We pride ourselves on the quality of our reclaimed brick slips. Cut from original reclaimed bricks, our brick tiles have the character and weathering that only comes from decades of use.
All the chips, cracks and colour variations in each brick are there because they’ve been weathered over the years. This gives each brick it’s own individual look and feel.
One of our recent batches of bricks came to us from a demolition project in Stockport.
This building was originally built in 1831 by Thomas Marsland (1777-1854) and was an early fireproof cotton spinning mill. For the next 40 years, the Marsland family ran a successful business before selling the mill to the Ward Brothers in 1895.
The Ward Brothers occupied the mill until the 1930’s. They were specialists in hat finishing and trimming. During these years, little needed to be done to the cotton mill, though they did build a central staircase and a new eastern facade. Wards made stiff felts, soft felts, men’s straws, boys straw’s, tweed caps, workmen’s hats and children’s cloth, velvets, and plush hats.
The building was hit by a devastating fire in 1906 which gutted most of the building, destroying enormous stocks of straw and felt hats which were part of the working area which caused £50,000 worth of damage.
At one time over 1,000 people were employed at the mill.
There was a brief boom in the textile industry after World War I, however post World War II the textile industry faded and in 1959 Government subsidies were provided for companies exiting the industry. The bulk of Stockport’s textile mills ceased production by the 1970’s
In the years since the 1930’s the mill has been continued to produce hats with a brief boom in the textile industry after World War I, however post World War II the textile industry faded and in 1959 Government subsidies were provided for companies exiting the industry. The bulk of Stockport’s textile mills ceased production by the 1970’s
The mill was then turned into the UK’s only dedicated hatting museum in 2000 until it was partial demolished in 2018 with the front section being converted into apartments by Lane End Developments.
This is just one example of the rich history that is behind our Reclaimed Brick Tiles. All of our reclaimed bricks have some story behind them from the Victorian factories of the North West to hospitals, police stations and old farmhouses.
Why not check out the quality of our reclaimed brick tiles for yourself and pick up one of our sample packs.
