Kent & Surrey visit to Ewhurst brick and tile works

Event details

Saturday 20 September, 11am

As part of Heritage Open Days, the Kent & Surrey group have arranged a visit to Ewhurst brick and tile works. 

Keymer was founded in 1588 and is one of the oldest roof brands in the UK. Now based in Ewhurst and owned by Wienerberger, Keymer still uses the local rich clay to produce its handmade tiles. Ewhusrt Brickworks is a modern factory producing around 36 million wire cut bricks annually by means of automated processes, plus some handmade specials.  

We will have an educational tour of the brick factory, with a behind the scenes look at the highly skilled Heritage Service Team, with the opportunity to make a Keymer tile. 

There is also a natural history aspect to the site since dinosaur fossils have been found here.  We will see the clay pit from a newly constructed reptile garden. 

The tour will be followed by lunch at the Bulls Head on Ewhusrt Green, for those that want to join the group, and then a tour of the attractive, historic village.  

We will have a 30 minute walk around Ewhurst after lunch and drive to Old Plough Farm House for a tour at 3pm (clean footwear for inside the house). We will finish around 4pm.

Please let us know if you would like to join the group for lunch at the Bulls Head, so that we can book a table. The cost of lunch is not included in the visit.

You will need

From Wienerberger: Hiking type shoes or boots are preferable for the factory tour, however if not possible, please ensure you wear flat, closed toe, sturdy sensible shoes for the factory tour.

How to get there

Wienerberger Factory
Horsham Road, Walliswood
Ewhurst, Surrey
RH5 5QH

Parking on site

Accessibility

From Wienerberger: We are happy to accommodate people in a wheelchairs, or with pushchairs, but only in a small area of the factory. Please advise when booking. You are very welcome to visit our visitor centre, and enjoy our carving display. If you would like to attend and not do the factory tour, there is no need to book. There will be tables and chairs both outside (weather dependent) and in the visitor centre suitable for all, along with a carving display and workshop for all to enjoy. There will also be free refreshments for all our visitors.

Anything we can do to make this event more accessible for you? Please email membership@spab.org.uk.

Photos and filming:We may take photos or videos at this event to be used in future promotion, including in print and online. Participants may take photos and short videos for personal use, with permission of the course leader and all other participants in frame. If you want to post on social media, please message SPAB's Comms Team (press@spab.org.uk or @spab1877) for permission. If your material is good, we might ask to share it with our followers.

All bookings are subject to our Terms and Conditions.

Photo credit: Ewhurst Preacher's House - CC BY SA 2.0 Oast House Archive via Wikimedia Commons