A Rare Survival

Posted Friday, August 27 2010.

The Gardner Bros & Parker Downdraught Kiln in New Lynn is a rare survival of the larger brickworks that occupied the site now known as Ambrico Place.

Salmond Reed was originally approached by Waitakere City Council in 2007 to carry out a survey of the structure and prepare a specification for its repair. With funding now available, the works of repair to the original structural steelwork and later roof structure, and conservation of the historic brick walls and paving will be undertaken during September / October 2010.

The predominantly brick building was originally part of the Gardner Brothers and Parker Brickworks (established in 1902). These works at one stage employing 70 men were later absorbed into the Amalgamated Brick and Pipe Company. (Hence the name “Ambrico”, adopted around 1946). In 1922 the company introduced a pottery wheel into the works and brought in an expert pottery thrower from the Royal Doulton factory in England. Later on the company adopted the brand name Crown Lynn for its diversification into ceramic tableware and this became a household name in New Zealand.

Brickworks originally flourished in the New Lynn area in the 1860s once supplies of suitable clay closer to the city were exhausted. Numerous small brickworks could be found near the Whau River area by the 1870s -The bricks were transported into the city by scow from the upper harbour location and then, in the 1880s, development of the Auckland - Kaipara Railway made bulk transportation even easier.

The downdraft kiln pictured was designed in 1926 by Athol Miller and was used mainly for firing red facing bricks of which it was able to produce about fifteen thousand per week. While the kiln probably had lean-to roofs along the sides to provide shelter, it is believed that the gable roof structure was a 1980s addition constructed during the building’s later use as a storage facility. The kiln operated for some thirty years producing bricks and the last recorded batch of bricks fired there in 1957 are believed to have gone into the construction of a Presbyterian Church in Greenlane. While still considered operational at that time, this kiln was unable to produce the type of clinker bricks in vogue during the 60s and this drawback hastened its demise.

New Zealand Historic Places Trust records mark the kiln’s final closure in 1973 but the buildings were used for non-manufacturing and storage purposes. In 1983 New Lynn Borough Council managed, despite opposition from the then owners, Ceramco, to include the kiln in its Register of Items of Special Interest and the following year the council resolved to have the structure registered with the New Zealand Historic Places Trust and to have a Protection Notice put in place.

The surrounding yard was sold for a housing development completed in 1988, but the kiln was preserved and restored within a surrounding reserve and in 1992 an ancillary building was erected alongside the kiln for the purpose of displaying pottery memorabilia.