A look at Isle of Wight brickwork over the years

What has been most striking this year has been the attention to detail, such as when brickwork has had to be replaced. 

People who have restored old properties have taken great trouble to source accurate bricks. 

Firstly, the colour has to be matched. This can be very difficult, but can be done with some research. 

There are still companies making bespoke bricks, or if you are lucky, you may find some recycled bricks of the correct colour.  We have some recycling centres here on the Island.

This is especially true when adding an extension to an existing property.  The street scene can be jarred, and make a building look out of character, if the colour of the bricks does not match.

A house on Fairy Road, Seaview, where an extension has been added. (Image: Contributed.)

In Fairy Road, Seaview, one of a pair of semi-detached properties has had an extension added.  Looking at the property, it is difficult to see what has been done, unless one has a “before” photograph.

The architects, Mattinson Associates, also extended the dog tooth brickwork from the existing house onto the extension.

The Goose bookshop, on St Helens' green, is another example where brickwork has been delightfully restored. 

The Goose bookshop, St Helens, brickwork detail. (Image: Contributed.)

Here, not only the colour of the bricks has been matched, but also the shaped bricks beside the doorway and window. 

These did have to be specially made, but the wait for the bricks was well worth it. The brickwork now matches the adjoining shop front, as it would have done in the past.

In Edwardian times, these quoin bricks would have been readily available, as can be seen in the Pritchett Sales catalogue of 1905. 

Pritchett catalogue quoins available. (Image: Contributed.)

Back then, the chamfered white quoin bricks cost 7/6 per hundred! That is seven shillings and sixpence to those of you too young to remember pre-decimalisation prices.

At the bookshop, the window framing has also been specially made to match the neighbouring shop, with strong rounded wooden cross bars.  

So next time you visit The Goose, take a look at the brickwork before you go inside.

Pritchett catalogue from 1905. (Image: Contributed.)

Some buildings strongly dominate a street scene. 

One of these is the old Cowes police station, highly visible as one approaches from the floating bridge. 

The building dates from 1900, and the brickwork was made to last. 

It is good that the building has a new use at last, and that the street scene remains the same, though not quite the same, as to the rear an extension has been added. 

Again, the bricks have been carefully chosen to match the existing ones.

Attention to detail is so important, and can make or mar a building.