A five year restoration project has this week begun on the Oxford Canal in Warwickshire to restore a historically significant 19th century brick kiln to its former glory.

The canal-side kiln, in Fenny Compton, operated from around 1840-41 to 1917 and provided bricks for the construction of the canal, many local houses and even the Fenny Compton railway station.

A group of experienced volunteers from the Guild of Bricklayers, working with British Waterways, will take on the challenge of restoring the kiln. Local volunteers have already cleared the vegetation around the site.

This group of experienced volunteers will stabilise the kiln and carefully remove sections of the original brick walls which are in danger of collapsing.  Carefully salvaging the original bricks the volunteers will then carefully reconstruct sections of the building’s ensuring that all of the old historic bricks are reused.

Dennis Maney, British Waterways’ Heritage Advisor said “This is a fantastic project and one that will bring a wonderful example of Oxford Canal history back to life.  The kiln building has suffered from neglect over the years and has branches and tree roots growing through the building which has caused a huge amount of damage. There is a lot of work to do and this first phase of work will be carried out over several weekends”.

Steve Barlow from the Guild of Bricklayers said “We are really keen to help bring this beautiful brick building that is full of charm and really highlights the character of the Oxford Canal back to life.  Our volunteers will carefully and sensitively help restore this lovely old building and give it some much needed TLC.”

The five year project to restore the brick kiln includes the complete rebuilding of the kiln building site and removing the vegetation growing in and around the building. The long term aim is to bring the kiln back into working condition where bricks could once again be made and supplied for local canal projects.