Yarralumla brickworks facts for kids
The Yarralumla Brickworks was a very important factory in Canberra, Australia. It was also called the Commonwealth Brickworks. This factory made the bricks used to build many of Canberra's first buildings. It started making bricks around 1913 and kept going until 1976. Fun fact: it even made the bricks that were used to build the factory itself! It was located in the suburb of Yarralumla.
Moving the Bricks
To get the bricks where they needed to go, the brickworks had its own special railway lines. These were narrow gauge lines, meaning the tracks were closer together than regular train tracks. These small trains carried bricks from Yarralumla to big building sites in central Canberra. Some of these places included Old Parliament House and the Kingston Power House. Today, you won't find any signs of this old railway system.
How the Bricks Were Made
The brickworks used special ovens called kilns to bake the bricks. The first kilns were designed by Walter Burley Griffin, who also designed much of Canberra. His designs included short chimneys that used fans to push out smoke. This was so the chimneys would not be taller than the surrounding pine trees.
The Tall Chimney's Story
After World War II, Canberra needed many more buildings. This meant the brickworks had to make a lot more bricks! So, in 1950, a much larger chimney was built. This new chimney was 46 metres tall and used natural air currents to help the kilns work better. This made it possible to produce many more bricks. You can still see this tall chimney from many places around central Canberra.
In recent years, experts found that the tall chimney might not be safe in an earthquake. Because it is an important historical building and close to homes, engineers were called in. They built a special frame inside the chimney to make it strong and safe. This was done without changing how the chimney looks from the outside.
What's Happening Now?
The Yarralumla Brickworks is currently closed to the public. Over the last 20 years, people have had many ideas for what to do with the site, but none of them have happened yet. Some ideas included using the site for Canberra's new jail, making it the permanent home for Floriade (a popular yearly flower festival), or even turning it into a holiday resort. The future plans for the site are still being decided.
As of February 2015, there was a suggestion to build a new housing area on the site. This plan included building about 1800 homes.
