Yarralumla Brickworks

The brickworks, also known as the Old Canberra Brickworks, was the first industrial manufacturing facility within the ACT.  It is a relatively intact and increasingly rare example of large urban brickworks from the early 20^th century, providing an historical record of the industry, technology and construction in that period.  The Staffordshire kiln is the last of its kind in Australia. The quarry covers about four hectares, and the buildings another two.  Quarrying was also done at a site in Deakin.

In 1910 a local brickworks was deemed necessary to provide bricks for the new national capital.  Good quality shale was available on Frederick Campbell’s property “Yarralumla”, and in 1912 he gave permission for about 38 acres to be used.  Four temporary kilns were set up in 1914 to make the bricks for the permanent kiln, a Staffordshire type built on site from plans sent from England.  Walter Burley Griffin imposed a height limit on the chimney, resulting in a unique variation in design.  A later chimney was built to standard height and is now a landmark.  The kiln was constructed so as to produce not only bricks but also roof tiles and terracotta pipes.

The brickworks began production in 1916 but closed almost immediately due to labour shortages brought about by World War 1, reopening in 1921.  Some of the bricks produced in 1921-22 were used to construct houses for the brick workers, but soon most of the output was going into public buildings.  Four million ‘Canberra red’ bricks went into Parliament House alone.  From 1923 a tramway linked the works to construction sites at Parliament House, the Hotel Canberra and Civic; it was demolished in 1929.  The brickworks closed during the Depression (1932-35) and part of World War II (1942-44), with only limited production in between.  During the war, the National Library used one of the kilns as safe storage for valuable records.

In the 1950s, three new kilns were required to maintain production levels for a revitalised building industry, but by the mid 1960s more houses were being built of other materials and one of the kilns was closed.  By 1974 the brickworks was surrounded by suburbia, raw materials had long been brought from elsewhere, and it was decided to construct a new works at Mitchell.  The old works closed in 1976.

Years of official assessments and unsuccessful development plans have followed.  The first proposal was an integrated tourist and residential development, and in 1979 the brickworks reopened briefly as a tourist attraction.  In 1982 an antiques market operated in the dome kilns, and during the 1980s and early 1990s various craftspeople leased kiln space for workshops.  Most of these moved out in 1996.  The now semi-derelict site accessible from Denman Street, Yarralumla. 

VIEW ONLINE

Australian Capital Territory Interim Heritage Places Register.
Yarralumla Brickworks, Yarralumla. Lyneham, ACT: ACT Heritage Council, 1997.
ACTHL Location: H 711.4099471 AUST Yarralumla

REQUEST BOOK

Geological Monuments in the Australian Capital Territory, 2^nd ed.  Canberra: Geological Society of Australia for the Australian Heritage Commission, 1988, pp. 84-86.
ACTHL Location:  H 559.47 GEOL

Macdonald, Bruce. ‘Old Canberra Brickworks: An ACT Industrial Heritage Site’, Heritage in Trust, Spring 2000, pp. 6-7.
ACTHL Location:  H 720.9947 HERI

Yarralumla Brickworks. Records. [1915-1932].
ACTHL Location:  HMSS 0052