udor kings
the art of brickmaking arrived at great perfection, and some of the finest
known specimens of ornamental brickwork are to be found among the work of
this period. The rebuilding of London after the Great Fire of 1666 gave
considerable impetus to brickmaking, most of the new buildings being of
brick, and a statute was passed regulating the number of bricks in the
thickness of the walls of the several rates of dwelling-houses.

The many names given to the different qualities of bricks in various parts
of Great Britain are most confusing, but the following are those generally
in use:--

_Stocks_, hard, sound, well-burnt bricks, used for all ordinary purposes.

_Hard Stocks,_ sound but over-burnt, used in footings to walls and other
positions where good appearance is not required.

_Shippers_, sound, hard-burnt bricks of imperfect shape. Obtain their name
from being much used as ballast for ships.

_Rubbers_ or _Cutters_, sandy in composition and suitable for cutting with
a wire saw and rubbing to shape on the stone slab.

_Grizzles_, sound and of fair shape, but under-burnt; used for inferior
work, and in cases where they are not liable to be heavily loaded.

_Place-bricks_, under-burnt and defective; used for temporary work.

_Chuffs_, cracked and defective in shape and badly burnt. [v.04 p.0523]
_Burrs_, lumps which have vitrified or run together in the burning; used
for rough walling, garden work, &c.

_Pressed bricks_, moulded under hydraulic pressure, and much used for
facing work. They usually have a deep frog or hollow on one or both
horizontal faces, which reduces the weight of the brick and forms an
excellent key for the mortar.

_Blue bricks_, chiefly made in South Staffordshire and North Wales. They
are used in engineering work, and where great compressional resistance is
needed, as they are vitrified throughout, hard, heavy, impervious and very
durable. Blue bricks of special shape may be had for paving, channelling
and coping.

_Fire-bricks_, withstanding great heat, used in connexion with furnaces.
They should always be laid with fire-clay in place of lime or cement
mortar.

_Glazed bricks_, either salt-glazed or enamelled. The former, brown in
colour, are glazed by throwing salt on the bricks in the kiln. The latter
are dipped into a slip of the required colour before being burnt, and are
used for decorative and sanitary purposes, and where reflected light is
required.

_Moulded bri