The term ‘stock brick’ is generally used in the south-east counties of England to describe the London stock brick. This is a brick manufactured in Essex and Kent from clay composed of sand and alumina to which some chalk is added. Some combustible material is added to the clay to assist burning. The London stock is usually predominantly yellow after burning with shades of brown and purple. The manufacturers grade the bricks as 1st Hard, 2nd Hard and Mild, depending on how burned they are. The bricks are usually irregular in shape and have a fine sandy texture. Because of their colour they are sometimes called ‘yellow stocks’. 1st Hard and 2nd Hard London stocks were much used in and around London as facings as they weather well and were of reasonable price. In other parts of England the term stock bricks describes the stock output of any given {brick} field.