Our Museum Collections

In October 1980 bulldozers were stationed outside the former factory of the Bursledon Brick Company with orders to raze the mothballed Victorian site to the ground to allow it to be redeveloped. That would have been the end of our story had Senior Hampshire County Council Planning Officer Mike Long not realised the significance of the site and – through a daring story involving an illicit scramble to enter the factory through a damaged hedge, a substantial part of the planning department and typing pool working late, and the calling in of a great many favours – saved the site at the eleventh hour for future generations.  

The Museum today tells the story of brickmaking in Britain from the claypits to the kilns. Housed in original Victorian Grade II* listed buildings are the original brickmaking machinery, steam engine and boilers that were installed at the site prior to its opening in 1897. Complimenting this are a huge collection of bricks, tiles and ceramic building materials, including land drains and chimney pots. Many of these are on display in our collection, housed upstairs in one of the former drying rooms, with many more kept behind the scenes in our collection stores.  

The story of brickmaking in Britain is also represented by an array of brickmaking machinery – some used at this site, and other pieces donated from outside collections – including presses, extruders, cutting tables, pug mills and running out machines – a Victorian invention nicknamed ‘stupids’ as they were exceedingly easy to use and could be configured to create tiles, pipes and land drains. 

We also maintain a comprehensive archive of published material, both historic and contemporary, that includes journals, trade catalogues, articles, books, manuals and audio-visual material. These cover a variety of topics relating to bricks, building methods and materials, engineering and the local area. The archives of significant brick experts such as Pat Ryan, Jane Wight and Martin Hammond are also housed within our collections.  

The Museum is open Wednesday, Thursdays and Sundays from April until October for visitors to view the collections. For research requests or to donate items to the museum, contact collections@thebrickworksmuseum.org and to find out more about volunteering with our archives and collections team email volunteers@thebrickworksmuseum.org.