Blickling Hall is large country estate and hall on a grand scale. The estate and house is managed by the national trust. These large estates had set ups to be self efficient and this one is no exception. You can still find remains of some old stuff as the trust can’t restore everything. They usually concentrate on the bigger, grander things near the main estate. You can find the odd thing if you look hard enough, like these old brickworks set away from the main estate. The brickworks was originally built on what is now a Plantation which carried on in use till they built a newer one around the mid to late 18th century. The old one was then made into the plantation to disguise the old kids and debris in the pit. The new one was built at Whitetop common and is set in a valley, this has been made deeper due to clay extraction for brick making. A house sits behind the brickworks and prob built for the supervisor of the workks, it’s still lived in. The brickworks started with a single wood fired kiln, then more were added because of extensive works on the estate, and the need for more bricks. The single kiln and a pair of kilns still exist with a coal store next to the latter. The site consisted of wash pit, moulding sheds, drying sheds and a pug mill. There are two rooms in this set up still standing, they both have very high walls.
It was quite an interesting wander and more to see than expected. There was talk of the trust restoring them, but I guess that all it was, just talk. They are now in a very ruinous condition.
Looking over the main kiln area, someone has put up chestnut fencing up to stop people wandering in.
Looking over the overgrown mess.
Entrance to the original kiln, set down a ditch.
Inside the kiln looking through. I crawled up the tunnel, but it led nowhere. I got covered in clay for absolutely nothing.
Looking out of the kiln.
Heading to the newer kiln.
it was quite flooded inside, luckily some wood lay about to balance on.
How the kilns would have looked whilst in use.
The coal store.
The first of two rooms. This had holes in the brickwork, maybe for shelving for drying out the bricks.
Second room.
Getting on top of the kilns. You could see down into the two rroms, was surprising how high you are.
Was then going to go when I spotted some brickwork in the distance. So had a wander over. It seems this was the pug mill. This brickwork had a channel through for prob excess water. Behind this you can work out the round circle with a channel in it. This would have prob been horse driven.
Heading back to the car I spotted the old ice house. It is on a public walkway through some woodland. But as I have never seen an ice house I thought I would get some shots. They had gated the main refrigeration well. But when you look down you can see why. Ice houses are basically an early for of a refrigerator before electricity. Only something the rich could afford, and normally on large estates like this. A large brick well was built with a passageway and two doors almost like a compression chamber to keep it cool. A large vent lid was added, this could add as a harch to throw ice in. And a small run off was built at the bottom for a water that melted. They were often built in banks to keep the cool air in, and near ponds to feed them, often ponds were built for these. The ice could be kept for up to a year too a year and a half.
Not a huge site but an interesting one none the less.
It was quite an interesting wander and more to see than expected. There was talk of the trust restoring them, but I guess that all it was, just talk. They are now in a very ruinous condition.
Looking over the main kiln area, someone has put up chestnut fencing up to stop people wandering in.
Looking over the overgrown mess.
Entrance to the original kiln, set down a ditch.
Inside the kiln looking through. I crawled up the tunnel, but it led nowhere. I got covered in clay for absolutely nothing.
Looking out of the kiln.
Heading to the newer kiln.
it was quite flooded inside, luckily some wood lay about to balance on.
How the kilns would have looked whilst in use.
The coal store.
The first of two rooms. This had holes in the brickwork, maybe for shelving for drying out the bricks.
Second room.
Getting on top of the kilns. You could see down into the two rroms, was surprising how high you are.
Was then going to go when I spotted some brickwork in the distance. So had a wander over. It seems this was the pug mill. This brickwork had a channel through for prob excess water. Behind this you can work out the round circle with a channel in it. This would have prob been horse driven.
Heading back to the car I spotted the old ice house. It is on a public walkway through some woodland. But as I have never seen an ice house I thought I would get some shots. They had gated the main refrigeration well. But when you look down you can see why. Ice houses are basically an early for of a refrigerator before electricity. Only something the rich could afford, and normally on large estates like this. A large brick well was built with a passageway and two doors almost like a compression chamber to keep it cool. A large vent lid was added, this could add as a harch to throw ice in. And a small run off was built at the bottom for a water that melted. They were often built in banks to keep the cool air in, and near ponds to feed them, often ponds were built for these. The ice could be kept for up to a year too a year and a half.
Not a huge site but an interesting one none the less.
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