534 - v TIIE PRICE OF BUILDING MATERIALS. 



1596 c oven brick ' is at the amazing price of 2$s. the hundred, 

 the College giving 43. 6d. for a dozen and a half. In 1597 

 pavement brick is bought at $s. ud. the hundred, and in 

 1598 at los. $d. In 1599 glazed brick costs izs. 6d., paving 

 1 1 s. In 1610 All Souls College buys a long brick called six-inch 

 at us. id., paving at 9^., six-inch at 6s. tid., and four-inch 

 at 3.$". 4d. a hundred. In 1614 latercs coctiles, which should 

 mean brick, are at $s. the hundred, in 1615 six-inch brick is 

 again at us. id., and in 1616 at 6s. ud., while nine-inch is at 

 13^. lid., and lateres cocti are at js. $\d. In 1617 six-inch 

 is Js. a hundred, long brick i6s. %d., paving 6s. Sd. In 1620 

 six-inch is again 6s. lid., nine-inch i$s. lid. In 1622 brick is 

 at 12s. 6d. the hundred, in 1623 six-inch at 8.$. 4^., nine-inch 

 at i6s. Sd. In 1628 square brick is at Ss. 4^., in 1629 lateres 

 are at nearly iqs. id. the hundred. In 1641 brick is at 

 20J. ICY/, the hundred, and at the same price in 1648. In 

 1653 brick six inches square is at 12s. 6d. There is nothing 

 like these prices except at Winchester in 1669, when Swanmore 

 paving brick is bought at 243. the hundred. Lastly, in 1691 

 paving brick is bought in Oxford at is. 6d. the hundred. 



I imagine that these entries are of the paving bricks of all 

 sizes, though many of these high-priced articles are not called 

 paving bricks. I have found paving brick at Eton in 1621 at 

 6s.8d., at Cambridge in 1634 at i s. Sd., when it is called white; at 

 Eton again in 1651 at los. a hundred, at Winchester in 1680 

 at 36^. a thousand. These Eton prices are alone similar to 

 the Oxford rates, but even with this assistance the price is 

 not a little startling. I can only conclude that at Oxford, 

 during the greater part of this period, bricks were scarce, dear, 

 and probably brought from very distant localities. It is 

 probable too that the art of making bricks was as yet not 

 known or not practised in this city, and there was no regular 

 demand for the article. 



Tiles arc generally bought at Oxford by the load, and later 

 on by the thousand. But after the first fifty years entries 

 become exceedingly rare, and at last almost disappear. Now 



