Wienerberger promotes Smeed Dean and Rudgwick stock bricks
(24/02/2010)

First produced 200 years ago, and still containing the same original ingredients, the Smeed Dean and Rudgwick stock bricks remain particularly popular in the South of England.

Wienerberger has launched a new brochure which includes extensive information on the range of colours available, technical details, high quality photography and an insight into how the products are manufactured.

Only available from Wienerberger, the traditional Smeed Dean London stock brick was made using a unique mix of local clay, town ash and clinker collected from the fire grates of Victorian London. The rustic yellow brick is still being produced as it was in the 1800s at the original factory, the last reaming brick works in Kent, and has been used to create a number of prestigious buildings, including Buckingham Palace and the Tower of London.

Rudgwick bricks are manufactured using local weald clay in one of the last remaining clamp-fired kilns in Europe. The bricks are burnt slowly to create flashes of distinct colour from reds and purples to blues and yellows.

The Smeed Dean stock brick has been extensively used in the refurbishment of the Duke of York headquarters in London, home to the new Saatchi art gallery. The Rudgwick has been credited with bringing back to life historical projects such as the Loxwood Lock Wey and Arun canal scheme in West Sussex.

Special blends can also be created to meet the needs of individual projects and a range of standard sizes, 50mm and imperial brick sizes are readily available.