The Industry & Railways of the South West Black Country STOURBRIDGE INDUSTRY   E. SUTHERLAND & CO. Manufactures of the Famous Thorn Fire Clay Goods. Thorn's fire-clay bricks are known the world over. They are made out of the famous clay that is to be found at Thorns Lane, Lye, near where the brick works of Mr. E. Sutherland and Company are situated. The firm is celebrated for their gas retorts, cupolas, and other fire bricks which they manufacture, as well as for their tiles and alike goods of every description. The works were established fifty years ago, and have been in the hands of Mr. E. Sutherland for two years. There is a full complement of workmen kept all the year round and the call for Thorns fire-clay bricks never diminishes, for their special properties are mentioned in terms of highest recommendation were ever a superior article of this kind is wanted. The clay requires to be handled with much judgment, and the various stages which the brick has to pass through, ere it is completed, are governed by a nicety of calculation and experience which leave their telling effects when the article has passed through its fiery ordeal. Though these bricks require no certificate to introduce them to the building and other trades, Mr. Sutherland has a progressive mind, and is extending his connection every day. His business abilities, no less than his capacity in directing the workmen he employs, indicate that he is well advanced on the road to success. © Tom Cockeram 1999