The Brickworks Museum

The Brickworks Museum occupies the site of the former Bursledon Brickworks on Swanwick Lane, a short distance from Southampton Water. Built in 1897, the factory produced bricks continuously until 1974 and is now the last complete example of a steam-powered brickworks in Britain. The entire manufacturing process remains in place, from clay pits to chimney stack, offering a direct view into late-Victorian industrial production.

The central feature is the large horizontal steam engine, restored to working order by volunteers. Power from the engine once drove line shafts and belts that operated mixers, presses, and cutters throughout the buildings.

Visitors can follow the sequence: raw clay was crushed and tempered, pressed into moulds, dried on racks in long open sheds, then stacked inside the eight-chamber downdraught kiln for firing. The tall chimney, boiler house, and drying sheds still stand exactly as they did when the works closed.

Exhibits trace the wider story of brickmaking in southern England.

Displays cover local geology, the different clays used, and the evolution of brick types from handmade commons to machine-pressed facing bricks. One of the largest public collections of bricks in the country is housed here, arranged by period, region, and manufacturer, showing changes in colour, texture, and stamping over centuries. Smaller galleries examine the lives of the workers, health and safety conditions, and the role bricks played in regional building.

A narrow-gauge railway runs across the site, originally used to move clay and finished bricks. Rolling stock and track remain in position, adding to the sense of a frozen industrial landscape. Outdoor areas include remnants of the clay pits and seasonal ponds that supplied water for the boilers.

The museum is run entirely by volunteers who maintain the machinery and share detailed knowledge of operations. A modest café serves drinks and light meals made on site, while the shop stocks books, postcards, and brick-related items.

The preserved machinery, extensive brick collection, and intact production buildings combine to give a thorough picture of a once-common industry that shaped much of Britain’s built environment. The site retains the atmosphere of a working factory paused mid-shift, with tools, belts, and stacks of bricks left as they were decades ago.