BRICK - PRESSED CARDUP

This machine pressed brick was manufactured at the Cardup brickworks some time in the 1920s. It was purchased during the construction of the home of a Mr Frost on Station Street in Martin. He built the house which was a timber and fibro construction with a brick chimney. The spare bricks were used to edge pathways through his garden. Mr Frost worked for the Water Board. In c1985 Tony Greatwood purchased the property and built his own home. As he built the home he dug up this and other local bricks.
The Cardup Pressed Brick Company in Cardup was started c1899 and named Bunning Bros & Millard. They sold the brickworks to Oswald Law and associates in c1901 who started the Cardup Pressed Brick Company.
In 1914. the contractors Atkins and Law sold their Cardup holding to P. F. Robinson and the Coulthard brothers. Henry and William. There was an abundance of shale in this district. The Coulthard's continued to make bricks, roofing tiles, plaques and flower pots using the updraught kilns. Instead of the traditional wire-cutting method, the Coulthards experimented with pressed bricks. In 1926, the brickworks were sold to Millars Timber and Trading Co. Ltd., with the Coulthards staying on to assist in the management of the works. Millars installed a Hoffman Kiln, like that which had been used at the Byford Brickworks, and firmly established the manufacture of pressed bricks. In 1942, owing to the Second World War, the brickworks were closed, reopening in 1945. In 1949, Millars sold to the proprietary consortium Byford Pressed Bricks Pty Ltd, which later became Cardup Bricks Pty Ltd then Cardup Metro Bricks Pty Ltd (1952). In the late 1940s, at the insistence of the State Government, the Cardup Brickworks was upgraded, with the necessary capital being raised by the formation of a public company. The Law family: who had the holding originally, were part of this company. New machinery and four down-draft kilns. The result was an increase in production from nearly 6 million to 11 million bricks per year. In 1964. the Hoffman Kiln was dismantled. In 1970. new automatic equipment was installed, but despite its capacity potential, a building recession from 1970-1975 resulted in the closure of various sections of the works. During this recession, In 1973. the brickworks were sold to H. L. Brisbane and Wunderlich Ltd. now known as Bristile Ltd. The brickworks became one of the most modern in Australia. Full production recommenced, but the brickworks were again to suffer a downgrade with another recession in the early 1980s. [Information taken from Coy. pp. 183-184 & Government of WA Heritage Council entry for Brick Kilns in Shire of Serpentine Jarrahdale]