The materials for manufacturing brick in the central belt of Scotland were generally found as a bi-product of mining for coal. The spoil produced was utilised by the mining companies and brickworks opened around various towns and communities.
In fact, by 1900, over 40 million bricks were being produced in the greater Glasgow area alone, across 30 different brickworks.
The heritage of Scottish brickmaking is detailed on the website www.scottishbrickhistory.co.uk
It was James Raeburn (grandfather of the current directors) who hauled and supplied coal spoil to various works back in the 1950’s that started the initial family involvement in the brick making industry.
This evolved into his sons, grandsons and great-grandsons following and building upon his legacy.
Members of the Raeburn family acquired the brickworks at Whistleberry Road, Hamilton in the Autumn of 1969, and trading commenced under the name of Raeburn Brickworks Limited.
Utilising old fashioned moulds and stamping, the bricks were fired in a traditional coal fired Hoffman kiln as was common throughout the country at this time.
A new source of raw material was developed on the nearby Edge Farm and supplied to Whistleberry and various other traditional works in the area.
The early 80’s saw the demise of many of these sites and the family acquired the works at Birkenshaw, Larkhall.
Raeburn Brick Ltd was incorporated in 1984 to establish a new modern brickmaking factory in Blantyre, at the time one of the most advanced plant of its type in the UK.
A second kiln was built and commissioned on the site in 1987 due to the high demand for quality common and facing bricks across the country.
This period saw the decommissioning of the sites at Whistleberry and Larkhall as all production moved to the modern factory at Blantyre.
In 1994 the installation of our de hacking plant finalised the full automation of the manufacturing process.
Over the years as the demand for facing brick increased, additional materials were sourced from new locations in Scotland to develop our range of quality products.
During this period the company always evolved and invested to keep up with best practices, including modernising our fleet, IT, and production processes to reduce our environmental impact.
As we enter 2025 we are looking forward to celebrating our 40 year anniversary…….
