Building a kiln and firing floor tiles
Students from the University of Central Lancashire have been building a replica 14th century tile kiln at Norton Priory Museum in Runcorn, Cheshire.
The kiln is based on an example excavated from the Priory in the 1970’s and on display in the museum. In 1972, excavators built and successfully fired a replica but left many questions unanswered, this second experiment has modified the design of the structure, hoping to answer some of these problems. The students involved are a mixture of Archaeology and Ceramics students and this is the first time that they have been involved in any experimental archaeology work.
The kiln has taken us 8 months to build, and has used 3 tonnes of clay, 1 tonne of sand and 6 straw bales.
We hope to fire around 300 floor tiles which have been produced by students at the University. Firing will use around 3 tonnes of wood. The kiln will be lit on June 13th at 7 am. It takes 6 hours to pre-fire, 12 hours to fire and 12 hours to cool, and then about 2 hours to unload. There will then be a discussion with the museum over which tiles ought to be displayed where. We are open at those times basically.
Floor tile makers were very much respected trades people in the Middle Ages, unlike potters who were seen as great public nuisances and often imprisoned or forced to leave towns due to their rowdy behaviour. Whilst we don’t expect to be arrested, we do think that the kiln firing will be an unusual event.
Contact the Webmaster at the Lancashire Archaeological Society