Brickmaking in Little Downham
On the corner of Lawn Lane and California is a boggy gateway access to a grass field. This was the site of a brickworks, clearly shown on a map of 1885. This was accompanied by the Brickmakers Arms pub and Brickkiln Farm.
Brick making was brought to Britain by the Romans, but fell into decline after their departure and it was not unusual for bricks to be reused from rundown buildings or excavations. The earliest known post-Roman bricks date from the early-thirteenth century, when Flemish bricks were imported. The quality of British brick making rose to an adequate level and the numbers of imported bricks declined. However, it was not until the early-fifteenth century when a large number of Flemish and Dutch craftsmen came to settle in England that the quality of English bricks increased. During this period, all brickmakers travelled to the construction site to make bricks from the local clays.
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