Red Brick
Description
Six pieces of red brick, rough and of various sizes, collected from a crumbling wall between a carpark and the River Medlock, near Mayfield Park
Curator's Notes
I'm no brick expert, but this feels like a workhorse brick. Its not the type of fancy, decorative brick that would have been used in one of Alfred Waterhouse's architectural concoctions.The wall I *carefully/gently* pulled these *already loose* pieces of brick from was built to seperate the River Medlock from dry land; to hold back the river at a time when it would have been full of chemicals, rubbish, and more, and essentially to stop whatever was built next to the river slipping into the river. A retaining wall, if you will. So there was no need for it to look good, just to do its job. The now rather unglamorous Baring Street car park was once the site of part of the Mayfield Baths complex. This lovely Victorian/Edwardian public baths and wash house caused a splash (haha. I'm not sorry) when it was excavated by archaeologists from Salford Uni as part of the area's redevelopment in 2020. Baring Street was once Stove Street, and effectively cut the site in two. The first baths were built on the Mayfield Park side of the street in 1856, and in 1866 a "women's swimming bath" was built where the car park now is. This brick may have been part of this complex, edging the chasm that the Medlock flows through and keeping the river out of sight and out of mind. However- I can't tell exactly how old it is. I'm sure that whatever wall was built may have been repaired/rebuilt between 1866 and 1940, when the baths were bombed and then demolished, but who knows when these particular pieces of brick were made (but if you are someone who knows, do please get in touch).