Selborne Bricks are hand made by craftsmen using traditional methods. Our senior craftsmen have been here for over 25 years.
We make our bricks from extruded clay. This process confers fantastic strength and frost resistance combined with the variation and craftsmanship of a handmade brick. Walls made from Selborne Bricks are beautiful, strong and long lasting. |
| Bricks have been made on the site since Roman times. The key to our bricks properties lie in the clay, which is quarried locally. It is gault clay, some 60 million years old. The fine particles in our clay contribute to the strength and frost resistance. As part of the traditional process we mix the clay with about 10% sand. |
| The colour in our bricks comes from iron and other oxides which are created during the firing process at temperatures of up to 1050oC. Precise temperature varies slightly through our kilns as does the detailed composition of the clay in the brick. The result is that we produce bricks of varied colour. Our samples represent the range of the colour, but not necessarily the proportion of each colour as this varies from firing to firing. |
| To get a sense of what our bricks look like either visit the web site, request a sample or come to the works. |
| When the firing is complete and the kiln is emptied the bricks are sorted by hand for quality and colour, under the direction of our two most senior craftsmen. The lighter, near orange bricks are Tudor Reds. The darker ones are Hampshire Reds and any with blue or brown in them are Multi Reds. |
| We add no colouring to our clay, preferring to rely on nature. Our bricks therefore have no problems being laid with lime mortars. Because we have natural variation, we do not mix blends. |
| Tudor Reds The more orange appearance of Tudor Reds is particularly effective when combined with stone and flint. It also matches the bricks of East Anglia. |
Compressive Strength: 36.5 N/mm²
Water Absorption: 8%
Initial Rate of Water Absorption: 1.4 Kg/(m².min)
Soluble Salts:S2
Frost Resistance: F2 [Severe Frost] |
|
 |
|
|
| Smooth Reds are made by not sanding the brick. This creates a need to handle them specially. The smooth finish is particularly popular in the Thames valley area and was used at Glyndebourne. |
Compressive Strength: 36.5 N/mm²
Water Absorption: 8%
Initial Rate of Water Absorption: 1.4 Kg/(m².min)
Soluble Salts:S2
Frost Resistance: F2 [Severe Frost] |
|
 |
|
|
| Multi Reds are made by changing the packing in the kiln, with a resulting range of blues, reds and browns. |
Compressive Strength: 36.5 N/mm²
Water Absorption: 8%
Initial Rate of Water Absorption: 1.4 Kg/(m².min)
Soluble Salts:S2
Frost Resistance: F2 [Severe Frost] |
|
 |
|
|
Hampshire Reds are our most popular colour, and are a common sight throughout Wessex.
They seem to complement the greens of hedges, trees fields and grass. |
Compressive Strength: 36.5 N/mm²
Water Absorption: 8%
Initial Rate of Water Absorption: 1.4 Kg/(m².min)
Soluble Salts:S2
Frost Resistance: F2 [Severe Frost] |
|
 |
|
|
| Brindles are our rarest colour, occurring at the edges of the kiln when we make multis. They have a range of brown, blues and reds. |
Compressive Strength: 36.5 N/mm²
Water Absorption: 8%
Initial Rate of Water Absorption: 1.4 Kg/(m².min)
Soluble Salts:S2
Frost Resistance: F2 [Severe Frost] |
|
 |
|
|
| Bar Smooths are made by stacking the bricks is a special way during drying this allows the salts in the clay to come to the surface, and these leave a bar of contrasting colour on the brick when it is fired. |
Compressive Strength: 36.5 N/mm²
Water Absorption: 8%
Initial Rate of Water Absorption: 1.4 Kg/(m².min)
Soluble Salts:S2
Frost Resistance: F2 [Severe Frost] |
|
 |
|
|
| The performance of our bricks was tested to BS EN 772 in February 2008 by CERAM. |
| The results are summarised below and the full test report is available on request . |
 Please be aware that any images online colour depends on monitor settings.
All images on this site are colour balanced to sRGB 2.1 |