An interesting half hour
Porth Wen Brickworks was a Victorian brick factory that produced fire bricks made from quartzite (silica). These bricks were capable of withstanding a higher temperature than usual red house bricks and were mostly needed for the steel industry, to line steel-making furnaces and kilns. Now the site is abandoned and in ruins. The remains of several buildings and some of the machinery can still be seen but some parts of them are heavily damaged from sea erosion.
Most of the buildings that can be found now at the site were constructed at the beginning of the 20th century. In 1906 the brickworks were owned by German businessman Herr Steibel. He sincerely believed that it would be a profitable business for him, but he didn’t invest enough in modernizing of the process of making bricks.In 1908 he sold the business to Charles Tidy.
Mr. Tidy struggled with managing production. Transport was a big problem for the works. He built a small harbor from where his bricks could be transported by sea. Because of the tides and the rocky seabed there were several small incidents with the loaded ships. The small ships were often battered while in the bay, so many owners refused to transport the bricks because of the possible risks for their vessels.
The whole operation closed down and the place was abandoned at the beginning of the World War I. It was opened again in 1924, but production proceeded with a lot of struggles and without consistence till 1949. Most of the equipment and machinery were moved in Caernarfon sometime before the start of the World War II. Since 1949 the whole site has been completely deserted and left to rust away slowly.
Porth Wen Brickworks was a Victorian brick factory that produced fire bricks made from quartzite (silica). These bricks were capable of withstanding a higher temperature than usual red house bricks and were mostly needed for the steel industry, to line steel-making furnaces and kilns. Now the site is abandoned and in ruins. The remains of several buildings and some of the machinery can still be seen but some parts of them are heavily damaged from sea erosion.
Most of the buildings that can be found now at the site were constructed at the beginning of the 20th century. In 1906 the brickworks were owned by German businessman Herr Steibel. He sincerely believed that it would be a profitable business for him, but he didn’t invest enough in modernizing of the process of making bricks.In 1908 he sold the business to Charles Tidy.
Mr. Tidy struggled with managing production. Transport was a big problem for the works. He built a small harbor from where his bricks could be transported by sea. Because of the tides and the rocky seabed there were several small incidents with the loaded ships. The small ships were often battered while in the bay, so many owners refused to transport the bricks because of the possible risks for their vessels.
The whole operation closed down and the place was abandoned at the beginning of the World War I. It was opened again in 1924, but production proceeded with a lot of struggles and without consistence till 1949. Most of the equipment and machinery were moved in Caernarfon sometime before the start of the World War II. Since 1949 the whole site has been completely deserted and left to rust away slowly.
