Saturday, March 25, 2023

Frankston Brick Company

The Frankston Brick Company, was established in 1887 with works at the corner of Lee Street & Cranbourne Road. Thomas Ritchie, who established a chain of produce stores that still operates as Ritchie's Supermarkets 

The company used the Frankston pier for shipping bricks to Melbourne and receiving firewood for their brick kilns on the foreshore. They excavated sand from a nearby quarry for the manufacture of lime silica bricks in the 1950s.

The company was run by Colortone Holdings from 1932 to 1961.  Calsil, a Perth based company specialising in calcium silica bricks, acquired Colortone in 1966 and expanded the works, then in 1988 Boral bought out Calsil.


The opening of the plant was described in some detail:

The works of the Frankston Brick Com-
pany are now in full operation, the formal
starting of the machinery having been recently
celebrated, in the presence of a large
number of the shareholders. The company
have about 15 acres of land within
about a mile from the Frankston
railway station, and still nearer to the
pier. On this site has been erected
complete plant, including a 45 horse power
engine, will 20-in. cylinder, working a 9ft.
grinding pan, a 7ft mixing pan and a single
semi-dry machine. The elevators used are
Gill's patent, while all the other machinery is
of Fawcett's patent. The machinery was
supplied by Messrs James McEwan andCo.
The plant is capable of furnishing an output of
about 50,000 bricks per week, which can if
necessary be increased to 100,000. The com-
pany has secured a lease of the ground for
42 years at a nominal rental and free from
royalty, and the day has been tried to a
depth of 30ft. The company intend supplying
not only ordinary building bricks, but also
black, cream, and red facing bricks

Sunday, February 20, 2022

Selkirk Bricks Ballarat

Scottish immigrant Robert Selkirk arrived in Australia in 1854. His son, also Robert, began making bricks by hand in 1883, using a square kiln (possibly a 'Scotch clamp') at the De Murza paddock in Allendale. Ballarat was in the throws of a building boom as a result of the wealth created by the gold rush. He installed his first brick-making machinery in 1892 and by 1900 had moved the works to to Heinz's paddock on  Howitt St Ballarat where the manufacturing works and head office remains. By 1905 the first continuous kiln was introduced, enabling Selkirk to produce six million bricks per year.

The Selkirk brickworks ceased production during World War Two (1943-5) and the existing Hoffman kilns were refurbished in 1947, additional equipment installed, and the clay pit gradually enlarged. They installed the first tunnel kilns in Australia in 1962.


Two Hoffman continuous kilns stood on the edge of the clay pit. an extensive narrow gauge tramway connected the clay pit to the processing building.

The works still operates although the Hoffman kilns have been replaced with automated tunnel kilns.






Saturday, August 7, 2021

Leongatha Brickworks


Established in January 1922 at Koonwarra, the Leongatha Brickworks was short lived, lasting for only 5 years. This appears to have been the second brickworks in Leongatha, as Mewburn' brickworks was operating from about 1890.



Wednesday, July 7, 2021

Yallourn Brickworks

The Yallourn Brickworks was established by the State Electricity Commission in 1921 to produce bricks for the construction of the Yallourn power station and associated Yallorne town. W H (Dad) Brewer managed the Yallourn brickworks for the SEC. When demand decreased he leased the brickworks up to the late 1940's  changing the "YALLOURN" stamp to "BREWER".

Thursday, March 5, 2020

Colac brickworks

Colac brickworks was commenced by Messrs. Henry Thompson and Sons who had been operating in Tocumwal and other Riverina towns. They moved their extensive brickmaking plant to Colac in 1931. The works had an output of 90,000 bricks a week. 

In the 1950s a new company was established as the Colac Brick Co Ltd with its registered office at 108 Murray" street Colac. It installed a modern tunnel kiln. This works was located near Barongarook Creek but it is not known if it is the same as Thompson's earlier works. The company was deregistered in 1976.





Wednesday, March 2, 2016

Burwood Brickworks

Burwood Brickworks has its origins in the 1930s when the New Northcote Company needed to replace its clay pit off Separation St. was hemmed in by housing, so the company bought 40 acres of land at Middleborough Road and Burwood Highway in 1937 for £3000.


Burwood brickworks, 1961 State library H92.20/7163
New Northcote initially carted clay from Burwood to its Northcote works. Kilns and plant were erected at Burwood to produce wire cut bricks after World War Two, but problems with the kiln saw it collapse after three firings.
By 1950 four down-draft kilns were operating at Burwood producing 100,000 bricks per week. The company released the 'Nubrik' brand bricks in creams, reds, and tans  from at least 1960. This style of smooth, consistently coloured brick became a preferred material for suburban brick veneer houses throughout Melbourne, but in particularly in the quarter acre blocks of the new eastern suburbs.

In 1959 the company changed its name  from New Northcote to Brick Industries and in 1962 they purchased the Northcote Brick Co. then became Brick & Pipe Industries in 1964. 'Nubrik' and 'Nuface' were adopted as product names for wire cut and then pressed bricks.
Expansion of the works  in the late 1950s and early 1960s saw the first Hanley tunnel kiln  built in 1958-9, greatly increasing production and a second tunnel kiln installed around 1961. Another round of takeovers saw Brick and Pipe Industries become the largest brick manufacturer in Victoria.

The Separation Street plant was closed in 1977 and a new works was opened in Craigieburn to replace it. The last of kilns and chimneys at Northcote were demolished in 1979 and Northcote Plaza opened on the site two years later. The Burwood plant was extensively modernized and expanded, at a cost of $5 million. The Hanley kilns were reconstructed and the wire-cut brickmaking plant was replaces with pressed brick manufacture. In 1978-9 further improvements were made including better kiln firing systems to reduce fuel and automated kiln cars.
Brick & Pipe Industries was acquired by Melbourne Businessman Abe Goldberg 1988 who quickly sold it on as a number of his companies went into receivership in 1990. In the late 1990s, a proposal for a large cinema complex was mooted for the site by Readings Cinemas. However, this did not eventuate. It was around this time that the buildings on site were demolished. In 2003 Brickworks Ltd (including Austral Bricks) gained control of Brick & Pipe Industries after a series of protracted mergers and takeovers.

"Brick and Pipe Industries plans new issue." The Canberra Times 27 May1969: 15.

Sunday, November 1, 2015

Bulleen Brickworks

The Bulleen Brickworks was located on Templestowe Road, and established by Glen Iris bricks in the 1950s and taken over by Boral in 1970.

An unusual historical source - bus route approval -

Transport Regulation Act.
TRANSPORT REGULATION BOARD.
HEARING OF APPLICATIONS.
NOTICE is hereby given that the following applications
will be considered by the Transport Regulation Board
at its offices at the corner of Lygon and Princes streets,
Carlton, at 10.15 a.m. on Wednesday, 10th September, 1969.
GLEN IRIS BRICK TILE & TERRA COTTA CO. PTY. LTD.,
Templestowe-road, Bulleen. One commercial Passenger
vehicle (S/C. 20) to operate for the carnage of
employees free of charge between the company's
factory in Templestowe-road, Bulleen, and the Heidelberg
Railway station via Templestowe-road, Banksia street
and Mount-street. Return journey via Mount street,
Burgundy-street, Lower Heidelberg-road, Banksia
street and Templestowe-road to the factory.
TIME-TABLE.
Monday to Friday.
Depart Heidelberg Railway Station, 7 .10 a.m. Depart
Bulleen Plant, 4.20 p.m. 'Depart Bulleen Plant, 6.20 p.m.
Saturday.
Depart Heidelberg Railway Station, 7 .10 a.m. Depart
Bulleen Plant, 12. 00 p.m.


The kilns and chimneys were demolished and the site was redeveloped in the 1990s for housing.