hard, blue bricks ("Staffordhire Blues") are strong and dense and not absorbent of water. Being a heavy building material, they were expensive to transport but the canals, and later railways, spread them round the country. They were often used in good-quality work. The same material was used for stable blocks and doorsteps, being very hard wearing and resistant to chemical or frost attack. There is also a deep red brick, from Lancashire, the "Accrington Red" which is comparable. I've seen a similar looking local brick in Wales (a village in South Yorkshire), probably because it used to be a mining district). The clay is different, and it is burned at higher temperatures than usual.
they can be used as a damp-course, and it looks like that's why your house has them. If you can reduce the amount of water, and reduce the ground level a bit, they will be able to help. The pointing needs redoing, and may be eroded below the ground.
It's likely, however, that the concrete floor inside is bridging the blue bricks and allowing water to travel through to the wall inside. This can also be dealt with. The inside floor might be wet. If you lie a sheet of clear plastic on it, withed or taped down, look and see if water droplets form under it (as they can't evaporate away). Depending on your budget, you might work on the edges of the floor, or the whole thing, but work on the source of water first. Don't do any major decorating or flooring until after the wet is reduced.
I was a looking at the front wall, and I think the render has been cut away near the ground to allow water to evaporate off the bricks. Cement render blocks evaporation ("breathing") of brick walls, but was often mistakenly used to hide water damage.