View in drying shed (above kiln) with louvred window. Digital image of B 9234

Description View in drying shed (above kiln) with louvred window. Digital image of B 9234

Date 20/5/1982

Collection Records of the Scottish Industrial Archaeology Survey at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Sco

Catalogue Number SC 741485

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of B 9234

Scope and Content Louvred window in drying shed above kiln, Cruden Bay Brick & Tile Works, Aberdeenshire Established in 1902 by a Mr Cruikshank, the works were producing 12,000 bricks per day by 1906. Field drains were also made in 1906 when 32 men and boys were employed. In 1947 the works were extended and modernised and by 1960 five million bricks a year were being produced. The works closed in 1990. This shows one of the louvred windows which ventilated the drying area above the Hoffman continuous kiln at the works. Cruden Bay was the only works in Scotland to use this space for drying. It was not a popular method in the UK because drying could be irregular. A very small rise in temperature could greatly increase evaporation and so crack the bricks. The louvred windows helped control the temperature in the drying area as the louvres could be opened (left) or closed (right). If no supplementary heat is used, this type of dryer will only dry about half the kiln output during the winter, but will dry the whole output during favourable summer weather if care is taken in the control of the ventilation. The chief disadvantage to this type of drying is the unevenness of drying and thus the possibility of firing insufficiently dried bricks. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/741485

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap