Does anyone have an example of a Ramsay brick? I would like to purchase one.

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I have in my pocession 9 ramsay bricks in a good state and various broken... they were discoovered in Menorca recently.
I am searching information as to how they found their way to the island
Regards
Sue Davies

I have read that the Ramsay bricks were used as ballast in ships built in the North East. There is an example of one prominently displayed at the Naval Museum in Sevastopol in the Ukraine. Presumably from a ship sunk during the Crimean War.

I found one and a quarter bricks unused in a creek bed in Tasmania near the convict settlement at Port Arthur. Would anyone know their value please?
regards john

If you care to view our web site www.islahospitalmenorca.org and view "fotos fechas" and click on year 2007 and view the fotos dated 25.03.07- you will see the ramsays we have collected from the island.... presumably used as ship ballasting or for the chimneys.

Thanks for your comment but couldn't see the link on the website, 'fotos fechas' to find the photos you mention.

I was recently digging a new garden at the end of Yonge St.{ next to Portsmouth Olympic Harbour, Kingston,Ont.} when I came across most of a 'RAMSAY' brick. Apparently there was a brewery there at some point which is supported by the evidence of large amounts of broken bottles found there.

When I was renovating an old house in the south of Poland built by my grandfather I found some RAMSAY bricks from a store. For me this an important family
souvenir and I would like to know the story of how these bricks come to this region of Poland.
Regards
Piotr Milek

Today I went to work with my dad and we had a little archaeological investigation at the ruins of a hammer forge at Nes Iron Works Museum, Norway. We found several broken Ramsay firebricks, probably from one of the furnaces. The forge was in use from the 1700's to 1917. It was lots of fun.

Thanks for your comment. Ramsay's firebricks are found in many places.

I have recently found 9 pristine Ramsay bricks in the cellar of the Commun na Feinne Hotel (an early Gaelic hotel built by the Fingalian Society in Geelong, Victoria, Australia in the 1850's). They were inside what appears to have been an oven. At some stage the building was a bakery. I identified the bricks from the photos on the isla hospital menorca site listed above. Any further info re these bricks would be greatly appreciated.

At our summer home in English Harbour (founded 1600s), Newfoundland, Canada we found a number of good condition RAMSAY bricks about 10 inches beneath the surface of the ground. We cleaned them up and used them in a step and featured the RAMSAY name prominently in the step. I can provide a photo for anyone interested. Please email at dmarkwells@gmail.com. Our summer home was built in the mid 1860s.

Recently discovered 9 Ramsay bricks in pristine condition in the cellar of the Commun Na Feinne Hotel, Geelong, Victoria, Australia (a Gaelic hotel built by the Fingalian Society in the 1850's). I am the owner and licensee of the hotel, and the bricks were found inside what appears to have been an oven (there is evidence there was once a bakery in the building).

Identity was confirmed by the photo in the Menorca reference above. Anyone with any ideas how the bricks may have got there?

Re Ramsay bricks in Australia (Jason Whitley). Ramsay bricks were exported to many overseas countries, including Australia. No doubt there are Ramsay's bricks to be found all over the world as they must have made many millions of bricks over the hundred years or so the firm were in operation.

I collect hand made bricks mostly Australian and came across a Ramsay brick in Port Arthur. It was used as ballast in an English ship and were crafted in Newcastle, England. if you have a Ramsay brick could you please forward me photo and reference of where it was found.

A carpenter friend was doing a remodel in San Francisco CA and uncovered a pristine ramsay fire brick and gave it to me several years ago. My name is George Ramsay.

Ramsay bricks are turning up all over the world George.

i brought a ramsay brick up from the heroine wreck off west bay!... interested?

Andy

I have a Ramsay Brick I brought up from a shipwreck just off West Bay southern England. I was intrigued as to what I would discover after a little research......Heroine wreck, west bay

Nice brick :)

Ramsay bricks turn up from all over but that one didn't get very far. Thanks.

We have recently found a large amount, hundreds, of fire bricks marked Ramsay from the wreck site of the Bark Christiania, wrecked in 1887, outside Gothenburg on the west coast of Sweden. Anyone who has information about the ship and its cargo?

Joakim,
I hope someone is able to help you with information about the shipwreck. You could try http://www.nmm.ac.uk/researchers/library/research-guides/lloyds/lloyds-list-indexes.
Could you email us a photograph of the bricks and of an individual brick showing the name Ramsay please?

I had found 3 Ramsay bricks on my property in Adelaide, South Australia. As the cottage is quite old and was built and owned by a builder, I had assumed that they were simply old locally made bricks. But last night, I was watching "Time Team", and saw an identical brick in an 18th century cottage in County Durham, so obviously my bricks weren't local. Internet search led me to your posts. Ramsay bricks certainly got around!

Just discovered and dived a small wrecksite off the North Norfolk coast which is not charted.
Next to nothing left of the wreck apart from Ramsay bricks, slabs etc. Possible mid 1800's
Very interesting and would be good to trace the wreck.

During a trial excavation for the City Museums of Odense (Denmark) a single "RAMSAY" brick was found connecting a drain pipe to a well. The well is located at the former place of the Slots (Castle) Brewery, which in the 1830s was owned by the English consul in Odense Grut.

Thanks Jakob for the information about the Ramsay brick in Odense. These bricks turn up all over the world.

I found several RAMSAY bricks yesterday while moving a pile of bricks that came from a fireplace in an 1895 farmhouse. It is located in a suburb of Seattle, Washington, USA and, like Anne McMenamin, I expected them to be locally produced. I was surprized to read here that they came from England. I noticed that the only other posting from the US was also a west coast seaport so I suppose they came by ship. Interesting side note: one of my bricks has the "S" in RAMSAY backwards.

Thanks for your message Steve. These bricks turn up all over the place. Surprisingly never seen one here in the village where they were made though.