Nederland - Fortmond, steenfabriek

Steenfabriek Fortmond is a former brick factory in the Duursche Waarden floodplain of the river IJssel near Fortmond; a hamlet which was created by the construction of houses for the workers.

Bricks were baked at this location on the banks of the river IJssel long before the factory was built. In so-called field kilns, tiggels (bricks) were baked from river clay. A first factory was built in 1828 and Steenfabriek Fortmond (Fortmond brick factory) was founded in 1889. The existing ring kilns and chimney were built in 1919 and 1920. In 1976 the factory was closed during a remediation round aimed at reducing overcapacity in the business sector.

In 1986 Staatsbosbeheer (a Dutch government organisation for forestry and the management of nature reserves) became manager of the site with the buildings and the surrounding floodplains. The values have been developed from 1989 into the Duursche Waarden nature reserve.

After the complex was designated a Dutch national monument in 2003, the forty-meter high chimney, which has become rare of its kind, underwent a thorough renovation that was completed in 2006. This chimney still is a well-recognized landmark from afar. The ruins of the two dozen meters long and approximately five meters high brick ring kilns (dating back to 1919/1920), overgrown with trees and shrubs, remain in the natural state of decay in which they have been for decades.