Hemmingford Bricks

by Don McEwen  (August 2014)

As a child I was always fascinated by the houses and buildings of Ormstown. I became aware that a great many of the houses of Ormstown and neighbouring towns all the way to Hemmingford, were covered with a reddish brick with many distinct hues within each brick’s surface. For me this became a fascination as I compared these local bricks to other bricks which I found terribly monochrome and dull by comparison.

bricks
Watercolour by Sue Heller

In research I discovered that Hemmingford at one time employed over three hundred people in over eightdif- ferent founderies between the period of 1840 and 1920. The depression was the end of that era. Bricks from Hemmingford were used to make many of the houses in the area around McGill University. This is due to a railroad that existed at the time, but also because the architects and owners took a liking to the unique beauty of the brick. If the stones of the area had been more attractive, because God knows the area is full of stones as witness in all of the stone fences – they would have been used as building materials instead of brick.

Brick leant itself easily to the architecture of the period. It sits as a beautiful background to the ornamental elements of the Victorian period. After 1840 it was not needed as a structural element as wood became the internal structure. It was expensive compared to woodand stone because of the laborious process of its creation.

First, you had to clear the soil over the clay to expose it to a winter freeze. Come thaw you have to dig the clay, mix with water and stir in large vats with horse power doing the churning. Next was the molding in ash wood molds covered in sand. Once out of the mold the bricks were laid out in a covered area to dry for over a week or two. Finally the bricks headed to the kiln where they are heated at a low temperature to slowly rid them of most of their moisture before raising the temperature to 1800 degrees with the use of coke or coal for combustion. Finally the kiln is taken apart and the bricks are graded. Quite a job. But when you look at all of the beautifull houses and churches that we still have today… Well worth it!