 Imported Dutch brick was often used in buildings in England in the 17th and 18th centuries. In Dartmouth, a house built in 1664 for mariner Robert Plumleigh had traditional timber-framed architecture but included elaborate star-shaped chimney stacks made from imported Dutch brick. Houses in Topsham, Devon, also used Dutch brick for chimneys, window heads and dressing. One house from the late 17th century in Dutch Court in Topsham is built entirely of Dutch brick. The ports of Exeter and Topsham both shipped wool to the Netherlands, and the returning ships brought bricks as ballast from Amsterdam or Rotterdam.
