York Handmade Brick, Alne, heritage projects praise

Easingwold-based York Handmade Brick Company, which is one of the leading independent brickmakers in the country and is based at Alne, near Easingwold, has completed a hat-trick of heritage contracts for Pinnacle Conservation of York.

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The latest was supplying thousands of specially manufactured bricks for a new church wall at St Andrew’s Church in Great Ouseburn, near Boroughbridge.

The work for St Andrew’s is a resounding endorsement of York Handmade’s decision to invest £1.5m in brand-new machinery last year.

The two other projects for Pinnacle involved complex historic brickwork at Shandy Hall in Coxwold and at Fairfax House in York. 

Shandy Hall in Coxwold Jordan Ramnauth, special works manager at Pinnacle Conservation, said: “When we look to use reputable local contractors working to our same values such as sustainability, quality and experience.

“Over the years, York Handmade Brick have shown their skill on various projects throughout the York and surrounding areas, with the ability to be able to replicate and manufacture bricks for the heritage sector.  Working on heritage buildings is of a sensitive nature, therefore the ability of the contractors involved must be of the upmost quality and York Handmade tick all the boxes.

“We are very satisfied with the level of work undertaken by York Handmade.  The attention to detail is fantastic, with a great brick matching to existing brick, together with excellent quality and swift turnaround.

“Pinnacle would be delighted to recommend York Handmade to other architects and conservationists and we look forward to having the opportunity to work with this excellent company again in the future.”

David Armitage, chairman of York Handmade Brick said: “We very much enjoy working with talented conservation specialists such as Pinnacle and are delighted by their kind and generous words. We take great pride in our conservation work on iconic buildings such as Shandy Hall and Fairfax House and look forward to working with Pinnacle again to preserve and enhance beautiful buildings in Yorkshire and the north of England.”

David Armitage (Image: Supplied)

York Handmade has won a host of awards in recent years, including providing 300,000 bricks for the magnificent new Magdalene College Library at Cambridge University, which won the RIBA Stirling prize, the highest accolade in architecture.

The new wall at St Andrew’s Church, Great Ouseburn, near York (Image: Supplied)