The Somerset Brick and Tile Museum in Bridgwater has displays about the history of brick and tile making and it includes historic kilns dating from the 18th- and 19th-centuries.
Bridgwater has been a major centre of brick and tile manufacturing since the Middle Ages and by the 1840s around 15% of the town’s population was working in the tile and brick-making industry.
![The Somerset Brick and Tile Museum in Bridgwater is housed inside a former brickmaking factory and includes kilns dating from the 18th and 19th centuries. (Photo: Ruth Riddle [CC BY-SA 2.0])](https://englandrover.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/somerset-brick-and-tile-museum-geograph.jpg)
What to see at the Somerset Brick and Tile Museum
The Somerset Brick and Tile Museum is housed inside a former brickmaking factory that has operated from the 18th century until the mid-1960s.
It is home to the Chandos Glass Cone, which was built in 1725 as a glassmaking kiln and later used as an iron foundry and more recently in the production of bricks and tiles. The cone was originally 33m (108 ft) tall; however, all that remains is a 2.4m- (7 ft 10 in)-high section.
The museum also features Bridgwater’s last surviving pinnacle kiln. The 19th-century kiln is recognised as a Grade II* listed building and was originally one of six identical kilns on the site.
Indoor exhibits include displays demonstrating the production process for bricks and tiles and these exhibits include artefacts such as tools that would have been used in brickmaking factories like this one.
Visiting the Somerset Brick and Tile Museum
The Somerset Brick and Tile Museum is located in a light industrial area around a five-minute walk north of the town centre.
The museum is only open once a week (on Tuesdays) and admission is by a £3 donation. It is necessary to pre-book your visit online.
It is a fairly small museum and it is possible to visit it in just half an hour.
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