Clackline Brick Refractory

Just outside the small town of Clackline in Western Australia, an hour north east of Perth, stands the remains of one of the state’s most important early industries, the Clackline Brick Refractory. For decades, this site produced firebricks, the heat-resistant blocks that kept furnaces roaring, gasworks running and steam locomotives on the move.

 

What are firebricks?

Firebricks are not ordinary house bricks. They’re made from a special kind of clay called fire clay, which can survive extreme heat without cracking or melting. While normal red household bricks are designed to cope with weather and structural loads, firebricks are built for the blistering temperatures inside kilns, boilers, fireplaces and industrial furnaces. They’re usually pale buff or cream in colour, heavier than a standard brick and denser.

 

A chance discovery

In 1898, two gold prospectors, John Ford and James Murray, stumbled across a rich seam of pale clay while out searching for gold. Both men had enough practical experience to recognise they weren’t looking at ordinary clay. This was smooth, fine-textured fire clay, the kind needed for high-temperature bricks.

 

Knowing the value of their find, they set up the Clackline Firebrick Company (other sources state it was initially called WA Firebrick Co). Even in its early days, the works was supplying the Perth and Fremantle Gas and Coke Company, the railways and several gold mines. Local newspapers praised the quality of the bricks, noting they compared well and sometimes better, than imported English and Scottish examples, which at the time were considered the world’s best because of their pure clay deposits and centuries-old manufacturing skill.

 

Marks of origin

Clackline bricks were typically stamped “CLACKLINE” or sometimes “CFC” into the frog, the recessed section of the brick. They could also be recognised by their distinctive pale yellow-buff tone and smooth finish.

 

Changing hands

Despite the quality of their product, Ford and Murray’s company lasted only a few years. Setting up and running a brickworks was expensive and bigger players were ready to move in. In 1903, Bunnings acquired the works. Their ownership was short-lived, lasting less than a year and there’s no evidence they changed the brick markings.

 

Charles Hedden Hunter and his family took over in 1903, running the brickworks for decades, expanding the product range to include flue covers, seating blocks, oven blocks, paving bricks, garden tiles and drain blocks. The Perth City Council even used their distinctive 9-inch paving bricks to surface parts of Wellington Street (about an inch longer than modern bricks). Bricks continued to be stamped “CLACKLINE” throughout this period, maintaining the brand’s reputation.

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Promoting WA industry

In 1905, the company exhibited at the Australian Natives’ Association Exhibition in Perth, a large trade and industry showcase that brought together local producers. Exhibiting there was a smart move, as it helped promote Western Australian-made bricks as a viable alternative to imports and win important contracts.