Brickmaking on the Isle of Wight

Sarah Burdett will be talking about “Brickmaking on the Isle of Wight”, the title of her latest book, launched on 3rd March 2026.

The book is the product of almost 40 years of research, much of it by the late Jill Reilly. It covers the wide range of brick buildings on the Island, how bricks were made, and a gazetteer of over 120 brickyards around the Island. Full colour throughout, there are many old photographs of Island brickmakers and brickworks, maps and indexes.

Heritage Centres around the Island have supplied us with information and photographs and helped to increase our understanding of the fascinating craft of brickmaking. Oral history recordings from old brickmakers or their sons have been transcribed and included. Making bricks was always hard, from the 10-year-old pug boy working the clay in the 1860s to the mechanised clay work of the 1970s, when our last brickyard on the Island closed at Rookley.

At Carisbrooke Castle museum archives there are some detailed letters and documents which are very helpful in giving an insight to some of the brickyards.

Still more fascinating information is coming to light since the book went to print – and will be included in the talk!

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Host or Publisher Carisbrooke Castle Museum