Made from this Land

It’s over two years since we first welcomed artist Emma Edmondson to our historic brickworks at Marks Tey. She was at the start of a journey to learn about the heritage of handmade bricks which has now resulted in a series of new public artworks around the City of Southend-on-Sea.

Emma was fascinated in the relationship between people and the land they live on and by the story of how people in Southend have been involved in quarrying clay and making the bricks that built their homes and were also shipped up the River Thames to build London.

Our Master brickmakers instructed Emma in the art and craft of handmaking bricks. Our craftsmen taught her to make brick moulds, hand-throw the bricks and the complex art of firing the bricks. She then involved over 100 local people in workshops where they explored their connections with the land they live on and learned to handmake bricks.

An interview with WHC Director Nikki Lax about women in brickmaking, is included in the book ‘Made from this Land’ which accompanies the commission.

The two pillars and one wall Emma has erected in public spaces in Southend not only draw attention to Southend’s brickmaking heritage but encourage people to reflect upon their own connection to the ground beneath their feet.

Made from this Land was commissioned by Focal Point Gallery and Southend City Council.