Brill Bricks & Pottery

The distinctive contours of Brill Common are the result of hand-digging of clay, the raw material for two important Brill industries - the production of pottery, and brick making.

Pottery was produced in Brill from Roman times to within living memory. Brill pottery has been found in Gaul, left there by homeward Romans. Production seems to have peaked in the Middle Ages; excavations suggest large-scale production of a wide range of domestic pots of high quality. Most items were probably sold within 20 miles of Brill.

The Black Death of 14^th century took its toll in Brill as elsewhere, and severely effected the pottery industry. Brill's last known potter was Mr. George Hubbocks, working at the end of the 18^th century. Several lovely examples of Brill pottery can be seen in the Buckinghamshire County Museum in Aylesbury.

Little is known about the early years of Brill's brick-making industry. Brill bricks were in use in Oxford in the middle of the 15th century, and many of Brill's own mellow brick houses and cottages are also built of Brill bricks.

For many centuries, Brill brick-making was very much a cottage-scale industry, until the 19^th century when production became concentrated in local factories. Bricks from Poore's Brickyard (at the foot of Brill Common) were used in the 1870s to build Waddesdon Manor, transported there along the Brill Tramway. (The editor of these pages was excited to discover that the owner of Poore's Brickyard around this time was a Mr. Thomas Hume or Holme; Hulme being her maiden name.) Poore's Brickyard was eventually bought out by the Duke of Buckingham, owner of the much larger Brill Brick and Tile Company, near Rushbeds Wood.

The opening, in 1905, of the London Brick Company's works at Calvert, some seven miles away, meant the beginning of the end for brick-making at Brill, although some small-scale enterprises survived for a few more decades. The last Brill bricks were made in 1926.


	Brill Bricks & Pottery The distinctive contours of Brill Common are the result of hand-digging of clay, the raw material for two important Brill industries - the production of pottery, and brick making. Pottery was produced in Brill from Roman times to within living memory. Brill pottery has been found in Gaul, left there by homeward Romans. Production seems to have peaked in the Middle Ages; excavations suggest large-scale production of a wide range of domestic pots of high quality. Most items were probably sold within 20 miles of Brill. The Black Death of 14^th century took its toll in Brill as elsewhere, and severely effected the pottery industry. Brill's last known potter was Mr. George Hubbocks, working at the end of the 18^th century. Several lovely examples of Brill pottery can be seen in the Buckinghamshire County Museum in Aylesbury. Little is known about the early years of Brill's brick-making industry. Brill bricks were in use in Oxford in the middle of the 15th century, and many of Brill's own mellow brick houses and cottages are also built of Brill bricks. For many centuries, Brill brick-making was very much a cottage-scale industry, until the 19^th century when production became concentrated in local factories. Bricks from Poore's Brickyard (at the foot of Brill Common) were used in the 1870s to build Waddesdon Manor, transported there along the Brill Tramway. (The editor of these pages was excited to discover that the owner of Poore's Brickyard around this time was a Mr. Thomas Hume or Holme; Hulme being her maiden name.) Poore's Brickyard was eventually bought out by the Duke of Buckingham, owner of the much larger Brill Brick and Tile Company, near Rushbeds Wood. The opening, in 1905, of the London Brick Company's works at Calvert, some seven miles away, meant the beginning of the end for brick-making at Brill, although some small-scale enterprises survived for a few more decades. The last Brill bricks were made in 1926.