Coralent Bursledon
2025
Artist Emma Smith was commissioned to design a permanent artwork which celebrates the brickmaking heritage of the Bursledon area.
Coralent Bursledon has been specially created for Great Down Park as a place to connect to this important local history and the earth beneath our feet from which local makers have made the surrounding villages and beyond.
Incorporating seating as a place to rest and reflect, the artwork is made of hundreds of bricks, each marked with the name of a local maker whose labour has been otherwise unrecognised in the creation of a building block so familiar as to become unseen.
The names of makers are drawn from a 5 mile radius of Old Bursledon as the traditional distance that bricks would be transported by horse and cart from their place of origin.
The artwork is created in the round inspired by the circular form of brick kilns as well as in reference to the Quaker history of Bursledon Brick Company and the Quaker practice of sitting in the round as a space of equality. The undulation of the form recognises that while many names have been researched and gathered for this work there are many more who were un-recorded which this work also recognises.
‘Coralent’ refers to a pattern made of bricks, created here through perforated brick work allowing peep holes between the bricks for light to travel through them as a dappled structure fitting to the park.
History
Brickmaking has a long history in Bursledon with multiple kilns existing in the village and surrounding area including within Old Bursledon, Netley, Lowford, Hound, Hoe Moor, and Cleverley.
Brickmaking was typically family run including women and children and plays an important role in the unrecognised history of women’s labour, sometimes offering the opportunity for women to gain independent income.
Bursledon was an epicentre of local brickmaking with both its history of smaller kilns proceeded by the development of the Bursledon Brick Company which operated between 1897 and 1974 and which is now open to the public as a centre for brick making heritage in the UK as The Brickworks Museum.
Brick making
Brick making is an ancient craft that was historically undertaken by hundreds of people in the local area and across the country, both as full-time work and part-time summer work. Now only a hand full of makers still operate in the UK.
Traditional bricks are made by digging clay from the ground which is then prepared for throwing. The clay is thrown into a wooden mould coated in sand to prevent the clay from sticking. Once the brick is turned out it is stacked to dry ahead of being fired in a kiln.
The bricks for Coralent Bursledon have been made using the traditional method by Daniel Page of Bulmer Brick & Tile Company with the frog pressing and lettering created by the artist. The print detail and font are inspired by the historic markings on Bursledon bricks.
Community Engagement
As part of making Coralent Bursledon the artist shared traditional brick making techniques with the children of where children learnt to throw their own bricks, printing them with their own initials as the latest local makers.
The artist met with a number of local community groups including Bursledon Local History Society and Bursledon WI with activities also hosted at the Brickworks Museum, Bursledon Community Library, and within Great Down Park itself, to consult with local residents and share local histories.
As part of Coralent Bursledon an index of brick makers has been created with thanks to David Cufley, Member of the British Brick Society. You are invited to look up your own family name within this to discover brick making connections within your own family.
Explore further resources on the Brickworks Museum website.
Click the side arrows to scroll through photographs by Strong Island Media.
Coralent
The first iteration of Emma Smith’s artwork, Coralent was commissioned in 2022 by The Brickworks Museum as part of Arts & Heritage's Meeting Point programme supported by Arts Council England. To find out more about the commission for The Brickworks Museum and to watch a short film about the project visit the Arts&Heritage website.
The Artist...
Emma Smith is an artist based in the UK, working internationally. She creates installations, performances, temporary and permanent works with a social focus. Previous commissions include works for Tate Modern, Barbican, Whitechapel Gallery, Arnolfini, Bluecoat, HOME Manchester, MAAS Sydney, Kunstmuseum Luzern and Matadero Madrid among many others. Emma Smith lives near Cambridge and has local family ties to Hampshire.
