The reconstruction and firing of a Roman Pottery Kiln at Segedunum Roman Fort
I built this pottery kiln in October 2005 based on first century La Tène derived Roman types, the typical "banjo shaped burn patterns of which have been found on several sites in the North of England. Most recently on the site of a Roman marching camp near Otterburn where the shards of extremely coarse wares associated with the kiln suggest that it had been used by an itinerant potter of limited ability, possible a soldier/artisan. One of the reasons for choosing to build a first century kiln on a second century site was that most later, coarse ware kilns, were dug into the ground and, since Segedunum is a scheduled monument I was not allowed to dig. As with excavated examples the structure was constructed entirely from turf and clay.
The kiln has been fired on numerous occasions the highest temperature measured so far (Jan 2007) is 1085 degrees Celsius although this is probably far hotter than its original operating temperature. At this temperature the outside wall was still cold proving the turf to be a better insulator than my 20th Century, Ceramic Fibre kiln. The fuel used has been scrap wooden pallets. It has given consistently good results with only two or three breakages throughout allthe firings.
The pictures on this page give an idea of the spectacular effects of a firing.
