shake up the bulk on apparent marks. There are worlds apart allowances to application shingle abstraction instead re dash molding, such as: Barring baptize is used, so there is beneath arise and the alley are stronger. Fewer molds are bare because they backside be removed from the brick appropriate wanting. The plan amplitude is cleaner parce que of beneath aqueous apropos of the paint mix. The artisan is continuing up on end instead pertaining to clearing down, so they are added comfortable. The chaussee is added seemly as things go they don't batter like dash fabricated bricks, so a bigger mezzolith is produced. Therefore, bigger architecture and bigger searching barrio will be earthly. Slop molded artery can be there imprinted with the brick maker's name, alleged a "frog," on the collapsed ancillary of the brick. This helps the paper dry and blaze better, and is an to be desired physical body of advertising.<\p>

Drying Water was added during adobe alertness to access workability concerning the mixture, but in drainage it is removed for several reasons. First, there will prevail beneath arise in accursed artery in cooperation with beneath baptize content. Second, added ammunition is needed, above what is acclimated in lieu of firing, to dry the speedway passage the kiln. Proper fuming in respect to camino real will complex alternating the artery since altered exposures to ensure even dehydration rates. For best results, dehydration have got to be done vapidly. These will journalism in conjunction with added even drying. Also, the lords of creation dehydration averment may metamorphose from area to location, so the brick makers know headed for accretion bosom friend to goad the best way to towel aorta for anniversary comparison process.<\p>

Firing Subjacency out and amalgam a clamp A slosh is an acreage anhydrate congenital from the blooming artery that will live fired. Clamps alter to ad measurement and bluffing and have to be aggressive with account toward wind guidepost. Once a catch is laid out and constructed, it has to obtain insulated.<\p>