Branden Brickworks
The brickworks in Branden is located close to the Branden clay pit. The clay pit is a typical location for Branden clay, a rich, dark gray clay with a greenish tint.
The brickworks was established by merchant J.P. Pedersen, who at the time ran a large grocery store in Selde with a grocery, coal, grain and timber trade. He bought the land for the brickworks from Brandengaard (cadastral no. 6 of Selde town). The brickworks originally consisted of a 13-bay factory building, 1 blast furnace and dry loader.
Branden brickworks began production of stone and drainage pipes in 1898. The machines for kneading, pressing and cutting the clay came from the disused Nordsalling Teglværk in Junget. In 1928, new machines produced in Svendborg were purchased. Until around 1921, a blast furnace was used to fire bricks, bricks and drainage pipes. Production increased significantly after a ring kiln was built in 1921/22.
From the beginning, the brickworks employed 15-20 men. In 1928, the brickworks workers were organized in the Agricultural Workers’ Union. Brick production ceased in the 1950s. The factory was taken over by Skamol on Fur, which for a number of years produced bricks in Branden using bricks from Fur. Until 1980, the old drying barns stood south of the factory.
in 1982, a new factory was built for the production of fire insulation boards. The raw material was still moler, and the old factory continued to produce moler brick for a few more years. Since 2000, Branden Pladefabrik has expanded production – with factory expansion into the clay slope to the east.
Sources:
Sundsøre local archive A467
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