Following the emptying of the historic brick kiln at its Brickfield House site last month, Guernsey Water will be offering ‘BEST’ bricks to interested islanders.
The kiln, which is a protected monument, was emptied of all unfired bricks in order to allow surveyors to complete a structural survey report, this in turn will provide a basis for a conservation plan to be drawn up in order to protect the kiln and maintain its structural integrity for future generations.
Guernsey Water’s capital delivery manager, Mark Walker said: “The only other intact kilns in Guernsey stand at Oatlands, so it’s quite special to have one here at our headquarters. Although we will be keeping 1,000 bricks for conservation and local heritage purposes, we thought this was a great opportunity to share some local interest with islanders.”
Originally constructed in 1927, replacing an earlier bottle kiln on the site owned by the Best family, the kiln remained in production until 1947, when it was filled with bricks for the last time.
Any islanders interested in owning a little bit of island history, are invited to collect a ‘Best brick’ from Guernsey Water’s Brickfield House site in St Andrews, between 10am – 12pm on 23 February as long as supplies last, 500 bricks have been held aside. Donations are welcome and proceeds will be passed on to La SociétéGuernesiaise and The National Trust of Guernsey.
Guernsey Water would like to remind people that the bricks are unfired and are therefore fairly fragile and unsuitablefor any building purposes.
