Fourteen cultural venues, museums, and libraries to receive funding boost that
will improve access to arts and culture across the South East – and we are one of the selected venues!

The museum has been awarded a grant to undertake essential repairs to two of our original drying sheds. These were selected as they are the only two of their kind in the country. Built in 1897 they were ‘state of the art’ at the time and allowed brick making to happen all year round. They used a form of underfloor heating to speed up the drying of the bricks prior to firing them in the kiln. Before factories like The Brickworks drying had to happen outside and bricks could only be made seasonally.

Through all the changes that have happened over the years since the factory closed, two sheds managed to remain unaltered and they still have all their original features. These include their corrugated iron roofs. The repair work will mainly concentrate on the roofs, the valley gutters and areas of damaged brickwork.

We are very grateful to be included as part of this award and would like to thank the Department of Culture Media and Sport, Arts Council England and Historic England for their support.

 

Drying shed in 1912         Drying shed today