A massive reclamation effort by a Kent firm means the heritage of the tens of thousands of bricks from the demolished Royal Victoria Hall will live on in new buildings.

A team of workers from a family business run by Tony Caudwell has been carefully removing the mortar from the RVH’s Victorian bricks and placing them into stacks of 500 bricks. (See picture below showing site on Friday)

The brick stacks have all been securely wrapped in plastic, lifted by crane onto trucks and taken to Mr Caudwell’s massive reclamation yard in East Farleigh near Maidstone. They are now available for sale.

It’s thought there may be around 20,000 bricks from the RVH, valued at up to £ 1.50 each.  There are three types: red wire cut, multi stocks and the most valuable “facing reds” (shown below before demolition).

There is no sign so far of any interest in a bulk purchase for a specific project using solely the heritage bricks from the RVH. The bricks are thought to have been manufactured locally at the High Brooms brickworks around 120 years ago.

Tony Caudwell’s yard in East Farleigh has been operating for 45 years and now has around half a million reclaimed bricks and is shown below:

Mr Caudwell’s full contact details are:
Yew Tree Cottage, Heath Road, East Farleigh, Maidstone, Kent ME15 0LR
Telephone: 01622 746 225
Tony Caudwell mobile: 07802 412 191
Eddie Finch mobile: 07894 463 795

Email is:
sales@reclaimedbricksandyorkstone.co.uk

His website explains that reclaimed bricks: “are a popular option for many customers because they provide great character and a timeless, quality finish. However it can be more expensive because of sourcing and laying costs, so finding the right reclaimed building materials specialist is of paramount importance.”