The term however came to be applied only to facing bricks, that is the better quality fully-burned bricks as opposed to common bricks which were not so durable. For these “London Stocks” as they came to be called, the clay or brick earth which is most often found in river valleys including those of the Thames was dug either close to the building site if that was possible, or brought up the Thames from Kent. The clay was left to weather after being dug up in the time honoured manner prescribed by the Statute of 1477. Thereafter it became the practice after the Great Fire to add it to household rubbish containing coal ash which for some reason became known in the trade as “Spanish”. This practice seems to have begun by chance through the use of brick earth dug in fields in the suburbs of London which had been “dunged” with ashes, as it became apparent that the brick earth so treated required less coal for adequate burning, thereby reducing the cost of manufacture.

Having examined the underlying causes which would in any event in time have ensured in time the Company’s loss of control over the craft, it is appropriate to look at the immediate cause which was to ensure that the loss of control came more suddenly and sooner than might have been expected. It was closely concerned with the scheme known as “Spanish” which we have already considered and with another factor which we must now consider.

The Parliamentary elections of October 1710 brought into the House of Commons a large Tory majority for the first time for over 20 years. Almost immediately on the 29th November 1710 the roof of St Alphege Church Greenwich collapsed and the parishioners requested that the money for the rebuilding of the church be found from the Coal Tax, imposed after the Great Fire on coal brought into London, for the purpose of the rebuilding of churches destroyed by the Fire. The Tories, the High Church party as they … instead to strengthen the position of the Church of England in the suburbs of London where for lack of Churches the dissenters had gained strength and, encouraged by the demands of the Parishioners of Greenwich they introduced legislation in the form of an Act “for the building of 50 new churches in and about the cities of London and Westminster and the suburbs thereof” and for extending the application of the Coal Tax for that purpose. It may be doubted whether any member of the Company who heard about the disaster that had befallen the members of the established church in Greenwich regarded it as an event of ill omen for their Company but in a sense it was the spark that lit the fire which exploded the powder keg which was to blow away for ever their control over their craft.