It is suggested that Burke purchased the initial parts of the Allotment as a subdivision investment, but that at some time this idea was abandoned, and that in about 1871 he decided to start a brickworks in the western part. In that year or probably the next the Hoffman was built, and was run as such over the next 4 years at least.

The following 20 years are an unknown, but at some time the kiln ceased to operate on a continuous firing basis, although it appears that, initially at least, this may have been intended as a temporary stage only. That it was being used as an intermittent kiln is clear, but just how, or indeed why, is not. With some of the wickets bricked up, most if not all the side flues blocked off, the floor slits filled, and bricks stacked and burned over them, the original firing operation and flue system could not have worked, and the kiln then must have become either an updraught or sidedraught.

Some time depth is apparent in the modifications too; the secondary flue feature excavated on the north-east end of the kiln, which appears to have replaced the original system, or at least by-passed it into the main flue, was eventually itself filled in and fired over, and yet another method of controlling the airflow must have been used.

It is important to note the relative maximum daily outputs of the Burke Hoffman, at 5,900 bricks a day, to those of the Avondale brickyard of Bycroft in 1896 - 90,000 a day - and the same brickyard c. 6 years later - 200,000 a day (Scott 1979:109, 117). Given that the Burke Hoffman, and probably only a part of it, was firing on an intermittent basis towards the end, at a time when the other local brickworks were in full cry, its role in brick production in the area can be seen to be fairly small.

One tradition states that Craig himself used it at some time, as an additional source of bricks during a boom time (Diamond field notes, Appendix B).

The question of whether the kiln was ever fired with wood remains unanswered. The chemical analysis of the glazes may throw some light on this. It is apparently possible to fire a Hoffman on wood; during the 1951 dock strike the Crum Hoffman was fired for a couple of weeks on oil soaked sawdust (pers. comm. Ian Crum), and according to Crum it would be feasible to fire on hardwood.

The concentration of overfired bricks and general firing damage in the north-east part of the kiln may indicate a period when wood was used, as this fuel could result in less control over the firing, or it may be that such control generally was less in the modified set-up.

The kiln was probably abandoned in early 1904, when the last lease that mentioned brickmaking in its covenants was surrendered. The next recorded lease, to Babb the gardener in 1906, indicates that the kiln has come to the end of its life. Just when it was demolished has not been determined, but it was presumably after Charlotte Burke sold the land to Duder, Hayr and Foley in 1909.

The event should be mentioned in the Avondale Jockey Club Minute Books, but it is not clear whether these still exist; 1 authority says they may but their whereabouts is not known (pers. comm. Avondale Jockey Club 5.10.1998), while G. Boyle, in describing his research for the Centennial publication on the history of the Jockey Club, says that they were lost in 1 of the moves the Club made (Boyle 1989).