Bursledon Brickworks Museum

Bursledon Brickworks was founded in 1897 when an opportunity to start making bricks at Bursledon arose. There was abundant clay at the Bursledon site and very good transport links by both rail and river.

In its heyday, the brickworks produced in excess of 20 million bricks a year. They were one of the main producers of bricks in the region.

Bricks were continued to be made during the Great War and the Second World War and brick making was considered a reserved occupation. The site closed in 1974 for several reasons, the M27 split the site in two and the clay was getting very expensive to extract. However, probably the main reason was the introduction of the Health and Safety at Work Act.

During the tour we will have the opportunity to witness the brickmaking machinery steamed up and turning.

The guides and volunteers love to talk about the history of this fascinating site. We will listen to a presentation '20 Million Bricks'. The presentation covers the history of the family who built the factory and the men who once worked there.

The tour of the old brickworks takes approximately 1 hour afterwards attendees are free to look around the rest of the museum.

At 14:30, we will head over the The Fox & Hounds. Tucked away in a secluded corner of Hampshire countryside in Hungerford Bottom, Old Bursledon is the Fox & Hounds pub. The pub dates back to the 16th century. Attached to the building is the historic Lone Barn. An old, renovated barn house dating from 1871 that was carefully relocated, brick by brick, from Winchester.

We will enjoy the traditional pub setting with exposed wooden beams, roaring open fires. The Lone Barn is a celebration of the agricultural heritage of the Hampshire countryside that surrounds it. Adorning its walls and suspended from its ceilings, you’ll find intriguing antique farming tools and equipment that lends a delightfully rustic ambience.

The museum is situated on the South Coast and is within a 20-minute drive from Southampton, Portsmouth and Winchester there are easy links to the M3/M27/A3M motorway.

Thank you to Steve Vick International for sponsoring this visit.

• There is ample free parking at both venues

• Museum - The Brickworks Museum, Swanwick Lane, Swanwick, SO31 7HB         

• Fox & Hounds - Hungerford Bottom, Bursledon, Southampton, SO31 8DE

• Lunch at the Fox & Hound is included in your ticket
• Hot drinks and biscuits are provided at the museum.