Monument record MDO43230 - Brick Works, Copperas Works south east of South Lodge, Brownsea Island, Studland

The remains of a brick structure exposed in the south shore cliff during from 1996 and excavated 2005 Consists of a clay cut pit 2.85m wide and 0.7m deep with clay lining 0.3m wide faced with bricks 240x120x115mm with a semi-circular hollow 70mm wide and 25mm deep undeside coated with soot. The floor of the pit of unfroged bricks 225x110x60mm.

The feature is interpreted as an evapotation tank for copperas or alum liquer made from local clay and used for fixing dyes. A brick floor of reused brick on the east side above the pit and traced in the cliff edge for 10m is interpreted as a working floor where raw clay was stacked to weather before preparation for the evaporation process.

The site is gradually being destroyed through coastal erosion. Further elements of this site will be found as the cliff erodes. A line of posts embedded in foreshore fronting this site may indicate the site of an associated jetty.

This site has been examined by Poole Harbour Heritage Research Group co-ordinated by Alan Hawkins and Peter Bellamy. Further excavation of the tank scrub clearance, plotting of the jetty posts in the inter-tidal zone and an earthwork survey of this site and 112816 and 112815 to the east 2008-2009.

Laser scanniing and monitoring of the site was carried out by Heather Papworth from Decembe 2011 to Feb 2012 as part of her PhD

<1> Papworth, M, 1992, Brownsea Island, Dorset. Wessex region (Unpublished document). SWX1390.

<2> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 2006, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 2005, 146 (Serial). SDO12291.

<3> Bellamy, P, 2008, The Dorset Alum and Copperas Industries: Fieldwork on Brownsea Island, Interim Report (Unpublished document). SDO17269.

<4> Papworth, Heather, 2012, Laser Scan South Shore Coastal Change Monitoring preliminary report (Article in monograph). SDO20921.

<5> National Record of the Historic Environment (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Sep 11 2024 2:07PM