In October 2005 I was commissioned, by Tyne and Wear Museums, to build a reconstruction of a Roman Pottery Kiln at Segedunum Roman Fort, Wallsend, near Newcastle upon Tyne. It is appropriate to demonstrate pottery making techniques here on Hadrian's Wall because:
- In 1807 Dr. John Lingard wrote, "A little to the west of the Station was opened 25 years ago (about 1782) an arched cavity, in which were found many broken urns..." this has been interpreted as a pottery kiln. Its precise location is unknown. (Bosanquet 1929)
- There is evidence for pottery making at many Roman sites in the North of England: Segedunum, Corbridge, Brampton, Piercebridge, Sedgefield, Otterburn and others.
- The presence of clay on this site would provide adequate raw material for pottery production. There is also strong evidence for the production of greywares on a relatively large scale an hitherto unknown workshop somewhere in the region.
- Demand for coarse wares such as cooking pots would have encouraged the establishment of local kilns. Tile kilns operated at South Shields and Brampton where coarse pottery such as jars and mortaria was also manufactured (Gillam J. 1973).
The Kiln, constructed in October 2005, is based on a La Tène III-derived, surface built kiln, of the late 1st or early 2nd century AD. The wall of the chamber and fire box (flue) is constructed entirely of turf interleyered and surfaced with clay-rich mud. The internal structure and kiln furniture are all portable and would have beem oved from kiln to kiln. Evidence of this type of kiln has been found recently at Sedgefield in County Durham and on a Roman marching camp near Bremennium, Rochester in Northumberland. In the latter case it was associated with extremely thick coarse wares which appear to have been made very quickly and with a minimum of skill. The kiln is fired entirely with wood and is closed with a temporary "dome" of turf and mud for each firing.
This reconstruction has now been fired more than eigt times with successful results on every occasion. It reaches a temperature of 900 C in approximately four hours and has achived 1150 C after 8 hours.
medium.JPG)
