A lovely painting of ‘The Bricks’, an area along the Avon River, by the corner of Barbadoes Street and Oxford Terrace.
A memorial now stands there which was erected in December 1926 and it is mostly forgotten.
Named ‘The Bricks’ by the Deans in 1843 – it was here that they left the bricks for their chimney on the side on the Avon River because the whaler’s boats they were using couldn’t go any further. From here, the brothers would have to use a canoe to continue to Riccarton as the Avon became too shallow. They would have to return by dray for the bricks later on.
Also used by the first four ship settlers to offload their bricks and other heavy luggage, a small wharf was eventually built.
Considered to be the first area of settlement, four families did build here. Edward Jollie who was one of the earliest surveyors, Andrew Anderson who was a blacksmith, John Durey a farmer and Daniel Inwood who would go on to open two mills – firstly near Carlton Corner and later, on the Avon River close to Hereford Street.
