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Brickmaking has been going on in Slough since at least 1442, when the first of 2,500,000 local bricks were delivered for the building of Eton College. It is, apart from agriculture, the first industry to have been practised in Slough. During the 19th Century it was one of the main industries in Slough, with brickfields located in the Langley and Upton Lea areas.
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| Slough bricks were use to construct many buildings in the area, such as the Old Wesleyan Chapel in Herschel Street, but they were also used further afield. Many of the buildings erected in London during the Victorian period were made from Slough bricks. Initially, the bricks had been transported to London by train, but the opening of the Slough arm of the Grand Union Canal in 1882 made transportation much easier. |
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Wesleyan Chapel, Herschel Street, Slough. About 1930 |
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There were several local brickmaking firms, the best known of which was the Slough and Langley Brickfields. This was formed in 1845 by the Nash family. At its peak it produced 14 million bricks per year, and it supplied the bricks for the Eton College Memorial to the Fallen of the South African War. Other local firms included William and Wallingtons, William Willet's, Peake's, and Langley (Caves and Smith).
The bricks were made by hand - moulded, laid out to dry, and then fired in kilns. Men worked in teams of 6, called 'stools'. Each stool could produce five thousand bricks per day.
There has not been any brickmaking in Slough since the Second World War. The areas that used to be covered by brickfields have been built on, and are now housing or industrial estates.
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Catching criminals
Brickmaking in Slough
The Bank Run
