Porth Wen Brickworks

Porth Wen Brickworks is a hazardous site and most of the buildings are ruined. There are remains of previous efforts to stabilise these buildings some time ago; however, further deterioration has occurred, which has been accelerated by coastal erosion. The following is an account of what we experienced when visiting.

We started off from the lay-by on the A5025 near the junction with a lane leading to towards Ty-Du farm.

We continued along the lane, then took a right onto the footpath at the gate with brick columns and a ‘No Parking’ sign.

We followed the path down the slopes and were greeted with a panoramic view of Porth Wen. We proceeded along the path until we saw the chimneys of the brickworks and the start of the path on the right that led down to the site.

The path is narrow and steep, so we took extra care when descending. We entered through the terraced section of the brickworks into a doorway around the back of the site. We continued down to the ground level. We peered into the large building to our left, which was the warehouse for storing finished bricks before shipping. The building looks very dangerous, and the floor has been damaged by falling masonry, so we did not enter.

The building was also the engineering workshop and there are remnants of machinery that survive such as this example by Thos C Fawcett Ltd of Leeds who specialised in manufacturing brick making equipment.

Opposite the warehouse is a drying room where bricks would have been laid after they were moulded and shaped before heading to the kiln. This room may also have been used for moulding.

Notice the remains of the loading quay where ships would have docked to deliver supplies and load bricks ready for export. Sadly, the quay and adjacent land has deteriorated after years of coastal erosion, and this continues to pose the most significant threat to the structural stability of the site.

South of the drying room is the boiler house, which contains the remains of a Stirling water-tube boiler, including parts of its cylindrical drums and pipework, with doors for firing, ash removal, and maintenance. The boilers would have been used to power a small engine to the right from the view above. The engine drove a shaft to power other machinery on site.

Behind the boiler house is the terraced production line. Quartzite was quarried high above the brickworks and delivered to the top the terrace via a tramway. Machinery would break the Quartzite down into smaller pieces as it travelled down the line until it was transformed into a powder like consistency at the bottom. This powder would have been mixed with water and lime into a paste.

To the right of the terraced production line is the moulding room. The Quartzite paste was originally cut into shape using wires; however, the process was eventually replaced by a pressing technique.

Once the moulded bricks had been dried, they were fired in three Newcastle circular kilns also known as ‘Beehive Kilns’. The kilns are made of brick with domed roofs and iron bands. The foundation of the north kiln is now visible after the surrounding land deteriorated due to coastal erosion.

We entered one of the kilns for a close look at their interior. Notice the ventilation outlets in the roof that produced the draft which stopped the heat from being released from the dome. The heat is drawn back down through the kiln into the floor providing more consistent heating and firing results.

In front of the kilns towards the sea wall are further remains of buildings that once stood on the site. Notice the natural arch on the cliff to the right.

The remains of a Lancashire boiler lie near the sea wall of the loading quay with further evidence of the land eroding away.

As we returned through the terraced ruins of the brickworks where we entered, we noticed a stone breaker perched on the terrace above. It was manufactured by W. H. Baxter Ltd of Leeds. They specialised in manufacturing equipment for processing stones and ore, particularly crushing, screening, washing, and mixing.

We followed the path back the way we came and turned right following the trail up the hill overlooking the bay. We took a left towards the rocky hills above the brickworks.

We followed the path until we saw remains of the winding house. This once housed a drum affixed to a square drive shaft that wound the cables which moved the tramway wagons below.

The wagons would have been filled with quartzite ore sourced from the quarries behind and transferred down the tramway to the brickworks for crushing and processing. The bed of the tramway is still visible, and you can still identify the elevated sections of where the track would have lay.

Behind the winding house are the remains of a storage shed.

We returned back down the path and continued left up the grassy hill with a radio antenna for a stunning aerial view of the brickworks and Porth Wen Bay.

We returned back the way we came although we could have continued exploring the surrounding landscape.