A brick mystery. I came across this unusual use of curved bricks to form the base of a window opening on a very old building while out for a walk in Littleport in Cambridgeshire. Maybe I’m being a bit dim but I can’t find an example of anything else like this on line. There are examples of slightly curved bricks out there but the curve on these has a much tighter radius. (1/2)
This selection of special bricks does include a slightly curved brick, but the curve is much gentler. (2/2)
https://www.wienerberger.co.uk/products/brick/special-bricks.html
PS Here’s a full view of the building from GSV. It’s pretty ancient - note the thatched roof and the elaborate chimneys which look as though they also contain some specialised shaped bricks…
@davidwilkins Well, this intrigued me. Turns out the building is less than 100 years old, despite the Tudor-esque chimney stacks.
It used to be a Lloyds Bank, and was built in 1931! Probably a similar vintage to the one in Ely.
https://local-heritage-list.org.uk/asset/11034
I think it's likely the sill bricks were either made specially, or there were simply more exotic brick styles available in the 1930s.
@lopta Don’t know about paper but there’s a more detailed PDF….
My guess would be an opportunist use. Some bricks left over from constructing a tunnel or passage? Waste not, want not.
Quite. I think they were 'borrowed'.
This is a similar idea, used as a corbel to throw the rainwater gutter clear of the wall.
Also, four of those quadrants could be used to create a little clerestorey window opening.
@BenCotterill @Binder It’s actually next door to a pub! The pub is the building on the left if my link to GSV works…
I suspect those are used on interior brickwork, as a smooth rounded corner joining two walls.
@lopta Thanks - very interesting. I noticed these hard engineering blue bricks (I think they were used on Victorian railway viaducts). I don’t know much about bricks but I vaguely remember once reading that these were in demand as reclaimed bricks because no new ones were being made but that’s obviously no longer the case!
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