brickwork

Method of construction using bricks made of fired clay or sun-dried earth (see adobe). In wall building, bricks are either laid out as stretchers (long side facing out) or as headers (short side facing out). The two principal patterns of brickwork are English bond in which alternate courses, or layers, are made up of stretchers or headers only, and Flemish bond in which stretchers and headers alternate within courses.

Some evidence exists of the use of fired bricks in ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt, although the Romans were the first to make extensive use of this technology. Today's mass production of fired bricks tends to be concentrated in temperate regions where there are plentiful supplies of fuel available.