During Under the Redcoat at Colonial Williamsburg, the kids and I visited our first brick burn on two different evenings.
Firing bricks demands that the interpreters from the brickyard work the fires 24/7.
So, they keep the area open for guest through the evening until they 10pm.
Then they continue to work through the night, to stoke the fires and keep an eye on the clampe, until the morning shift arrives to take over the job.
Wow! We were in! So we visited on two nights of UTR, Friday and Saturday.
NIGHT THREE OF BRICK FIRING
Cressets lit the way to the clamp in the darkness.
This Friday night was the third night of the brick burn.
As the heat from the fires worked out the remaining moisture from the bricks, we saw steam coming out the top of the clamp.
By now the moisture was gone, so the crew planned to put the doors onto the clamp after guests left for the day, at 10pm.
This allowed us to see the bricks in the fires.
On this Friday night, we spent about an hour there, then left for our hotel.
NIGHT FOUR OF BRICK FIRING
On Saturday night we returned to see the progression of the burn.
Since we arrived before sunset, we easily looked at the display of bricks of various colors, indicating the different temperatures at which they burned.
Those located nearest the fire will be a different color from those on top.
This is the clamp, a small one, with only two tunnels.
At 7pm we watched them stoke the fires.
Using a piece of wood that had been soaked in a giant tub of water, they opened the door.
This is an especially fearsome job, especially by the final evening of the burn, when the temperatures rise to 2000 degrees.
Since there are two tunnels going all the way through the clamp, they have two doors on this side and two on the opposite side…which means they do this four times.
After pushing some ashes to the back and some to the front, they place eight pieces of wood of various sizes to feed the fires.
Afterwards we saw dark smoke rising into the sky due to the addition of more wood.
Encouraging us to return later to see the difference in glow of the fires at night versus daytime, we wandered about Market Square, not far from the brickyard entrance.
When my kids were dancing with the Hessians, the fires from the brickyard could be seen even from Market Square at the Courthouse.
After some dancing, we returned to the brickyard to see intense oranges bursting from the opening when they stocked the fires. (see header photo)
NIGHT FIVE OF THE FIRING
They expected to be done with the burn by Sunday evening, the next night, but we needed to return home before dark.
By the next morning, I found in my facebook newsfeed a picture of the entire clamp glowing, since the temperatures finally become hot enough for everything to glow.
See photos here at their FB post.
These bricks will restore the church bell tower at Historic Jamestowne. Stay tuned!
