Conservation & Heritage Issue 50 Winter 2025/Spring 2026 - Flipbook - Page 65
Northcot‘s Open Days A celebr ation of
English brickwork!
Northcot, one of the oldest independent brickmakers in the country, has been
celebrating its 100th anniversary with a series of exclusive Open Days in the heart
of the Cotswolds.
During the summer, over 150 architects, planners,
conservation specialists, and supporters of high-quality
brickmaking gathered at the brickworks to learn about the
company’s unique contribution to building conservation.
These age-old skills have built some of England’s finest brick
buildings - both ancient and modern – skills that Northcot
has honed to perfection.
This exceptional craftsmanship has enabled the company
to produce bespoke blends for many award-winning
conservation projects, including the restoration of Battersea
Power Station, Radley College Chapel Extension, and the
renowned Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings, which dates back
to the Industrial Revolution.
A traditional brickmaking experience!
Visitors were introduced to the remarkable history of a
company founded by Sir Winston Churchill’s cousin in
1925. Highlights included behind-the-scenes factory tours,
where they could experience what is sometimes described as
a ‘working museum.’
Dedication to building conservation
As one of the oldest building materials in the world,
brickwork is a vital part of our architectural heritage.
They saw the original old 1919 ‘Pan Mill’ processing clay for
the handmades, an extensive collection of bespoke moulds
dating back many decades, and they even had the chance to
make their own ‘signed brick’ by pressing the clay into sanded
timber frame moulds. This hand-throwing technique has
hardly changed over the centuries – and, as they discovered,
it’s not as easy as it looks!
Centuries ago, nearly every town had a brickworks or
brickmaker who shaped bricks by hand from local clay, then
fired them to bring out their unique qualities. This led to
subtle differences in colour and texture across the country.
Below, historic clay brick moulds
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