Sir Nicholas Crispe (1598-1666) - 'the first inventor of the art of making bricks as now practised'

摘要

I first came across Sir Nicholas Crispe (sometimes spelt Crisp without an 'e') in the later 1980s when beginning to research brickmaking in London. Since then 1 have encountered him in all sorts of contexts, such were his multifarious activities, amongst which was brickmaking. His interest in brickmaking no doubt owed much to him being bom in 1598 in Hammersmith, which had an abundance of clay and was a major centre of brickmaking in London over three centuries. As a Thamesside district, Hammersmith's bricks could be distributed widely over London.